'No more rabbits to pull out of Highland Council money bag'

A bitter and highly personal row erupted in the Highland Council chamber yesterday over the local authority’s projected £5.1 million overspend for the current year.

Council chiefs insisted no jobs were at risk.

But finance director Derek Yule highlighted the critical state of emergency "reserve" funds of only £8 million, warning there were "no more rabbits to be pulled from hats" to solve the problem.

Political rivals then locked horns in an unprecedented clash in the chamber at Inverness headquarters.

Liberal Democrat Gordon Adam blamed successive Scottish Government grant cuts for the council’s financial woes.

SNP city councillor Richard Laird countered that, directly blaming the council’s independent-led minority administration’s budget decisions.

My Yule told committee members he was not surprised by the scale of projected overspend. To put things into context, he said £5.1 million equated to only one per cent of the total budget.

But he added: "I have no more rabbits to pull out of the hat to help. We’ve looked at a lot of the opportunities for the council and there is nothing else there, so there is no doubt there’s some really challenging, underlying issues that need to be addressed as part of that process."

He said a comprehensive update on the budget would be presented to next week’s full council meeting.

"It does require immediate correction to normal business," Mr Yule added. "The council really needs to challenge what the money is being spent on to make sure it’s being used as effectively as possible."

Defending the administration’s handling of the finances, budget leader Alister Mackinnon said a process of "robust monitoring" would mean a monthly update from all departments from now on.

He pledged transparency but conceded the current position was "a wake-up call for all of us".

Cllr Adam cited a "2.7 per cent" UK government grant cut and an "eight per cent" grant cut from Scottish Government.

And he said the reduction was worse for Highland, not least because of the high cost of safeguarding a costly portfolio of small schools in remote areas.

Council leader Margaret Davidson claimed that "local government and the services we deliver are not a priority for the Scottish Government".

Cllr Laird insisted the crisis was "entirely of this council’s making".

He accused administration members of failing to read the budget proposals early enough to understand the implications and then, realising car park charges and toilet closures were among them, "they ran away from it".

Cllr Mackinnon accused the SNP opposition group of failing to present alternative measures as part of the budget process and has since failed to join a debate on the issues.

He said he had offered meetings to group leader Maxine Smith but had been turned down "because she views her private commitments more important than reorganising her own diary".

The comment incensed SNP councillors. Cllr Smith was not in the chamber to respond.

SNP group finance spokesman Ian Cockburn rose to his feet, accusing the budget leader of being "out of order" with his attack.

Cllr Mackinnon ordered him to sit down, insisting that he was chairing the meeting.

"You’ve had umpteen opportunities to come back to discuss alternative savings with us, and to date you have not taken advantage of that," he said.

In a statement, Cllr Smith later said: "Late afternoon on Friday I received a meeting request to attend a meeting on Monday to discuss the budget.

"Of course I already had commitments but they weren’t ‘personal’ although even if they were it’s none of his business. I had meetings booked with constituents, who had booked days ago.

"Why would I drop them to see the budget leader, who I’ve repeatedly asked for meeting requests to be made timeously...

"On the matter of budget setting. The Administration are in charge and don’t seem to understand it is their responsibility to set the budget not the opposition’s, my depute is quite correct. It is our job to scrutinise and oppose. If we set an alternative budget we’d be doing their job. We’re more than happy to do so if they want to move over.

"Furthermore, on setting the budget they should then stick to it and deliver it, not bleat on that it’s everybody’s fault, but theirs."

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