SEVERAL “DOWNRIGHT offensive and racist” comments had to be removed from the website set up as part of Fife Council’s online budget conversation with the public, it has emerged.
The issue was highlighted by Fife Council opposition leader, SNP councillor Peter Grant, who questioned whether these comments had been reported to the police.
Responding, Fife Council Labour administration leader Councillor Alex Rowley told last week’s full Fife Council in Glenrothes that he was not aware of the comments, but offered assurances that “appropriate action” would be taken.
Fife Council could not give The Courier details of the offending remarks, but confirmed that several inappropriate statements had been removed from the consultation forum by website administrators.
In recent weeks Fife Council has been holding a series of budget consultation meetings as part of its efforts to engage with the public.
The council faces tough decisions on how to save £66 million over the next three years.
Although the last meeting has now taken place, and some meetings were quite sparsley attended, conversation on the council’s budget proposals is still under way online, so anyone who did not manage along to meetings can continue to get involved in talking about topics including raising school attainment and investment in Fife’s town centres.
For the first time, councillors are asking Fifers what they think of saving and spending proposals in the form of a draft budget before final decisions are taken in February.
The online conversation is underway at fifedirect.org.uk/budget. People can continue to get involved in that until January 6 and budget packs with more information can still be picked up at local offices and libraries.
The council is already considering the future of school buildings, as well as what it charges for some services. Transportation services, procurement and back office work are also being scrutinised.
Councillor Linda Erskine, Fife Council executive member for finance and corporate services said: “We must continue to invest in priority areas. Early years, youth employment and better support for our elderly people are benefiting from the suggestions we’re putting forward for investment.
“It seems from our conversations with people in the last few weeks that many share these views, but there have been lots of suggestions that we will now take time to consider.”
She added: “This is the first time we’ve taken budget proposals out for debate and I think we’ll learn a lot from this exercise.”
malexander@thecourier.co.uk