Highland Council budget: local authority facing “incredible pressures”

The leader of the Highland Council has said the local authority is facing incredible financial pressures which could led to job losses amid an unprecedented budget gap of up to £70 million next year.

The full council met today to discuss the budget shortfall which could be as much as £100 million between 2024 and 2027.

Members have a legal obligation to set a balanced budget and proposals will be developed and presented to Council for agreement at the end of February 2024.

Leader of the Council Raymond Bremner said: “While we understand the cost of living crisis for our communities, local authorities are also facing incredible cost pressures in the shape of inflation, high rates of interest and the need to fund pay settlements.

“We anticipate we will have an unprecedented budget gap next year of around £60-70m and a shortfall of around £100m over the next three years has been forecast.

He went on to add that without adequate funding, the council will have a choice of making service reductions or increasing income or a mixture of both.

Councillors Bremner said that service reductions would also mean job losses and that is something we are doing everything possible to avoid, as this would be disastrous for communities and our economy in the Highlands.”

The council is facing considerable uncertainty until the end of December around what the grant will be from the Scottish Government for 2024-25, and the funding to implement a Council Tax freeze.

Skye and Raasay member First Minister over council tax freeze

Skye and Raasay Councillor has slammed First Minister Humza Yousaf for running a “horse and coaches” through a key agreement with Scotland’s councils by placing a freeze on council tax

Speaking during today’s (Thursday’s) meeting of the full Highland Council, Skye and Raasay member Ruraidh Stewart contended that First Minister has undermined the verity house agreement between Scottish Local Authorities and the Government by announcing a freeze on rate in the next financial year.

Councillor Stewart said the First Minister has in essence closed the door on one of the few tools that local government has to release the budget pressures on us.

Humza Yousaf announced the decision to freeze council tax rates for the next financial year at the SNP autumn conference earlier this month.

Councillor Derek Louden, who chairs the Highland Council’s resources committee said: “Last year we set one of the lowest The council tax rates set last year by the Highland Council were one of lowest in Scotland in recognition of the cost of living crisis in our communities.

“Council tax freezes have a long term negative impact on local authority budgets and effectively widen the budget gap in the coming years.

“We will continue to work with our COSLA colleagues, to get clarification of the Scottish Government’s plans and how the cost of any freeze would be funded, both for next year and mitigation of the impact on future years’ budgets.”

Scottish Government £1 billion overspent on pay deals finds new report

The Scottish Government is facing a £1 billion hole due to significant challenges in managing the public sector workforce.

According to a new report by Audit Scotland, the Scottish budget and workforce numbers have grown significantly since devolution. But Scottish Government projections suggest it cannot afford to pay for public services in their current form.

The report found that pay deals agreed for 2022/23 and 2023/24 were £1.7 billion more than initially planned and these pay rises are locked into future budgets.

The Scottish Government has begun working with its public bodies to better understand how workforce reforms will impact services. But it needs better data on the size, cost and skillset of the workforce in over 100 of its public bodies to help support this process.

Stephen Boyle, Auditor General for Scotland, said: “Significant reform of the public sector – including its workforce – is needed to protect services over the long term.

“That means better workforce planning and wider changes to how staff work within and across organisations.”

He concluded: “An approach to reform purely focused on controlling workforce numbers will not address workforce pressures and is unlikely to balance the public finances.”

Peat and Diesel to play ‘Black Isle Belter’ shows

Western Isles stars Peat and Diesel are set to play at the Black Isle Showground over two days next May along with other star acts.

The ‘Black Isle Belter’ shows which will be their only outdoor gigs in the Highlands next year will be held over the bank holiday weekend of Saturday 25th May & Sunday 26th May 2024.

On the Saturday, Peat and Diesel will be join by the View for their First Highland show in years, while on the Sunday, which will be a family day they will be accompanied by chart toppers The Feeling.

Sunday’s show will a family day and in conjunction with Peat and Diesel’s main sponsor Highland Industrial Supplies, and charity partners MFR’s Cash for Kids and Mikeysline.

Tickets were set to be on sale from 10am this Friday via the Peat and Diesel website.

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Niteworks to close Royal National Mòd

Skye band Niteworks have been announced as the closing act at this year’s Royal National Mòd

The Celtic-electronica group have been chosen to bring the Scotland’s premiere Gaelic musical and cultural event to a spectacular close at Paisley town hall on 21st October

The concert will be Niteworks’ only Scottish venue gig of the year and is the first time that they will have played to audiences in Paisley.

The performance comes off the back of the band’s 2022 sell out Scottish tour which saw more than 6,000 tickets snapped up for venues including Glasgow Royal Concert Hall.

Highland Council leader welcome visitor levy bill

Leader of the Highland Council has welcomed the Scottish Government on its intention to introduce a bill to allow local authorities to introduce a local tourist levy.

If passed by the Scottish Parliament, the Visitor Levy (Scotland) Bill will give councils the power to apply a levy on stays in overnight accommodation based on a percentage of the accommodation cost.

All money raised would have to be reinvested locally on facilities and services substantially for or used by visitors, enhancing the tourist experience and benefitting local communities and their economies.

Raymond Bremmer, leader of the Highland Council said: “The Highland Council has long supported the idea of a tourist levy to enable the local authority to invest in local infrastructure and is a commitment in our Council Programme.

“The introduction of the Bill is good news and means we can now plan for the introduction of this local levy following approval of the Bill by Parliament.”

Under the plans, councils would be required to consult communities, businesses and tourism organisations before putting a visitor levy in place. They would also have to consult on how any revenue raised should be spent.

The proposals follow public consultation and form part of the New Deal for Local Government which gives councils greater financial flexibility and strengthens local democracy.

The Scottish Government has also invited representatives from the tourism industry, COSLA and other partners to join an expert group to consider how it could best be implemented if passed.

Kyleakin goalie set for final match

Kyleakin Football Club goalkeeper Craig Wilson is set to make his final appearance in the local league after nearly two decades playing.

Craig started playing in the Skye and Lochalsh league at the age of just 13 and went on to join Kyleakin FC at 19 where he spent 11 years as the club’s number one.

Tonight he faces Kyle in his last match for the reds before moving away to the Western Isles.

Reflecting on some his favourite memories from his time competing in the league, Craig told Radio Skye: “Winning the two league titles with Kyleakin were the highs.

“Both of them pretty much went down to the last game of the season – they were pretty good.

“We beat Sleat 5-2 on my 21st Birthday to win the league.”

The Elgol resident also praised the role of coach David Bucher for his work at Kyleakin and football coaching across the community.

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