By Bruce Fegen

A GRIM warning has been given by Fife Council leaders that the local authority could face an exceedingly tough time in 2010/11, because of a likely significant cut in UK public expenditure.

It is feared the council’s grant could be cut by millions of pounds, and concern is so great that chief executive Ronnie Hinds is already working on a programme of efficiency initiatives in specific areas.

It has been admitted that, if the worst comes to the worst, an increase in council tax can’t be ruled out.

The concern centres on a belief that Chancellor Alastair Darling will claw back £5 billion of the billions spent on bailing out the banks from the country’s public expenditure budget.

If that happens and it affects devolved areas of spending, then Scotland could be badly hit.

Administration leader Peter Grant said, “John Swinney (the Scottish Government’s finance secretary) is waiting for bad news.

“He’s talking about the possibility of a £500 million reduction across the public sector in Scotland...our share could be up to £10 million.”

Asked whether this could mean that the council tax might have to rise, Mr Grant replied, “I do not think it will, because the money is there to freeze it, we get money to do this—but there is no decision to commit us to anything in the future.”

He also admitted that, although it would be the SNP view that there should no increase, he couldn’t speak for their coalition partners, the Liberal Democrats.

“They agreed with us that a freeze was right for the next financial year, but I don’t know what their thinking might be in the future,” he said.

Depute leader Elizabeth Riches said, “We are now living in very difficult and very different times from when we set our last budget 12 months ago.

“The council is not immune from either the effects of the recession, the uncertainty of the future nature of funding for local authorities, or the continuing increasing concerns of people who need our services.

“We want to help the most vulnerable—the families, the homeless and the unemployed.

“We have produced a very fair budget this year to protect essential services, but it is clear it will prove more difficult in the future to deliver services at the current level, and the preparations we are making now are essential for our future stability.”

Mrs Riches added, “We want to have as lean and efficient a structure as possible, that is why we have asked the chief executive to bring forward a report on a programme of efficiency initiatives for 2010/11, to ensure services for Fife residents are affected as little as possible by reductions in funding.”

The review will include different ways of delivering services, complete the changes to Fife’s structure, the process for managing school budgets, flexible working, best practice in procurement and better use of local authority buildings.