Introduction by the Council Leader and Depute Leader
What do you think are the priorities when it comes to maintaining and improving local services and facilities? Do you think that the Council could spend your money more wisely to improve your lifestyle, that of your family and the wider community? And do you have your own views on how the Council could save money and improve efficiency, to keep the council tax down or to allow the money to be spent on more pressing needs?
This is the first time that East Lothian Council has carried out a budget consultation exercise on this scale. Our aim is to keep the council tax down while at the same time making sure that we maintain and improve those frontline services that our residents depend on most. In the current financial climate, we face some difficult choices - but it is only right that we consult as widely as possible to identify local priorities before taking decisions that will have a lasting impact on our communities.
We have clearly stated that our aim as a Council is to consult widely on key issues and to listen to and act on, the concerns of our communities. This budget consultation is a major opportunity for local people to influence the work of the Council and to guide us in setting our spending priorities.
Clearly, there will never be enough money available to meet every request for new or improved services and local facilities, but we are keen to target our resources at those areas that are considered a priority. We would welcome the opinions of those who pay council tax and live and work in our communities on how best we can achieve this.
Councillor David Berry, Council Leader
Councillor Stuart Currie, Depute Council Leader
Comments»
I think the Council and the consultation process are completely missing the point. When 75% of council services (Education & Community Services) have to be dramatically cut, then the funding mechanism is broken.
The Concordat between COSLA and the Scottish Executive has to be re-negotiated, as indeed it can be. Let’s not waste time deciding how many teachers to get rid of and how many old folks to throw out of their care homes - which is exactly what will happen.
Please get back to the negotiating table.
Remember your promises in “our Contract with the People” - http://www.eastlothian.gov.uk/documents/contentmanage/our-contract-18267.PDF
Instead of cutting the education budget I suggest the following savings instead:
1 Reduce the temperature in council buildings, and allow each building to control the temperature, rather than doing it centrally. We should not be wearing tee-shirts inside in December because the building is so warm!
2 Too many flowers all over the place, all needing watering and maintenance - plant evergreens instead
3 Twenty years ago when I was at secondary school we lived less than three miles from the school so my parents had to pay my bus fares. In East Lothian it is only two miles. Why?
4 Provide fewer taxis for children whose parents choose to live in remote areas. In most cases they will have cars and can presumably drive their children either to school, or to the nearest school bus stop!
5 Residential streets such as my own do not need cleaning every month as happens at present. There must be hundreds of streets like that all over East Lothian that could be cleaned less often.
6 I agree with Ian Smith, please go back to the negotiating table. The Scottish Executive has got it wrong for East Lothian.
I applaud and appreciate the consultation process, which is only to be encouraged. I also appreciate that the national requirements for “efficiency savings” are not of the Council’s making, but is an initiative driven by central government to reduce wastage and inefficiency in public spending. Whilst this is a laudable objective, we must be very careful not too impose generic cuts on already efficiently delivered services being tarred by the same brush as inefficient service departments.
Other public bodies, such as NDPBs, are also required to adhere to these year-on-year “efficiency savings”, which are often in effect budget cuts; some are on public record through audited statements as asserting that further budget savings cannot be made without affecting the service provided. In some of these instances the Scottish Executive has made its own choice as to whether or not they will reduce their grant-in-aid, thus forcing the savings and risking service reduction, or maintain in real terms their funding and maintain the service. This clearly illustrates that the ‘efficiency savings target’ is just that … a target, and that the Executive itself makes choices about how it will try to achieve the overall top-level savings. The Council has the same choices to make; it may be that through certain measures, the attainment of the efficiency target will be forced or mandated, but clearly not all areas of spend can be targeted in the same way. The Council recognises this principle by stating where certain departments like Environment and Corporate Services will be gaining an increased share of budget and others like Education and Community Services will be suffering a decreased share.
Here is an extract from East Lothian Council’s 2020 Vision Statement:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In 2020 East Lothian will have a world class education service
Although educational attainment in East Lothian’s schools is improving there are areas where it is lower than is acceptable. There are also signs that there is an insufficient level of educational ambition in some of our communities, with lower levels of young people fulfilling their potential in further and higher education.
We aspire to have a world class education service that will encourage all our children and young people to achieve their full potential.
By 2020 educational attainment in all our primary and secondary schools will be amongst the best in Scotland…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The council must recognise where excellence in attainment (in its broadest sense) is being achieved by schools. They must also recognise that, particularly with vocational professionals such as teachers, a huge contribution is made by way of extra-curricular input; this is a huge “off balance sheet” asset for the council, “goodwill” if you like, and they must recognise that the effect of budget cuts on schools will jeopardise or even eliminate this goodwill. Strategically this does not align well with the aspiration to provide a world class education service by 2020, recognising that there is some way to go in order to achieve this. East Lothian Council is very fortunate to have schools already achieving high educational standards and excellence in service delivery to pupils; they must not diminish this, but must ensure that it is built upon. We can clearly see the example set by some of our best schools in the region that a strong culture of excellence breeds success in both pupil attainment and all-round development from children to adults. The council should recognise this through continued investment, and support Parent Councils in opposing cuts to their funding levels.
We should resist any cuts in funding for our schools – they represent our future and investment in Education must not only be maintained, but developed as a strategic priority. The Council should support this and take the fight back to central government to protect our Education services.
Mark Casson
North Berwick