Budget for year ahead agreed

Elected Members have agreed Orkney Islands Council’s budget for the next financial year.

Councillors decided that £89.4 million (£89,392,500) should be spent on running Council services in 2021 - 2022 and that savings of £476,600 should be found during the year ahead.

This is in addition to a number of savings already agreed by the Council for 2021–2022. These amount to £97,100.

Councillors also agreed:

• A freeze on increasing Council Tax charges.
• A 1 per cent increase in funding for voluntary and other Third Sector organisations.
• Establishment of a £2.1 million Roads and Paths Repairs and Renewals Fund, using a contribution from OIC’s general reserves.
• That existing fees and charges for most Council services should increase by at least 3% from 1 April. Exceptions would include charges that are set by legislation.
• That a contribution of £7.5 million (£7,469,900) should come from the Strategic Reserve Fund to support services during the year ahead – the highest draw to date made on the Council’s reserves.

OIC’s funding allocation from the Scottish Government for the year ahead currently amounts to £82.7 million.

If agreed by Parliament, this will include £7.9 million in funding for Orkney’s inter-island ferry service, an increase on the allocation of £5.3 million awarded for 2020-2021 which would ensure the Council is fully funded to run the internal ferry services during the year ahead, allow the introduction of further all-year-round Sunday services and a Road Equivalent Tariff (RET) fare structure on local ferry routes.

However Council Leader James Stockan said that while on paper there is a slight increase on last year in proposed funding from the Scottish Government, in reality the result is a standstill position for the Council when factors such as growth in demand for services and inflation are taken into account, and one which - on a like for like basis and without ferries funding - sees Orkney receiving less per head of population than Shetland and the Western Isles.

“If Orkney was funded in the same way as the Western Isles, we would receive £14.9 million more each year to deliver council services.”

Councillor Stockan also thanked officers and elected members for their work agreeing the budget for the year ahead: “Setting and approving budgets has become somewhat of a challenge in recent years, and this year in particular with such huge uncertainty brought about by the pandemic.

"I would like to thank officers and elected members for helping to set and approve this budget in a way which allows the Council to face the unknowns while keeping life and limb services going to support our community and businesses.

"While a range of cuts has been required to set a balanced budget for the year ahead, as always a great deal of thought and effort has been devoted to finding ways to lessen the impact on the Orkney community, staff and the organisation itself.”

The measures agreed will result in a reduction of the Council’s workforce by the equivalent of two full time equivalent posts – all of which are currently vacant.

The following Council Tax charges will apply in Orkney for the year ahead:

• Council Tax Band A. £805.65.
• Council Tax Band B. £939.93.
• Council Tax Band C. £1074.20.
• Council Tax Band D. £1208.48.
• Council Tax Band E. £1587.81.
• Council Tax Band F. £1963.78.
• Council Tax Band G. £2366.61.
• Council Tax Band H. £2960.78.

Households with only one adult living in the property will continue to receive a discount of 25% on the charges detailed above.