Midlothian Council agrees new round of cutbacks
Key public services in the county are to be cut as part of efforts to meet a huge funding deficit faced by the local authority.
At a meeting of Midlothian Council, members agreed to savings amounting to 2.97 million.
Of this, 509,243 was considered in private, with a council spokesman refusing to comment on speculation the figure could be met by jobs cuts.
Asking members to agree to the cost-cutting proposals – and to freeze council tax – council leader Derek Milligan (Lab) said: "I do not think any of us came into politics to take decisions like this. And I think – I'm sorry to say this – it's going to get harder."
Even with the approval of the measures, the local authority will still have to find more than 1.6 million to bridge a total funding gap of 5 million.
As part of the measures, there will be no renewal of temporary contracts for foreign language and learning assistants, leisure charges will increase and a 20 fee will be introduced for parking badges for disabled drivers.
Full and details of where the axe will fall in this week's Midlothian Advertisers – on sale now.
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