Research by the independent Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe) shows that councils in Scotland have seen almost £750m axed from their budgets for front-line services over the past five years as they “suffer the brunt” of Scots austerity cuts.
The study says this is a “much faster rate” than the decline in cuts to the Scottish Government’s budget from Westminster over the same period – £547m.
The steepest cuts have been felt by the Western Isles, with a £504 per reduction in funding per resident, which compares with a £36 fall in North Ayrshire. The biggest mainland fall has been on Argyll and Bute where funding is down by £288.
Aberdeenshire has suffered too, and we expect further unwelcome cuts in services as a result in less funding from the Scottish Government in the coming years.
A COSLA spokesperson said: “There is no doubt that councils have suffered the brunt of cuts in recent years and the simple truth is that Scotland’s councils have no room left to manoeuvre in terms of budgets.”
Many newspapers have carried this story today, such as the Herald: http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/16240849.Council_funding_per_person_falls_by_up_to___504_in_five_years/
Whilst this is beyond your own local area, might it not be a possibility to cut grass , tidily along the roads of Aberdeenshire. After all we do have a large footfall of tourists by car and via Royal Deeside etc, and on journeys to Inverness as well as the Buchan Coast. How messy when you see a cut right at road side and a big bunch of dandelions and weeds that escaped a few inches beyond. Fussy ?????
There are differing views about this. I agree that nicely cut grass looks pleasing, however there is a counter argument which I heard on the radio the other day. By not cutting all of the verge it allows nature to flourish with native grasses and flowers taking advantage which in turn provides an environment for bugs and beasties to flourish. The council will continue to cut back verges though if there is a road safety reason for doing so, such as at junctions, corners and road edges.