Libraries and museums escape Highland Council cuts
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MAJOR cuts to the charity that runs libraries, museums and leisure centres have been shelved, according to the Highland Council.
High Life Highland was set to lose £2.7 million from its £14 million budget as part of local authority budget cuts.
But the council’s budget leader Maxine Smith has announced that there will be no additional reductions in funding to High Life Highland and Inverness Leisure - over and above a 4 per cent cut in 2015/16 and one per cent cut in each of the following three years. This will save £900,000.
And the proposed saving of £3.2 million to take half an hour off the primary school day have also been put to one side until next year.
The administration has also put aside plans to remove the Ward Discretionary Budget, which would have made a saving of £1.032 million.
The full details of the budget are yet to be made available.
It is understood that the administration group is still seeking support for cutbacks to winter gritting and secondary school teacher numbers.
Jaci Douglas, deputy leader of the opposition Independent group, said the budget papers, which were withheld from the press, raised more questions than answers.
"The administration seem to have put an awful lot off until next year," she said. "There are a lot of unanswered questions."
A report will be taken to the full council for decisions on December 18.
The council needs to identify savings totalling £64 million over the next four years to achieve a balanced budget.
Savings of some £42 million have been identified through modernisation and efficiencies, as well as a reduction in some services.
This also includes an increase in income through fees and charges.
A consultation was held on a range of the savings which would have the most direct impact on the public, but this only represented £15.4 million from the £64 million of necessary cuts.
Councillor Smith, SNP member for Cromarty Firth said the list of other cuts was for "internal discussion only". She said; "We have consulted on items that may affect the public, anything else outwith that is either back office, internal, operational or outwith the public consultation. When the time is right and it has been considered by the administration we will release it."
