Briefing note for community engagement on council's finances

Moray councillors are to be asked to approve a briefing note as part of a community engagement exercise on the council’s financial position.

The note, which will go before the full Moray Council for approval on Wednesday, has been drafted by the council’s service development group to help stimulate public debate on where savings and efficiencies might be made.

Current levels of service provision are not sustainable and savings of around £14million will require to be found over the next two years.

The briefing note gives examples of areas where the council may have to make difficult decisions in terms of service reductions, although it stresses that no decisions have been made.

Councillors will be told that the council was keen to provide information in a way that was useful and accessible to the public and that the engagement exercise would provide local communities with a real opportunity to influence the difficult decisions that would have to be made.

In a covering report to Wednesday’s meeting, corporate services director Mark Palmer said: “More detailed information will be made available to enable members of the public to learn more about the services provided by the council, the budget allocations for those services and the external requirements and constraints within which the council is required to operate.

“The current estimate is that by 2017-18, if no action were taken, then council services would cost £14million more to provide than the annual income received.

“In terms of engagement with communities, the first challenge will be to gain a much wider understanding of the financial situation and the types of changes councillors will have to make.”