Council services and jobs will be axed as Fife Council faces up to the fact it needs to save significantly more money than previously thought.
In light of Finance Secretary John Swinney’s budget statement, council leader David Ross warned up to £90 million may be needed to plug the shortfall over the next few years, a figure previously estimated at £75 million.
The budget gap for 2016/17 is now expected to rise beyond the £21 million previously projected.
All members of the council recognised there is further pain ahead.
The Labour administration pointed the finger of blame at the Scottish Government, while Fife’s SNP group accused Labour of misleading the public.
In heated exchanges, SNP councillor David Alexander produced figures presented to group leaders prior to Mr Swinney’s statement which highlighted various scenarios and appeared to suggest the budget gap for 2016/17 would be much less than anticipated.
He also highlighted the £10 million needed as a result of Westminster’s decision to end the contracting out of national insurance.
Mr Ross, however, described the SNP figures as “pure fantasy”.
A motion by Labour’s Altany Craik calling on the council to express its concern to Mr Swinney about the impact of the financial settlement on services was voted through 32-17, although the SNP had tabled an amendment congratulating the Scottish Government for freezing the council tax and condemning the austerity programme being imposed by Westminster.
Mr Craik described Mr Swinney’s budget as “one hit too many”, while seconder Mark Hood said “what we have grown up to understand local government to be will be something completely different”.
Noting the recent decision to close 16 libraries, he said: “The reality is, in order to close the budget gap Mr Swinney has handed us, we will need to make another 58 cuts of the same magnitude.”
However, Mr Alexander hit back, adding: “When Labour tries to mix finance and politics it ends badly.”
Mr Alexander faced criticism for making the budget gap estimates public, with Councillor Lesley Laird claiming they had been made available in confidence and describing his actions as a “spurious attempt at scaremongering”.
But SNP group leader Brian Goodall said Labour’s motivations for the motion were “political ones, not financial” and laid the blame squarely with Westminster for the current situation.
“We’re seeing double standards here and it’s a blatant attempt to deflect attention from Tory cuts,” he concluded.
The debate continued along similar tit-for-tat lines, although Lib Dem group leader Tim Brett bemoaned political point scoring.
“My concern is that it is the weak and the vulnerable who rely on our services who will be affected most and I think we all should acknowledge that,” he said.