Perth and Kinross Council budget: proposals to raise council tax, improve bus services and protect jobs among those being tabled by opposition groups

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Raising council tax, better bus services and pledges to protect jobs are just some proposals being tabled by opposition groups when Perth and Kinross Council (PKC) sets its 2024/25 budget this week.Last week senior officers published budget recommendations which included a raft of service cuts, over 70 job losses, an 85p price hike on school meals and shorter secondary school days as it seeks to scrape back £31 million of savings over three years.One Perth and Kinross councillor this week accused the Scottish Government of "short-changing every local authority in Scotland and our services and staff are having to pay the price".On Wednesday, February 28 Perth and Kinross Council will set the 2024/25 revenue and capital budgets as well as the provisional budgets for 2025/26 and 2026/27.The budget proposals drawn up by council officers particularly hit Perth and Kinross schoolkids.

Options include: teacher cuts; shorter secondary school days; closing breakfast clubs; removing school crossing patrollers; cuts to instrumental music tuition; stopping primary school swimming lessons; axing an educational psychologist, and a 36 per cent increase in the cost of school meals.

A primary school meal - for P6 and P7 pupils - would rise by 75p from £2.15 to £2.90 and by 85p - from £2.30 to £3.15 - for secondary pupils.Liberal Democrat group leader Peter Barrett said his party "won’t be bullied into a council tax freeze by Humza Yousaf".

The report going before councillors states PKC has been offered £4.7 million of Scottish Government funding to support a council tax freeze - £703,000 greater than the indicative 3.9 per cent increase voted through by councillors last year for 2024/25.Since the PKC report was published, the Scottish