Published: Friday, 5th February, 2010 12:42pm

Jobs spared as savings sought

by David O'Leary

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Council Leader David Parker

SCOTTISH Borders Council have spared jobs and frontline services in their draft 2010 budget.

The Borders is to benefit from a third consecutive freeze on Council Tax and increased investment in education.

But leaders warned that next year's drop in funding from the Scottish Government, as a result of the forthcoming UK election, will result in "serious decisions" having to made on jobs and services.

Savage cuts had been expected this year with many council employees fearing the loss of their jobs however, frontline services will be preserved as efficency savings are made across the board.

The move comes in spite of the council receiving £4.3 million less than expected from the Scottish Government this year - allowing them just a £269 million pot to work from.

Council Leader, David Parker, said of the budget draft proposals: "Setting our budget is always a challenge - particularly so this year with difficult global economic circumstances and a package from the Scottish Government which was £4.3 million less than we had anticipated.

"However, I believe we have come up with solutions which put this Council on a sound financial footing and which preserve our frontline services.

"I am also extremely pleased to announce that, once again, we will not be using our Reserves to support this budget."

Those to benefit most from the 2010 budget will be newly graduated teachers and foster carers.

Twelve new teaching posts have arisen as P1-3 are reorganised into class sizes of 18 or lower at a cost of £281,000.

Savings to the tune of £393,000 however are to be made as teaching staff aged 55 and over are offered early retirement.

There is also to be a 10% efficiency saving on Continuing Professional Development.

However, Depute Leader and Executive Member for Finance, Neil Calvert, was quick to deny that this would lead to less experienced teachers in the classroom.

He said: "Graduate teachers are trained to a high level in college and are fully capable to manage their repsonsibilities thus so. We also already have very experienced teachers in our schools to help out if any situation arises."

The Hungry for Success project whereby free fruit is given to schoolchildren will be scrapped to make a saving of £100,000.

While the sum of £139,000 will be spent providing free school meals to all P1-3 pupils in 14 schools in the most deprived areas of the Borders.

Building work at the new Kingsland Primary is now almost complete and the school is set to open on February 22.

The council has also committed to build new schools in Clovenfords (£5.7m) and West Linton (£9m).

Refurbishments are also planned at Halyrude Primary (£1.7m), Newlands Primary (£700,000) and Peebles High School (£4.2m).

Foster carers will receive a 9.8% increase in their rates as the gap between the National Foster Care Association's recommended rates and those paid by the council is addressed - £100,000 has been set aside for this purpose.

Those left homeless by the recent recession are to suffer a double whammy as the council's social work department look to save £75,000 by cutting their Housing Support Service, which at present pays for bed and breakfast for those left homeless.

Around £40,000 will also be saved as homeless clients are left to pay their own utility bills.

The council also hopes to save £100,000 as a result of reviewing the eligibility of elderly Borders residents for home care.

There will also be a two per cent increase across the board for all existing social work charges while the price of frozen meals will rise 23p from £2.37 to £2.60.

As mentioned earlier, there will be no job losses in the council's planning department as it is hoped a full workforce will be needed for when the property market bounces back - £135,000 is expected to be lost in fees this year due to the drastic fall in the number of planning applications made.

Last year this figure was as high as £500,000.

It is forecast that a £208,000 saving will be made to help cover this deficit by not filling currently vacated posts.

A Small Business Funding Scheme was also announced to help businesses affected by the recession.

The £125,000 scheme is part of the local authority's aim to provide support to all businesses in the area through the Business Gateway, and as such will allow small businesses to apply for grants of up to £4000.

There will also be a two per cent rise in charges for council services except for school meals which will rise 15p to £1.80, and meals at home which will rise 23p to £2.60.

A total of £1.4 million is also to be saved as bin collections are moved from a weekly service to a fortnightly collection.

Depute Leader (HR) Alec Nicol said: "One of the main savings this year will be through the move to fortnightly general waste collections.

"This will have an important knock-on effect of reducing the Council's carbon footprint and driving up recycling rates and so avoiding environmental fines which could potentially cripple the Council."

Reserves will be used to to cover the increased cost of winter maintenance following the recent cold snap, an extra £118,000 has been allocated to boost the £2.5 million already used this year.

The sum of £85,000 will be spent carrying out mandatory reviews of speed limits on all Class A and B roads and a further £50,000 will be spent similarly reviewing disabled parking spaces.

Councillor David Parker, said of the budget draft proposals: "Setting our budget is always a challenge - particularly so this year with difficult global economic circumstances and a package from the Scottish Government which was £4.3 million less than we had anticipated.

"However, I believe we have come up with solutions which put this Council on a sound financial footing and which preserve our frontline services.

"I am also extremely pleased to announce that, once again, we will not be using our Reserves to support this budget."

Depute Leader (Finance) Neil Calvert added: "The Council's on-going efficiency drive and service reviews have meant that we have been identifying savings on an on-going basis, which has left us in perhaps a healthier place budget-wise than many other local authorities this year - given the less-than-expected funding from the Government.

"I am pleased to see that, as well as identifying savings in this budget, we have continued to make significant investments in service improvement. I hope the people of the Borders will welcome these investments as good news for the region."