INVERCLYDE Council has set its budget, unanimously approving a 16 per cent rise in Council Tax over two years, plus increased charges and the loss of 26 jobs.
A special full council meeting today agreed that Council Tax will increase by 7.9 per cent and a 7.5 percent rise in fees and charges in each of the next two years to help address a funding gap of more than £8 million.
It will mean the average Band D household will pay an extra £122.55 per year — or £2.36 per week. Most Inverclyde properties are in Bands A to C which will have an increase of between £81.70 and £108.94 annually, between £1.57 and £2.10 per week.
Approximately 9,000 — 24 per cent — of households are protected from any Council Tax increase because they are entitled to a reduction while a further 1,600 properties receive full exemption.
The worst of the proposed cuts that were included in a recent public consultation have been avoided although the use of reserves has been used to balance the budget.
An extra £1.5million will be allocated towards investment in roads over the next three years.
Twenty-six full-time equivalent (FTE) jobs will be lost through non-replacement of vacant posts, early release, and service redesigns.
Councillor Stephen McCabe, leader of Inverclyde Council, said: “None of us sees a Council Tax rise of 7.9 per cent as an easy option, although it is less than the 8.67 per cent increase in charges approved by Scottish Water.
“While around a quarter of households will face no increase in their bills, we know that rises of this magnitude will impact on family finances. We also know that increases in charges will impact on families and businesses who use council services.
“The alternative, of course, would have been to cut more services. That is not a pain-free option either. The truth is that after nearly 20 years of cutting budgets — since 2008 we have made £77million worth of savings — there is no fat left to cut.
“Even those savings that we are proposing are not pain-free. They involve the loss of 26 posts and will impact on the capacity of the council to respond to the needs of the community and on the level of service we are able to provide in some areas.
“Regularly these days we hear residents in Inverclyde and elsewhere ask why they should pay more in Council Tax for poorer services. The reason is that in Inverclyde, Council Tax only pays for around 14 per cent of the cost of council services and when the Scottish Government cuts our funding Council Tax needs to increase to offset that cut.
“If we did not make some cuts to services on top of that, Council Tax rises would need to be even greater.
“In this budget we are using a significant part of the savings we are making to try to improve services in other areas.
“We are providing £800k in 2026/27 to support services for children and young people looked after by the Health and Social Care Partnership with a further £500k planned for 2027/28. That is on top of the £700k we allocated last year for the same purpose.
“We are building in £300k to our base budget to enhance out-of-school provision for children and young people with additional support needs. If we were to receive a better settlement from the Scottish Government in 2027/28 there may be an opportunity to increase these sums further.”
A capital budget of around £87million, which covers one-off projects and infrastructure costs and includes: £2million for the regeneration of Port Glasgow Town Centre; more than £10million for road improvements; completion of the new £10million adult learning disability hub in Greenock; more than £8million for maintaining the schools estate; £11million for new commercial properties to attract and retain jobs; and nearly £18million for the redevelopment of Central Greenock.
The savings that will be taken are:
— Economic Development staffing reduction
— Planning staffing reduction and revised structure
— Property Management staffing reduction
— Cessation of Home Link Workers service
— Closure of Greenock i-Youth Zone building
— Education Business Support staffing reduction
—Music Services staffing reduction
— Reduction in cleaning provision in office buildings
— Reduction in cleaning provision in Early Years’ establishments
— Increase in non-statutory fees and charges
— Finance staffing reduction
— Senior management revised structure
— Information and Communication Technology staffing reduction
— Chief Executive Services staffing reduction
