The week ahead...

Monday
In the early evening I will be attending the inaugural meeting of the Council's cross-party budget working group followed by a meeting of the Kelburn Action Group.
Tuesday
In the morning I will be attending the Cooperative Councils' Innovation Network Conference in Glasgow. In the afternoon I will be attending the Council's Pride of Inverclyde Awards at Port Glasgow Community Campus. In the evening I will be attending the Port Glasgow Senior Citizens' Christmas Dinner in the Town Hall.
Wednesday
In the afternoon I have my weekly meetings with the Chief Executive and Labour Group. In the evening I will be attending the Port Glasgow Christmas Lights Switch On followed by the Inverclyde Schools' Christmas Concert.
Thursday
In the afternoon I have meetings of the Environment & Regeneration Committee and full Council followed by the Greenock Christmas Lights Switch On and the first of the Council's budget consultation meetings in Notre Dame High School.
Friday
I have an interview with Inverclyde Radio in the late morning and an afternoon briefing for members of parliament on the Council's budget challenges. I will then be attending the Christmas Lights Switch Ons in Quarrier's Village and Kilmacolm.
Saturday
I will be attending the Labour Party's Scottish Executive Committee in Perth.

The week ahead...

Monday
In the morning I have a meeting of the Clyde Valley City Deal Cabinet in Glasgow. At lunch time I have the Inverclyde Council pre-agenda. In the evening I will be chairing a meeting of the Clune Park Task Group and then attending a meeting of Port Glasgow West Community Council.
Tuesday
In late morning I have my weekly meeting with the Chief Executive. In the evening I have a surgery in St Francis' Primary School followed by a meeting of Kilmacolm Community Council.
Wednesday
In the afternoon I have the Inverclyde Alliance Board pre-agenda and a meeting of the Labour Group. In the evening I will be attending the AGM of Boglestone Community Association.
Thursday
No Council commitments at this time.
Friday
Attending a River Clyde Homes Board planning event.
Saturday
In the morning I have day 2 of the RCH event followed by the Scottish Labour Councillors' Conference.

Congratulations to Gordon...

Congratulations to my Labour colleague Gordon Matheson, Leader of Glasgow City Council, on winning the Local Politician of the Year Award on Thursday night.

While it was an honour to have been nominated along with Gordon and the other Clyde Valley Council Leaders, Gordon rightly received his own nomination for his lead role in delivering a fantastic Commonwealth Games for Glasgow, as well as being the driving force behind our City Deal success.

I was sitting with Gordon on Thursday night when he received his award. It was good to see my fellow Portonian honoured.  

Urgent debate needed on how we fund local services...

Councils across Scotland have been hitting the headlines recently as they set out the scale of the budget challenges they face in the next few years. As readers of the Tele know, Inverclyde is facing the same challenges.

While we are in a relatively good position compared to many councils, in that we can set a budget for the next financial year 2015/16 without making damaging cuts to services, the following two years will be far more challenging unless both the UK and Scottish Governments adopt different policies in relation to public spending and taxation.

The initial reaction to the savings options released by Council officers has shown how unpopular a number of them are likely to be if the Council implements them.

The criticisms levelled at the Council on social media are no surprise, given that many come from people with a particular political agenda. Irrespective of the result of the recent referendum we would be facing the same, possibly greater, challenges.

I have been struck however by the number of people who are openly questioning the ongoing Council Tax freeze and now understanding the direct link between this and the impending cuts in services.

I’m sure that some readers would be surprised to know that the Council Tax in Inverclyde was last increased in April 2006. It was actually cut by a small amount in April 2007 by the then Lib Dem led Council. For the past seven financial years the Council Tax has been frozen and it will be frozen again next year as a condition of the Council’s funding settlement from the Scottish Government.

Assuming that without the freeze the Council Tax would have been increased each year by 3%, a household in the lowest Council Tax banded property is now £184 a year better off. A household in the highest band is £551 a year better off.

While everyone will welcome that their Council Tax has not increased it is clear that those in the most expensive properties have benefited most.

These figures are before we take into account the fact that the Council Tax Reduction Scheme currently pays out £6.7m a year in financial support to 12,180 of Inverclyde’s 38,653 households to help them meet the costs of the Council Tax.

Over 7,000, or 18%, of households in Inverclyde get a 100% reduction on their Council Tax bills, most of these being households in the lowest band of properties.

So in fact if you have qualified for 100% support due to your financial circumstances over the last 7 years you have had no benefit at all from the Council Tax freeze.

 In 2007 the then minority SNP Government pledged to abolish the Council Tax and replace it with a local income tax set and controlled by the Scottish Parliament rather than local Councils. They never introduced a bill into Parliament as they could not get other parties to support their proposal.

Seven years on we have a majority SNP Government and still there has been no progress on a replacement for the Council Tax, so it looks like it will be with us for at the least the next few years.

As I stated in a previous column, a 5% increase in the Council Tax would generate an additional £1.6m a year for the Council, which would go some way to avoiding a number of the worst cuts we face. Those on the lowest incomes would be protected in part or in full from this increase through the Council Tax Reduction Scheme.

Much of the debate during the recent independence referendum centred on funding for public services, and in particular the NHS.

The financial challenges faced by Councils means we urgently need a similar debate about what level of local public services we want and how much we are prepared to pay for them.

The week ahead...

Monday
In the evening I will be attending a meeting of St Francis Primary School Parent Council.
Tuesday
In the morning I am speaking at a CVS Inverclyde Conference. In the afternoon I have my weekly meeting with the Chief Executive and a meeting of the Council's Policy & Resources Committee. In the  evening I will be attending a meeting of St Stephen's High School Parent Council.
Wednesday
For most of the day I will be attending the Scotland's Towns Conference in Paisley. In the late afternoon I have a meeting of the Labour Group.
Thursday
In the evening I will be attending the Scottish Politician of the Year Awards where I have been nominated for the Local Politician of the Year Award along with the leaders of the other seven Clyde Valley Councils in recognition of securing the 'City Deal' agreement for Glasgow and the Clyde Valley with the UK and Scottish Governments and the accompanying £1bn of funding.
Friday
I am at the COSLA Leaders meeting in Edinburgh for most of the day.

The week ahead...

Monday
In the morning I am meeting with Anas Sarwar, Labour's interim Scottish Leader, along with other Labour Group Leaders to discuss a number of current issues. In the evening I have a surgery in Clune Park Resource Centre.
Tuesday
I am attending a conference in my role as a Board Member of River Clyde Homes.
Wednesday
Day 2 of the conference. In the late afternoon I will be attending the weekly Labour Group meeting.
Thursday
In the evening I will be attending a meeting of Slaemuir Tenants' and Residents' Association.
Friday
In the afternoon I will be through in Edinburgh at COSLA for a meeting.

Explaining the Council's projected budget deficit...

Yesterday's Greenock Telegraph carried a story on potential job losses at Inverclyde Council  due to the projected budget deficit we face in the next three years. I have repeated below my Tele column from 8 October, which explains how officers have arrived at their figures. Hopefully this gives a bit of context to the Tele story.

"In my last column I spoke about the considerable financial challenges facing the Council, which the Tele’s headline last Thursday described as a “£15.3million budget black hole”.

While the projected funding gap over the next 3 years is of this order it is important to look behind the headline at how our officers have arrived at the figure quoted by the Tele.

The Council has already set an indicative budget for the next financial year 2015/16, which currently shows a surplus of £1.9m. Over the following two years officers are estimating a combined deficit of £17.2m, leading to a net deficit of £15.3m over the three year period.

They anticipate that in financial years 2016/17 and 2017/18 the Scottish Government will cut our grant by a total of £6.7m. Officers have also assumed a modest pay rise of 2% per year for employees at a cost of £4.2m and non-pay inflation of £2.6m (increases in utility charges, property costs, etc.). The grant we receive from the Scottish Government does not make any allowance for pay rises and general inflation.

Changes to public sector pensions add another £2.4m to our savings target. We are looking to continue major investment in the Council’s infrastructure, particularly roads and footways, which will cost £0.8m in borrowing costs. The final £0.5m to bring us to the £17.2m figure is due to anticipated budget pressures, such as the requirement to meet the needs of our growing elderly population.

No increase in the Council Tax has been assumed at this stage. A 5% increase in Council Tax would raise an extra £1.6m per year.

This is obviously a bleak outlook and if we do have to make £15.3m of savings there will be significant impacts on Council services and staff and in turn on you as the consumers of these services.

We will of course be lobbying the Scottish Government to try to secure a higher level of grant funding and the flexibility to increase the Council Tax. The Government itself will have greater flexibility as the Westminster Parliament has already granted it a number of new tax and borrowing powers. 

We will need to have an honest discussion with our workforce about the affordability of even a modest rise in pay due the constraints we face. This will not be easy given the pay restraint workers have had to endure for a number of years now.

And we will need to consider if we can continue to invest in our capital infrastructure if the price is savage cuts to frontline services.

It is important we hear the views of you, the community, before we make any decisions on savings.

The Council will be undertaking the most wide-ranging public budget consultation that we have ever conducted. There will be a range of ways for you to express your views.  

I would urge residents to take part in the budget consultation, which is planned to begin in November. It is important you have your say and examine the detail of any proposals officers put forward.

I can assure you that the feedback we receive from the community will inform the difficult decisions that elected members will ultimately have to make."

Proposal to implement new UK Living Wage rate...

I have today submitted a motion to the Council's Policy & Resources Committee calling for the new UK Living Wage rate of £7.85 per hour to be implemented with effect from 3 November 2014 following an announcement of the new higher rate by the Living Wage Foundation on that date.

The Council, in common with the other 31 Councils in Scotland, currently pays the previous national rate of £7.65 per hour. It is likely that the new rate will be implemented from 1 April 2015 as part of national pay negotiations but the Labour Administration would like to see Inverclyde Council implement the higher rate now rather than wait until April.

This move will benefit around 740 of the Council's employees in a range of areas, including cleaning and catering employees, school crossing patrol officers, cctv operators and clerical staff. Someone in a full-time post of 37 hours would see their pay increase by £385 a year with part-time staff benefiting pro-rata.

The cost of the proposal would be £45,000 in the current financial year and £110,000 in future years.

The Labour Administration will also be supporting moves at a national level to make the UK Living Wage rate the starting rate on Councils pay scales.

We hope there will be cross-party support for our proposal.

The week ahead...

Monday
In the afternoon I am attending a briefing on a major planning application followed by a meeting with officers. In the evening I am attending a community engagement event at the Port Glasgow Community Campus.
Tuesday
In the afternoon I have three meetings: the Policy & Resources pre-agenda; a presentation on attainment; and the Education & Communities Committee.
Wednesday
I have a morning meeting with the DWP followed by the launch of a new community service in Port Glasgow. In the afternoon I have my weekly meetings with the Chief Executive and the Labour Group. I hope to attend the Newark Parent Council in the evening but may not make it if the Labour Group runs on.
Thursday
I will be attending an all member budget briefing in the late afternoon.
Friday
No Council commitments at this time. In the evening I will be attending Greenock & Inverclyde Constituency Labour Party's nomination meeting for the Scottish Labour leadership contests.
Saturday
I will be attending a meeting of the Labour Party's Scottish Executive Committee.
Sunday
I will be representing the Council at Remembrance Sunday services in Gourock.