ABERDEENSHIRE Council is poised to save £11 million, according to latest figures.

A monitoring report on the budget up until December of last year will go before the authority’s policy and resources committee today (Thursday).

Finance chiefs will report how services are responding to the long-term financial strategy, which takes into account growing pressures on budgets over the next five to ten years.

The report shows an underspend of nearly £11 million, which accounts for around 2% of the council’s budget, and says it reflects the positive way services are responding to the challenges ahead without having a matetrial impact on service delivery.

Underspends are being reported across a range of areas. Capital financing charges and interest payments will not be spent to the tune of £1.7 million.

Waste disposal is forecast to underspend by £1.1 million through factors including waste being transported by the council rather than by a contractor.

Internal transport would see £797,000 not being spent through savings in leasing costs and delays in the purchase of small vehciles and plant.

Economic development will underspend by £899,000, largely due to holding funds for specific projects on Business Gateway, the Regeneration Fund and Macduff Town Centre Improvement Zone, which will now be spent next year.

The report to councillors says: “Older People Residential Care will underspend by £903,000 due to the introduction of revised working patterns for staff and an increase in charges to clients.

In addition, delays in opening a new care home in Stonehaven have meant that staff costs are not required in the current financial year.

“The building repairs and maintenance budget is expected to overspend by almost £1million due to pressure of maintaining the council’s buildings.

“This has been recognised by councillors and additional funding agreed to support this work in future years.

“Cross-service savings of almost £1million are unlikely to be achieved during this financial year and work is on-going to find alternative savings through procurement activity.”

Provision is being made through the budget process to ensure the council maintains teacher numbers and manages changes to teachers’ terms and conditions and the teachers’ induction scheme.

In the report, the Head of Finance advises that the underspends are largely one-off, rather than recurring savings and that decisions taken throughout the budget-setting process reflect the approach to the longer-term planning the council has adopted where further cuts to services can be avoided, or at least minimised by the re-investment of current year’s savings.

Councillors will today (Thursday) be asked to approve more than £330,000 for North-east community transport initiatives.

The Aberdeenshire Community Transport Initiative (ACTI) was established in April 2008, following the transfer of responsibilities for funding by Holyrood to councils.

Grants are awarded of up to 75% of project costs for the provision of community-based rural passenger transport such as community buses, dial-a-trip services, and voluntary car schemes.

ACTI currently provides grant funding to seven local groups who were previously funded by the Scottish Government - Buchan Dial-a-Community Bus, Banffshire Partnership Limited, Ballater Royal Deeside Limited, Mid Deeside Limited (Deeside Community Transport Group), Mearns Community Transport, The Silver Circle and WRVS.

WRVS has a three year grant up to March 2013, and after it was asked to reduce costs for 2012/13 it has cut its funding request from £27,351 to £25,160.

The six other groups are seeking funding of £332,169 for the financial year 2012/13.

Given the council’s current financial position, the funding will run for one year if approved by councillors, having previously been allocated for a three-year period.

The policy and resources committee will be asked today to approve the applications.

The overall amount is a reduction of around 10%, or £40,000, on previous annual funding packages, decided by the full council.

Community groups were advised in February 2011, to allow them time to plan how to manage the reduction.

Only Buchan Dial-a-Community Bus anticipates it will have a direct impact on services. Aberdeenshire Council’s Head of Transportation, Ewan Wallace, said: “Our officers are continuing to speak to Buchan Dial-a-Community Bus to help them identify alternative sources of funding.

“As the service is aimed at patient transport, we are also speaking to NHS Grampian about any assistance which it may be able to give.

“Work is also currently being done by public sector partners to look at the wider delivery of patient transport under the Health and Transportation Action Plan, so there is potential here for any gap in service to be filled.

“Of course, it is up to all of the groups how they allocate the funds we provide – they do have the option of looking at overheads generally, or to levy a small increase in charges to the users of that service.”

Due to the current financial position, it is not considered appropriate to agree further funding beyond 2013. Any proposed grant awards for the financial year 2013/14 onwards will be contained in a future committee report.

]]> 1.2123713 Thu, 23 Feb 2012 01:00:00 +0000 http://www.inverurieherald.co.uk/darts_stars_take_inverurie_by_storm_1_2131936

Darts fever came to Inverurie on Friday (February 17) with some of the world’s top players battling it out for the annual Garioch Masters.

There was a fantastic atmosphere at the Garioch Sports Centre with seven of the game’s leading players contesting the title, alongside local Aberdeen qualifier David Knowles.

With an audience of more than 400 roaring them on, the giants of the game, including recently crowned world champion Adrian Lewis, had the Inverurie venue absolutely rocking and put on a superb display for the fans.

In the end it was Englishman James Wade who walked off with a 5-3 win and the title after gaining revenge on Australian Simon Whitlock who had beaten him 8-4 in Thursday night’s thrilling Premier League match at the Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre.

The Garioch Masters event organiser, Graeme Kennedy, said it had been a great night and everything had gone perfectly.

He added: “Its been yet another terrific night here at The Venue and I would like to pay tribute to all those who have made it such a success.

“Centre manager Stuart Gordon and his team do a fantastic job, and the players really enjoy coming here and they all have great fun in a tremendous atmosphere.”

The fans lapped up the occasion and were left clamouring for more.

One said: “It was great being at something like this .

“You see it on the telly but you can’t beat actually beat being there. Seeing the top players in the game in action is something you don’t forget.”

Another added: “It’s great seeing these guys in Inverurie. To get all those big names at one event is fantastic. I can’t wait for them to come back again. What an evening.”

Local residents will have a last chance to comment on Taylor Wimpey’s application to build 335 new homes at Souterford.

The proposal includes 35 per cent affordable and accessible homes for social rent and low-cost ownership – helping to tackle Inverurie’s chronic affordability problem.

Paul Hughes, strategic land manager at Taylor Wimpey said: “We believe that Souterford, which is the closest development site to the town centre and railway station in Inverurie, would bring some much-needed new affordable homes and provide a welcome economic boost to the town centre, being just 5-10 minutes’ walk away.

Comments on the application, which must be in by March 1, can be made by emailing ga.planapps@aberdeenshire.gov.uk, quoting the Reference Number APP/2011/4248 and the words ‘Souterford, Inverurie’ in the subject or by writing to the planning case officer Neil Mair at Gordon House, Blackhall Road, Inverurie, AB51 3WA.