£3m slashed from West Dunbartonshire Council services as £21m budget gap addressed

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Cuts to school bus services, reduced hours at recycling centres and council parking enforcement have all been approved as the local authority moved to close its £21million budget gap.Council leader Martin Rooney previously said that West Dunbartonshire Council (WDC) faces, “its most significant financial challenge ever”, as decisions were taken last week to save the local authority more than £3m in the next financial year.However, the opposition SNP group have accused Labour of running the council “like a dictatorship” due to a lack of consultation with the public on cuts.WDC estimates that it will generate income of up to £325,000 per year by introducing council-led parking enforcement throughout the area, with an additional £360,000 over the next three years from the introduction of a charge to use electric vehicle charging points, which are currently free of charge.Changes to the opening hours of the area’s recycling centres will generate annual savings of £63,000 in 2023/24, rising to £113,000 in future years, whilst school transport services will be cut – bringing them more in-line with statutory guidelines.This means that free travel would only be provided for primary pupils who live more than two miles from their school and to secondary pupils who live more than three miles away.Education budgets will also be cut by more than £1m, in a move criticised by opposition groups for a lack of consultation.Further decisions to help narrow the remaining £18m gap will be taken in March.Council leader Martin Rooney said: “This council is facing the most challenging financial situation in our history and without additional funding to offset the huge increases in costs we are seeing, these impossible choices are being forced