Call for Highland Council to earmark more than £42 million on roads and to cut council tax as budget looms
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A LEADING Inverness councillor is spearheading calls for council tax to be cut.
Councillor Andrew Jarvie and the Conservative group at Highland Council also want £42.7 million to be invested in road improvements.
The proposals are a response to the budget proposed by the administration and the SNP opposition last week, which concentrated on jobs, visitor management and recovery.
The administration also wants to freeze council tax in order to qualify for a cash injection from the Scottish Government and all elements of the plan will be debated on Thursday.
However, the Tories see it as a “missed opportunity” containing cuts which undermine its own ambitions on childcare, education, jobs and training.
They want to cut council tax by 1.84 per cent after cash from last year’s increase – which was to partly fund road repairs – went largely unspent due to the pandemic.
Tories also want to spend £26 million on roads – up from the £16.7 million already earmarked by the council.
Cllr Jarvie said: “Their budget doesn’t contain a single extra penny for our roads.
“Our roads teams cannot believe the low quotes from local firms with furloughed workers, desperate for work. Spending on roads now makes our money go the extra mile and directly supports local jobs.” - Cllr Andrew Jarvie
“Not only does our budget provide extra for roads, we also aim to cut council tax – essentially a refund for the extra council tax we all paid last year in the undelivered budget for roads.
“Our roads teams cannot believe the low quotes from local firms with furloughed workers, desperate for work. Spending on roads now makes our money go the extra mile and directly supports local jobs.”
He also hit out at cuts to education and early learning and childcare, saying: “Where the budget falls apart is the contradictory cuts to areas their recovery programme underline as essential for recovery.
“They say their budget will help people into jobs but then cut £2 million from childcare, delay full-time childcare rollout by over a year and hike childcare fees.
“It’s no use helping people find jobs if they can’t find or afford childcare.
“There are good ideas in their investment programme, but it’s completely undermined by their disjointed plan.”
Council deputy leader Alasdair Christie said: “I would have preferred Cllr Jarvie to have come direct to myself, as co-ordinator of the budget, with his proposals rather than learn about them through the newspapers.
“Our budget proposal is a well designed, carefully thought-out strategy and we are continually looking to improve it.
“If Cllr Jarvie does decide to share his information directly, then we will look at it and evaluate it and decide accordingly.
“We need to invest in the economy, in visitor management and tourism, and that will need to be resolved before the summer.
“We also need place-based solutions for the budget. Central to the budget is the need to protect and create jobs.”
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