Councillors demand evidence for claims Highland Council is facing £97 million budget shortfall
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Opposition councillors have called on Highland Council to reveal the detail behind projections that it could face a deficit as high as £97 million due to Covid-19.
The local authority recognises “the permutations and number of scenarios are infinite” but has put forward two budget scenarios dependent on when lockdown is lifted– one where the council is £65 million short and a second where it is £97 million in the red.
They have so far provided little detail of how those figures are arrived at, though they have put out a video setting out the challenges.
SNP councillor for Culloden and Ardersier, Glynnis Campbell-Sinclair, said: “Much has been said about the additional spend that the Highland Council has had to endure and I am really very keen to see the exact figures on spend at the earliest opportunity.
“When sufficient explanation did not come forward then, it is completely out of order for this to suddenly jump to £100 million without even telling councillors about the fact, let alone explain how on earth the situation is that bad.
Andrew Jarvie
“There has to have been areas where we have made savings, with schools closed, with offices closed, with officers working from home, all these things would have saved the council some money.
“So what we have to look at is what we have saved throughout this period and then put that together with the spend and it just might be that it is not consequential but for me, on a very simple matter, with members not having to go into HQ, you will have no members' expenses for travel and that has to be looked at as well.
“I was really alarmed when I read this report. To me it was a bit like the Emperor’s New Clothes in that we really need to get the truth behind it, we really need to get the exact figures."
Conservative group leader Cllr Andrew Jarvie has also refused to accept the figures without seeing more data to support the conclusions that the council does face such a large bill for coronavirus support.
“The continued lack of any form of clarity around figures and budgets remains a great frustration," he said. "I am growing tired of asking questions and being told ‘we will discuss it offline,’ to then hear nothing, or wait weeks.
“Quite aside from the fact that other councillors deserve to hear a public response to a public question, this cloak and dagger secrecy is an outright disgrace and has no place in a 21st century council.
“When this council announced it had an £80 million deficit, there was shock and disbelief at the scale of those figures and many people simply wanted an explanation they did not get.
“When sufficient explanation did not come forward then, it is completely out of order for this to suddenly jump to £100 million without even telling councillors about the fact, let alone explain how on earth the situation is that bad.
"We are now three months on and councillors are still in the dark about simple facts, I continue to get more information about the Highland Council from the press and other councils than the Highland Council itself. It is inexcusable.
“This council either does not want councillors to know the details of these figures, or it doesn’t know them itself. Both of these scenarios are as worrying as they are unacceptable."
Related articles: Highland Council outlines 'challenges' to balancing budget
