tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17278382.post8220843896996881836..comments2023-10-16T08:37:22.742+00:00Comments on An incredulous eye on the isles: Council budget cutsElectricCrofterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09495260997875836669noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17278382.post-8215314058867503612011-09-24T10:59:07.240+00:002011-09-24T10:59:07.240+00:00Has anyone seen page 2 of this weeks gazettee. Ope...Has anyone seen page 2 of this weeks gazettee. Operational diversity officer, paths to health co-ordinator, choose life co-ordinator. Are all these positions full time? What do they do? Could their roles be combined?<br />I dont know the answer to this but surely that is the questions that need to be asked in these organisations.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17278382.post-76644739537593205422011-09-21T17:06:58.949+00:002011-09-21T17:06:58.949+00:001:49 Yup, too right. Back of the envelope calculat...1:49 Yup, too right. Back of the envelope calculations, we reckon the true cuts, after what the Comhairle is legally obliged to pay out, is nearer 30 to 35 percent.<br /><br />Reckoning in 2013, the Comhairle will have to go to the Scottish government for a bailout.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17278382.post-91132956135528482312011-09-20T14:15:22.115+00:002011-09-20T14:15:22.115+00:00There goes any more Comhairle funding for broadban...There goes any more Comhairle funding for broadband (essential, but here a funding black hole), subsidised fares of all kinds, the arts, gaelic, festival support, extra curricular school learning or event support, specialised health services not paid for by the core NHS budget.<br /><br />Even then, that's just a fraction of what they'll need to cut.<br /><br />2020 - you'll only be able to comfortably live in the Outer Hebrides if you're rich, retired, and with a private medical insurance plan.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17278382.post-81049866575548428052011-09-20T13:49:43.093+00:002011-09-20T13:49:43.093+00:00...and it's going to get far worse. How many y......and it's going to get far worse. How many years will we be paying for the schools project?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17278382.post-54011948100137422122011-09-20T13:20:39.371+00:002011-09-20T13:20:39.371+00:00Every word of that post is true. And the problem h...Every word of that post is true. And the problem has been exacerbated by the funding issues being put off, in different ways, until now.<br /><br />It doesn't help that many residents of the Outer Hebrides are, there's no other way of putting this, in denial. I've spoken to two, intelligent, balanced, residents in the last day, and we talked about the Comhairle and council services.<br /><br />One said that, yes, the next year would be difficult, but we'd get through it - meaning things will be the same, sort of, in a year or so.<br /><br />The other said that funding would be tighter, but as he was involved in providing an essential service, he should be okay.<br /><br />They're both wrong. Things won't be the same again. Even when debt and obligations are paid off, unless there's a huge pot of gold (literally) found on Comhairle owned land, funding levels will never be as they were. <b>IT IS OVER</b>.<br /><br />And there's no such thing as an "essential service", or "ringfenced funding" any more. Care services? All but the core, legally-necessary education services? Subsidies for e.g. bus fares? Infrastructure upgrades? Infrastructure maintenance? Bin collection from your doors? <br /><br />At the end of 2012, residents will look back to here, the autumn of 2011, with fond nostalgic memories of the services the Comhairle was able to provide then.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com