City council sets 2009/10 revenue budget

19/12/08

Aberdeen City Council has agreed a package of savings totalling £24,572,900 to produce a balanced revenue budget for 2009/10.

The savings agreed by the full council were largely in line with the proposals which resources management committee members last month agreed should go forward for a final decision by all elected members today [17 December].

New decisions taken by the full council today included:

a move to defer a decision on a proposal to close Auchmill Golf Course until a report goes before the resources management committee on 5 February on the feasibility of leasing the course to Auchmill Golf Club;
a deferral of the proposal to increase allotment rents, pending a further report on the matter to the same committee meeting;
increases in parking charges and in the cost of residents' parking permits.

The resources management committee meeting in February will also receive reports on other potential efficiencies in order to deliver a final savings package of £25.2 million. Issues to be covered in the reports include libraries, the feasibility of issuing up to three residents' parking permits, and the possibility of making further savings in Continuous Improvement, Resources Management and Strategic Leadership.

Final decisions on the committee's recommendations will then be made at the council budget meeting in mid-February (provisionally 12 Feb), when council tax levels for 2009/10 will also be set.

Corporate directors have spent the past few months drawing up a wide range of proposals to deliver 6% savings across services, amounting to £30.353 million, in order to give elected members the flexibility to agree the £25.2 million package.

Their proposals were drawn up after the most open and inclusive budget process ever conducted by the city council, which aimed to achieve as many savings as possible through efficiencies and by maximising income.

Elected members and senior council officials have held a string of meetings with partners and stakeholders, inviting their constructive feedback on alternative ideas on how significant savings could be made to have the least possible impact on frontline services.

The savings agreed by the full council today were put forward by the council's Lib Dem/SNP administration, which selected them from the original list of officers' proposals. The resources management committee had already agreed last month that the following proposals should be REMOVED and would NOT go ahead as detailed in 2009/10:

school closures and reductions in teacher numbers;
library closures, subject to further review on savings to be made in 2009/10;
closure of the Tolbooth Museum in the summer;
closure of Linksfield and Tullos pools;
closure of Hilton outdoor centre;
withdrawal of P4 swimming;
reduction of hours at Bridge of Don pool;
withdrawal of kerbside collection of plastics;
increases in parking permit charges as proposed by council officers; officials were instead asked to take a fresh look at proposed increases;
parking charges for the first four hours at city parks (but introducing charges for parking for longer than four hours to deter commuters);
reduction in the budget for the public analyst service;
withdrawal of funding to the International Football Festival (instead, the annual grant will be halved to £27,000);
withdrawal of funding to Dons in the Community Programme;
a reduction of £20,000 in annual grant to Aberdeen Performing Arts (instead the Lib Dem/SNP administration brought in a £60,000 reduction).

Aberdeen City Council leader Councillor Kate Dean said: "This was never going to be an easy budget but our income and expenditure had to be brought back into balance. We have thought our way carefully through what needs to happen to steady our finances.

"This has been a much more open and inclusive budget than we have ever had before. We have had great co-operation from our partner organisations throughout the city and held many meetings to explain the rationale behind our proposals and to listen to alternative ideas.

"We are now in a position that we have never been in before – which is having a firm budget in December, instead of February. This means there will be no problem in implementing the decisions, either immediately or by next April when the new financial year starts."

Resources management convener and deputy leader Councillor Kevin Stewart said: "This is a tough budget but that was always something we were going to have to do to make sure this city's finances are put back on a firm footing.

"The openness of the process we have gone through makes it the best I have every come across – in terms of speaking to and listening to many of the people affected.

"Our officers have worked extremely hard to make sure that all the impact assessments have been carried out and that the savings are manageable. We will now continue to monitor the budget throughout the year to make sure these savings are achieved."

Full details of the budget proposals as originally drawn up by corporate directors are available at: http://www.aberdeencity.gov.uk/CouncilTax/RM/ctx_BudgetProposals09_10.asp

If you have any queries regarding this, or any other news story, please contact Aberdeen City Council on: 08456 080910.