Work continues for Highland budget team
7th January 2016
The Highland Councils Budget team, Councillors Bill Fernie, Alister Mackinnon, Ben Thompson and Matthew Reiss, have been working with Council Leader Margaret Davidson over the Christmas and New year period to discuss the way forward for the 2016/17 budget in the context of an extremely challenging grant settlement from the Scottish Government.
On Wednesday 6 January 2016 the Budget Team met with the Councils Chief Executive and Director of Finance to explore wide areas where potential savings could be made. They also talked about areas which they would like to protect from funding cuts. As part of the review all the administrative functions of the council and all managerial positions will have to be considered.
Chief Executive Steve Barron has made a commitment that senior management posts will be further reduced to save money in addition to reductions already made in the last four years.
There has been an encouraging response from the invitation to staff to apply for voluntary redundancy and at their meeting today the team noted that the packages available may become less attractive in the next financial year as the Government are planning to introduce a cap on such payments.
Budget Leader Councillor Bill Fernie said: Over the next 12 months a thorough review of council services and structures will be undertaken to take account of the current financial position. Every post from Chief Executive downwards will be under review by the Independent Administration to ensure Highland Council services are redesigned to meet the expectations of Highland communities within the resources available to us.
We will shortly be continuing discussions with the whole Independent group, the opposition groups and the trade unions. One of the issues which will be discussed will be whether or not to increase the council tax. Faced with the fact that we need to save over £50m we need to examine all aspects of the budget.
At a special meeting of The Highland Council on 21 January the responses from the recent Citizen Panel survey about the budget will be discussed and on 25th February the main budget setting meeting of the council will take place.
Related Businesses
Related Articles
The information provided is a summary of reports from operational staff and is intended to give a general indication of typical conditions in each area at a point in time. It is not intended to imply that any individual route is entirely snow and ice free and drivers must be aware that conditions can change rapidly and make their own assessment of conditions for travelling.
The information provided is a summary of reports from operational staff and is intended to give a general indication of typical conditions in each area at a point in time. It is not intended to imply that any individual route is entirely snow and ice free and drivers must be aware that conditions can change rapidly and make their own assessment of conditions for travelling.
The information provided is a summary of reports from operational staff and is intended to give a general indication of typical conditions in each area at a point in time. It is not intended to imply that any individual route is entirely snow and ice free and drivers must be aware that conditions can change rapidly and make their own assessment of conditions for travelling.
Households across Scotland have received £4.1 billion in relief since the Council Tax Reduction scheme was introduced in 2013. People on low incomes are eligible for the benefit if they live in Scotland - there is no equivalent in England where most councils require each household to contribute a minimum amount of council tax, irrespective of ability to do so.
The Highland Council is preparing to carry out improvement works in Thurso at Ormlie Road and at The Mall riverside path adjacent to Janet Street. The scope of works on Ormlie Road will include junction improvements between Castlegreen Road and Juniper Drive with new drop kerbs and tactile paving and some surface repairs.
A Highland-wide partnership launched earlier in 2024 to support people on their journey towards, into and within employment is looking forward to a New Year in 2025 full of exciting opportunities designed to help hundreds more people across the Highlands unlock their work potential. Work.
The Highland Council is delighted to share that its Energy Efficient Scotland: Area Based Scheme has won the Outstanding Project Award at the Scottish Green Energy Awards. Described by Scottish Renewables as a "pioneering clean power scheme", this £7 million project demonstrates the incredible impact that can be achieved through combined public and private sector investment.
The ambitious yet focused ‘Highland Investment Plan' is committed to addressing our asset challenges over the next twenty years. By using a place based approach, to ensure a more integrated community offering through the creation of new community facilities.
Applications to the Inverness Winter Payments Scheme, which is fully funded by the Inverness Common Fund, have already been awarded to 1,035 eligible households within the 7 specified Inverness Wards. Leader of Inverness Area, Councillor Ian Brown said: "Since the Scheme was opened to applications for this winter, already £114,885 has been awarded to people who live in the eligible Wards of Aird and Loch Ness, Inverness West, Inverness Central, Inverness Ness-side, Inverness Millburn, Culloden and Ardersier and Inverness South Wards.
The first Highland-wide virtual jobs fair held last month has proved to be a hit with participants and businesses. The week-long virtual event, which was delivered by the Local Employability Partnership for the West - The Highland Council, Skills Development Scotland, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Department for Work and Pensions, Developing the Young Workforce and UHI North West and Hebrides was timed to coincide with Scottish Careers Week 2024.
