Spending plans are scaled back
Council departments have made good progress on cutting back the scale of their budget increases for next year, according to head of finance Graham Johnston.
In a report laid before councillors earlier this month Mr Johnston warned that as things then stood the council would need £16.3 million from its oil reserves to meet spending aspirations.
However, in an update sent to councillors and officials shortly before Christmas, he stated that almost £11 million in “budget reductions” have been identified.
This followed a meeting of the council’s leadership team on 11th December designed to start the process of getting the council back in line with its budget strategy of weaning itself off the reserves for service provision.
“The session was well attended and a very positive outcome was achieved – almost £11million in budget reductions being identified,” Mr Johnston said.
“The challenge remains for all budget responsible officers to review estimates for 2010/11 and ensure that any growth items are balanced by efficiency savings.”
