A 'blunt and honest' take on budget cuts from council leader

Speaking ahead of a “difficult” budget next month, council leader Cammy Day said he wanted to be “blunt and honest” with people about the decisions being faced to plug a funding gap of around £20 million.

He warned whilst his priority was to shield funding for action on poverty, net zero, and to “get basic services right” that “every service across the council” would experience “some level of cuts”.

“When we’re getting ten, twenty million pounds of cuts, something has to go somewhere,” he said.

And things are likely to get much worse before they get better – as he revealed a “worst case scenario” could see the authority’s financial black hole grow to £200 million in the next five years.

However, he played down any immediate concerns about ‘effective bankruptcy’ as has been increasingly declared by councils in England.

He said the Scottish Government should “recognise” his cash-strapped council was the lowest funded in the country per-head by giving it more funding and freedom to spend it how it likes, with less cash ring-fenced.

The Labour city leader said potential measures to balance the books include raising parking charges.

A “big chunk” of the budget’s overall gap – which sits at around £50m before various mitigations are factored in – will be filled by reducing contributions to the council’s pension pot.

In addition the council “deliberately won’t fill vacancies” to save cash.

“We’ve got a few hundred vacancies and they just won’t get filled as quickly,” he said.

Money from the city’s Covid recovery fund and general council reserves will also be eaten into.

“All these things are being looked at to try and protect front-line services,” Cllr Day said. “But I don’t want to pretend that year on year we’ve not cut things. We do because we’re underfunded.”

A spokesperson for finance secretary Shona Robinson said: “In 2024-25, Edinburgh City Council will receive £988.6 million, an increase of £48.5 million or 5.2% compared to 2023-24.”

Councillors will set the 24/25 budget on February 22.