Fears that up to 2,000 Fife Council jobs could be cut over the next three years have been dismissed as fantasy by the SNP.
The party’s finance spokesman has accused the Labour administration of scaremongering as they prepared for today’s crunch budget-setting meeting.
David Alexander claimed council leader David Ross had resorted to desperate tactics in a bid to make the SNP Government look bad in the run up to the election in May.
“It’s fantasy because nothing has been decided after 2016-17,” he said.
Mr Ross revealed on Tuesday that the local authority could shed as much as 10% of its workforce as part of a major cost-cutting drive aimed at saving £91 million over three years.
Around £38m of savings must be found in the next financial year alone and 235 jobs would go as a direct result of the budget to be proposed today.
The rest will be lost as part of transformational change, Mr Ross said.
Finance secretary John Swinney’s budget statement in December left Fife Council with the task of cutting £17m more from next year’s budget than expected.
But Councillor Alexander has poured scorn on the job claims, maintaining the administration is “at it”.
“As usual they are going totally, absolutely over the top,” he said.
“This is desperation regarding the May elections. They said exactly the same last year and it hasn’t happened.”
He added: “What they are not taking into account is the £17 million increase in the NHS budget which the council will have access to through the integrated joint board.
“In terms of job losses, they are taking a saving of £3 million by not filling vacant posts.
“They have been doing that for the past few years now.”
Unions have warned further job cuts would have a devastating impact across the region.
Unison Fife secretary Debbie Thompson said council staff were living under a constant cloud of not knowing whether they would have a job to go to and those who were left were under huge strain.
* For live coverage of the budget meeting click here.