By Gary Cooper

ELDERLY FOLK receiving meals and school children learning music will be among those hit by the council tax jump in Angus.

With the dust now settled on the events of last week, when Angus councillors agreed a 3.4% hike to give a band D figure of £1072, the details of where cuts will be achieved has been explained.

Education was the hardest hit area again, with £755,000 in cuts being endured, on top of nearly £600,000 last year.

It affects areas including music lessons, where instrumental tuition fees for primary and secondary youngsters will be raised.

Department boss Jim Anderson said education had to deal with the contradiction of rapid change through initiatives taking place at the same time that cuts have to be made.

“In identifying cuts, attempts have been made once again to ensure that no individual aspect of the education service suffers unduly while, at the same time, recognising that cuts to individual budgets, including devolved school budgets, cannot be made year-on-year,” he explained.

The next biggest casualty was social work and health, where £418,000 has been lopped off.

Increasing meal charges for elderly people is expected to bring in £230,000.

Social work boss Robert Peat said producing a budget for his department within the funding package available had been very difficult.

His is a department under pressure and he highlighted marked increases in the number of children being accommodated in recent years.

“Much of this activity is related to parental substance misuse, which is increasing in Angus,” he explained.

“This is not only leading to a significant strain on resources, but also to increased risk in terms of managing cases and, of course, a major impact on the lives of the children concerned.”

Other pressures include the expanding population of those with disabilities and their increased life expectancy.

He said, “This is most noticeable in the number of young people with profound and multiple disabilities who are leaving the education system and require large packages of care.”

More older people are also requiring services, he added.

Meanwhile, leisure services expects to balance its books mainly by increasing sports centre and swimming pool charges.

Environmental and consumer protection has had to grapple with a £180,000 increase in fuel costs owing to the rise in global oil prices.

Among fees it is increasing is the uplift of bulky items, from £10 to £12.

The squeeze is even affecting the most mundane of items, with the finance department aiming to save £3000 on postage costs.

Kirriemuir councillor Ian Mackintosh said he was disappointed at the decision to increase music tuition fees and those for sports facilities, which flew in the face of attempts to encourage people to get fit.

“I am also disappointed at the increases in meal costs for elderly people and in the charge for bulky uplift, which could well mean more items being dumped in the countryside,” he added.