During September West Dunbartonshire Council will be holding a series of budget consultation events. The Council has already held roadshows for Council staff during August explaining the financial challenges and to seek ideas and suggestions on how to tackle the defecit. As a result of work by Council officers the deficit has already been reduced from an estimated £40m over the next three years to around £30m which works out at roughly £10m per year for the next three years. Commenting on the consultations Labour Group Leader Councillor Martin Rooney said: ‘Given the scale of the budget gap over the next three years it is right that we ensure that all our staff fully understand the scale of the challenges we face. I have been told by the Chief Executive that the staff consultations have been a great success and it is right that we begin the process of public engagement with the citizens of West Dunbartonshire.’ The aim of the public consultations is to raise awareness of the budget gap and its implications, and to seek ideas and suggestions from residents that could help to reduce duplication and costs. Councillor Rooney added: ‘Labour Councillors were always mindfull of the looming budget defecit. Thats why David McBride’s budget proposals put the long term interests of the people of West Dunbartonshire first and set aside £3,770,260 of reserves to help us prepare for these financial challenges that we now face. Had the Labour budget been successful then we would have had £4m to help to plug the 2011/12 budget gap.’ In 2011/12 West Dunbartonshire Council must make budget savings of £10m and this will be followed by further savings of £10m in 2012/13 and £10m in 2013/14. Labour Councillors continue to put the interests of the people of West Dunbartonshire Council first and at the Council meeting on Wednesday 25^th August, Labour Group Leader Councillor Martin Rooney questioned the Chief Executive and Executive Directors on the 2009/10 Draft Annual Accounts to identify areas which could help to reduce the budget defecit. Through his questioning Councillor Rooney was able to identify £4m which could be available to help to bridge the 2011 budget gap. A copy of Councillor Rooney’s questions and the responses are detailed below:

 Draft Annual Accounts Questions

 Q1. On Page 260 the funding gap shown is £42m as at 31^st March 2010; and the financial statement also points out that we have a General Reserve of £3.375m. I understand that assumptions are always changing and that next year we are now looking at a £10m gap rather than a £13m gap. Is this correct? Response from Joyce White: The budget gap over the three year period is between £30m and £35m. The revised gap for 2011/12 is now £10m.

Q2. Page 296 – the Fairer Scotland Fund had £6.058 million allocated last year covering a 14 month period. However it is currently running an underspend of more than £1m this year which suggests that we will have a surplus of over £1m by the time of the next budget. In addition there would be scope to reduce the Fairer Scotland Fund budget without any impact on services which could release a further £1m for the 2011/12 budget. Therefore the total contribution to the 2011/12 budget gap would be £2m.  Has this £2m been factored in to next years budget? Response from David McMillan: The £2m you have identified have not been included in budget calculations but it is a good idea. The decision would be a matter for elected members.

Q3. Page 275 – The Housing Property Maintenance surplus in 2009/10 was £1.427m. Based on current projections this trading fund is likely to generate a surplus of £1.5m next year. Has this £1.5m been factored in to next years budget?  Response from Elaine Melrose: The Trading Fund is on target to make a similar surplus next year.  

Q4. Page 275 – Shows that in 2009/10 the Grounds Maintenance /Street Cleaning Trading Fund returned a surplus of £766,000. Based on current projections how much surplus can we expect this year? Response From Elaine Melrose: This Trading Fund is expected to make a surplus of around £600,000.

Q.5 Page 294 – The Non Domestic Rate Arrears – bad debt provision was £2.742m last year. I understand that some councils sell their Non Domestic Rate debt to private companies. Would it be worthwhile the council looking into this option and bringing a report to the Corporate & efficient Governance Committee for consideration? What are the prospects of recovering some of this debt? Response from Joyce White: A report outlining the implications could be presented to committee.

A controversial pay ‘deal’ has been imposed on Council which will see staff receive a pay rise of 0.65% backdated to April this year. The three year deal, imposed by Council Leaders will mean that there will be a pay freeze in 2011; followed by another pay freeze in 2012. The imposed ‘deal’ will result in part year savings of £350,000 in 2010 for West Dunbartonshire Council and could save as much as £1m in each of the next two years.  However public sector unions are furious about the three year ‘deal’ being imposed on staff. Commenting on the pay deal Labour Group Finance Spokesman Councillor David McBride said: “While we are all aware of the tough financial climate we are faced with in the coming years, it is vital that we maintain the cooperation and support of the workforce. I believe it would be unfair to impose a lower pay rise than the previous offer. West Dunbartonshire Council had already factored the higher offer into our financial planning and Leaders are now punishing our hard working staff because of their inability to reach agreement”. The original offer from Council Leaders was a 1% pay rise in 2010; followed by a pay freeze in 2011; and a pay increase of 0.5% in 2012, but Trades Unions had rejected the offer. Councillor McBride added:”I would urge Leaders to rethink this strategy as it may lead to a period of unnecessary and damaging industrial action”. Follow the link below for more details. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-11113306

 Note: Labour Councillors in West Dunbartonshire have been excluded from COSLA for the past two years following a decision of the SNP led Council. The Councils COSLA Representatives are:

• Councillor Ronnie McColl
• Councillor Jonathan McColl
• Councillor Craig McLaughlin
• Councillor Willie Hendrie
• Councillor Jim Finn
• Councillor Jim McElhill
• Councillor Marie McNair

The first phase of the HEED restructure has now been completed following extensive consultations with staff. The restructure has focused on senior and middle Managers and most officers have been into the new posts. Commenting on the departmental restructure Leven Councillor John Millar said: ‘It is right that the Council is always looking at ways of delivering better value for money and improving the quality of our services. I am pleased that the department has now completed phase 1 of the restructure as this will rationalise the management arrangements, reduce costs and place responsibility for the effective management and development of services with service Managers.’  There are still some key posts which need to be filled however the Executive Director, Elaine Melrose is in the process of recruiting suitably qualified staff to fill the vacancies. A breakdown of the new positions is outlined below:  

At the August meeting of West Dunbartonshire Council, elected members unanimously supported a motion from Councillor Patrick McGlinchey opposing the recently announced increase in VAT by the Westminster Government. Councillor McGlinchey said: ‘Our MP Gemma Doyle had started a campaign to oppose the Governments VAT increase from 17.5% to 20%. My motion to Council was to try to get cross party support for the campaign. I was absolutely delighted that the Council unanimously backed my motion.’ A copy of the motion and Gemma Doyles Petition are reproduced below:

Motion by Councillor Patrick McGlinchey – VAT

Council believes that the increase in VAT to 20%  will punish those who can least afford it, noting that VAT amounts to 10.8% of the income of the poorest 20% of the population but just 4.5% of the income of the richest 20%.

Council notes that during the election campaign David Cameron called the VAT a ‘regressive’ tax and acknowledged that it ‘hits the poorest hardest’.  He said he had ‘no plans’ to raise it. 

Council further notes that the Liberal Democrats also campaigned against any VAT rise and that both parties broke their promise to the electorate and changed their plans just weeks after forming the coalition. 

With this in mind, Council calls on the Government to reverse the decision to increase VAT to 20% and requests that the Leader of the Council write to the Government to express this opinion.

At the recent meeting of West Dunbartonshire Council on 25^th August, Clydebank Central Councillor, Patrick McGlinchey moved a motion calling on West Dunbartonshire Council to ensure that unmet need in communities such as Mountblow was taken into account when the HEED committee considered the Leisure Trust model. Councillor McGlinchey said: ‘There are a number of communities in West Dunbartonshire which have limited community facilities. In my ward Mountblow is an example of a community which does not have a recogniseable meeting place for local groups and clubs. My motion would have required Council officers to ensure that the plans for the Leisure Trust were taken into account.’ The Leisure Trust model could mean that community centres; sports facilities; and leisure centres could be transferred from local authority control, resulting in a financial saving of around £350,000 per year in VAT. The Leisure Trusts could continue to access external funding sources, as the council aready does. If approved the Leisure Trust model would also result in around 130 council employees being transfered with the facilities to the new Leisure Trust.  Unfortunately the Provost and the SNP administration voted against Councillor McGlinchey’s motion and the Council was split evenly between the Motion and an SNP Amendment and the Provost used his casting vote to vote down Councillor McGlinchey’s Motion. Councillor McGlinchey added: ‘Its always disappointing to lose a vote but I was really  surprised when Provost Agnew voted with his SNP colleagues rather than support the community of Mountblow, as he had spoken in favour of my motion throughout the meeting.’ A copy of Councillor McGlinchey’s motion is reproduced below:

Motion by Councillor Patrick McGlinchey – Community Centre – Unmet Need

Council notes that a leisure trust model is currently being explored by West Dunbartonshire Council, which may include Community Centres.

Council further notes that some communities within West Dunbartonshire, such as Mountblow, have no community centre or community facilities at present.

With this in mind, Council asks that unmet need in communities such as Mountblow is taken into consideration when the leisure trust model is being examined.

In addition, if the leisure trust model proceeds, that a report on unmet need within West Dunbartonshire communities is brought to the appropriate Committee.

At a recent Council meeting Leven Councillor John Millar called for a report to establish the impact of reduced security checks on schools and nurseries. The motion was put forward following correspondence from council employees who had raised concerns about the potential impact of the change. Councillor Millar said: ‘My colleagues and I were aware of concerns raised by some janitors. I have discussed the issue with council officers, including a number of janitors and the feedback I had received was that  it appears that there has been no increase in vandalism or increased costs. Nonetheless I think it is important that we get this report in order to alleviate the legitimate concerns that have been raised.’ A copy of the Motion is reproduced below.

Motion by Councillor John Millar – Security Checks at Schools and Educational Establishments

This Council is concerned at claims that reduced security checks to schools and educational establishments, as a consequence of the Council Budget decision could result in increased incidents of vandalism and hence increased costs.

This Council requests the Executive Director of Housing, Environmental & Economic Development to bring forward a report to the next Housing, Environment and Economic Development Committee outlining the operational impact of this Budget decision.