Swingeing cuts to help West Dunbartonshire Council close a gap in their budget of more than £20 million are on the cards.
Suggestions of how they should do that will be presented to councillors for consideration when one would have thought it would be the other way round, with councillors presenting suggestions to officials.
After all, the councillors told us when they stood for election in May that they were the best people for the job and that they had loads of ideas as to how the Council could make West Dunbartonshire a much brighter and better place in which to live.
The Labour administration should be submitting a detailed plan to the new £150,000 a year chief executive, Peter Hessett, and asking him and his colleagues to implement it according to a timescale that elected members would be content with.
Councillors should take full responsibility for the plan and make it clear to the public out there that they are the ones to blame if things go wrong.
And also the ones to take the credit if they go well, according to what they themselves have suggested.
Only then would they be earning their salaries and expenses, which can range from around £25,000 to about £50,000 a year plus expenses, depending on what position they hold.
We (the press and public) are being told the new budget proposals have been put forward by officers “as part of work to address the difference between the income the Council receives and the money it costs to deliver services to the community”.
That is around 25 per cent of what it draws in from council tax and charges for day to day public services.
We are additionally told that, like many other local authorities throughout Scotland, the Council’s budget gap for 2023/24 is “the most significant it has ever faced”.
And it is likely to increase further due to a range of factors including increases in inflation, interest rates, utilities, fuel, materials and employee costs.
For us, the punters, this means we are almost certainly going to have to meet a new, higher rate of council tax and on top of that increased charges for council services such as halls and playing fields, cemetery and cremation charges, leisure activities, parks and the many other services to keep us fit and well and well educated.
The councillors won’t be suffering and the highly paid chief officials most certainly won’t be either.
“The options have been developed to reduce spending while protecting frontline services, including services residents identified as their priorities during a public consultation on the Strategic Plan earlier this year,” a council spokesperson tells us.
Stop people in the street or the supermarket – we don’t have a High Street worth talking about – and they will tell you they have never heard of the Strategic Plan and since that is the case it was never worth the time or the money it took to produce it.
Among the proposals being mooted is an option to bring school transport more in line with the statutory provision, which the Council currently exceeds.
Again, ask the public to tell you about the statutory provision. What does that entail.?
It is said that this change would save £200,000 in 2023/24, rising to £300,000 in future years.
Additionally, say the Labour spin doctors, “changes to school staffing allocation has the potential to achieve a saving of £654,000”.
We are told they haven’t got the money to give teachers the ten per cent wage rise they deserve.
If that’s the case then how can it be possible to save nearly £700,000 from the “school staffing allocation”?
Also proposed are changes to the opening hours of the Council’s recycling centres at Dalmoak and Old Kilpatrick, with potential annual savings of between £24,000 and £140,000.
In addition, amendments to refuse vehicle routes will be considered which would reduce the Council’s carbon footprint, and deliver an annual reduction in spending of up to £189,000.
Why don’t they just tell us that it’s at the back of their minds to cut back on bin collections?
Parking in Dumbarton and the Vale is a nightmare at present. I don’t believe anyone would disagree with that.
And they have a car park bigger than the one across the road at Lidl to leave their cars in all day if they want, although there isn’t much “presenteeism” going on there.
Don’t we hear – and hear often – that council staff should be getting public transport to work and persuaded with small bribes to start cycling to work?
The public should hold on tight to the money they have because the officials think “additional income could also be generated through the introduction of parking enforcement, which is currently overseen by the Police in West Dunbartonshire, to bring in up to £325,000 a year”.
As for Climate Change and our community’s contribution to that, just listen to this: “By introducing a charge for use of Electric Vehicle Charging Points throughout the area, which are currently free to use, the Council could generate up to £380,000 over the next three years.”
Council Chief Executive, Peter Hessett, pictured right, said: “We know this range of options will be unsettling for our residents who are struggling with the cost of living and relying more and more on our services.
“The scale of the budget gap, compounded by rises in costs like fuel, energy and staffing, means that considering these savings options is vital to protect frontline services as well as deliver a balanced budget in March.
“These are proposals at this stage and no decision will be made until they are considered at the Council meeting on December 21.”
So, what would I suggest the Council does with our money?
First of all they could put a ceiling on the pay package rate for officers at £80,000 a year and bring those services they have placed in arms’ length quangos back into full public ownership.
We are told that the budget options are detailed as part of a Financial Update report published on the Council website today, ahead of the meeting later his month.
The options are part of a two-stage budget process, with further options being developed by officers which will be considered at a Budget meeting in March.
Residents – and councillors – should by then have the time to put their own ideas down on paper.
I am sure the Council would greatly appreciate their advice.
Top picture: The site West Dunbartonshire Council missed out on for a new town square for Dumbarton and gave planning permission for a supermarket.