Dundee City Council braced for impact of spending cuts
The full scale of the financial challenges facing Dundee City Council will not be known until the end of the month.
- By Stefan Morkis
- Published in the Courier : 08.06.10
- Published online : 08.06.10 @ 05.07pm
Although it has been anticipated that the local authority will have to find savings of £30 million over the next four years, director of finance Marjory Stewart admitted that this might just be a best-case scenario.
She told the audit and risk management sub-committee that it is still not known whether the £332 million Chancellor George Osborne is cutting from the Scottish budget next year will mean even more savings must be found.
The chancellor's emergency Budget on June 22 could mean even more cuts are needed.
She said it will not be until nearly a week later that councillors will be told what the knock-on effects are in Dundee and just how deep the cuts will run.
Chief executive David Dorward explained that nobody in the Scottish public sector knows where the Scottish Government will decide where cuts have to be made.
He said, "There are a lot of assumptions because the Scottish Government have still to determine where the cuts will fall and what the councils' share of that will be."
Cuts delayed
Finance secretary John Swinney has delayed implementing any of the cuts demanded by Westminster until the next financial year.
However, Labour group leader Kevin Keenan accused the council of failing to prepare adequately for when the axe does fall.
He said the council could be forced to make savings worth several million more pounds.
Mr Keenan said, "Should the council not be making plans for a worst-case scenario rather than just saying it might happen?"
► Dundee trade unions have hinted at possible future industrial action over impending council cuts.
Rory Malone, Dundee branch secretary of the main public services union Unison, said, "I know that if we have to act, we will act."
The union is due to meet council officials to be briefed on the details of the city council's proposed £24 million spending cuts.
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