A number of parents and Parent Councils have written to the Council in response to the budget consultation exercise to pass on their views. Given this,  the Council felt it was important to provide parents with an update on the current position.

The Council has now set its 2015/16 budget and a provisional 2016/17 budget.

This was a very difficult exercise as the gap in the revenue budget over the next three years is projected to be c£46m.  This is on top of the £70m we have already had to save over the past eight years so the Council is facing many challenging decisions.  In this area we also have a changing local demographic.  Our elderly population is increasing, which means more demands on our social care services, and an expanding population with more young children is putting more pressure on our Education Services.  This means that demand for our services is growing at the same time as resources are reducing.

All of this means that unfortunately there are no easy savings left.  The savings the Council is now having to make will mean reductions to some services and regrettably, but inevitably, this will have an impact on our communities.  Education and Social Work Services account for more than 75% of the Council’s total budget. While the Council has aimed to protect them, it is impossible to make the level of savings required without there being some impact on these two very important services.  In 2015/16 spending on Education will increase by 1.8% and Social Work will see an increase of 2.7%, demonstrating our commitment to these vital services.

All aspects of the Council’s operations are being examined carefully to identify scope for savings.  This includes our workforce, where we are looking to reduce costs through options such as changing terms and conditions and voluntary severance.

Further consultation will be carried out in relation to the option contained in year two of the budget (2016/17) i.e. the proposal to review the primary school working week and potentially reduce it from 25 to 22.5 hours. This is one of a number of aspects that are still being considered and remain to be agreed around the Scottish Government’s position on maintaining teacher numbers.  The final outcome of any agreement reached here may also have an impact on the budget for future years.

It is our intention to discuss this matter further with Parent Councils with a view to assessing how best we can undertake a consultation exercise.  Once the details of the consultation exercise have been agreed parents will be provided with further information.