Council winter budget soars

Jan 14 2010 by Marjorie Kerr, West Lothian Courier

A MASSIVE overspend is being predicted by West Lothian Council on their winter budget.

The local authority are predicting they will have spent £3.19 million by the end of this winter – only £2.05 million had been set aside to cover costs for the season.

And the figure represents twice the £1.56 million spent in the winter of 2006/07.

However, council leader, Peter Johnston, has defended the overspend saying it’s due to the exceptional weather conditions.

He said: “Every resource possible has been used by West Lothian Council to keep the area moving. This is underlined by the fact that we are anticipating a massive increase in spend on the winter budget this year.

“Clearly every winter is different and this winter has been exceptional, across Scotland, the UK and Europe, and that is why the winter budget is not cash limited.

“When there are exceptional circumstances like those that we have experienced over the last two weeks more funds are made available as required.

“Of course, money has to come from somewhere, and in this case the money will be transferred from other council budgets to meet the costs.

“The important issue is that we have prioritised our main routes and have very successfully kept these clear and safe to enable public transport to run and allow residents to visit relatives, access shops and health services.

“We have worked in partnership with NHS Lothian to clear health centres car parks and St John’s Hospital car park. And, we ensured that our school term started as planned, which is definitely what parents wanted us to do.”

The budget overspend was discussed at this week’s meeting of West Lothian Council Executive which also heard a report by council officers on the efforts that were made to battle the severe weather which hit the area over the festive period.

Officers reported that by the end of this week the vast majority of council adopted roads would be gritted.

Senior roads officers outlined the situation within residential areas to the Council Executive.

And they said while efforts were made to maximise the service on secondary routes, a number of factors including staff and private contractors not being available to work due to holidays and standby crews being restricted to primary routes, meant this was difficult.

Peter Johnston added: “Despite the extreme weather conditions of the last few weeks, essential social work services have continued to be delivered to all vulnerable and dependent people in West Lothian.

“This was achieved by the dedication and commitment of staff, including those working for external providers, and the strong partnership ethos that has been established in West Lothian between all the main public agencies. In addition, a key element in support of formal services was the community response, where members of the public demonstrated a willingness to assist neighbours and relatives.

“The last four weeks have certainly been a challenge for Scotland and the UK. I would like to thank council staff who have worked tirelessly in extremely difficult circumstances over the last four weeks. I would also like to thank residents for their patience.”