Comhairle cuts are ‘the deepest in Scotland’

This has been confirmed by the Accounts Commission for Scotland’s newly-published performance review, which states: “The Comhairle saw a 14.6 per cent decrease in real terms funding between 2012-14 and 2018-19. … Had the Comhairle received the same proportion of overall funding in 2020 as it did in 2010, it would have received an additional £20 million”.

Confirmation of the scale of financial cuts suffered by the Comhairle coincide with a budget setting exercise for the coming years which warns that they will have to dig deep into reserves in order to limit their financial shortfall – and still carry a substantial deficit into next year.

There is also a warning that all “discretionary” services provided by the Comhairle could be lost unless the financial position improves.

The Accounts Commission findings underpin a report which also criticises the Comhairle for not meeting its “ambitious” target for savings and for a lack of strategic direction on the part of elected councillors. However, areas of strength identified include education and business support.

It states: “Comhairle nan Eilean Siar has not yet demonstrated that it is meeting its Best Value duty in a number of important areas. It has implemented successful initiatives and shows good practice in community engagement and in supporting the local economy, but the pace of wider-scale change and improvement has been slow.

“The Comhairle’s prospects for achieving the improvements needed are currently uncertain and will be influenced by its ability to successfully manage its finances, workforce and leadership capacity”.

The report continues: “The Comhairle does not have an effective medium- or long-term financial strategy that links to transformation, workforce and asset planning. It has only partly realised its ambitious savings anticipated from service redesign”.

Saying that the Comhairle “has performed well to support the local economy”, the review found: “It supports the highest proportion of unemployed people into work in Scotland (at 21 per cent compared with a national average of six per cent for Scottish councils).

The Independent Living and Learning Service also wins praise while the report notes that “the Outer Hebrides has the second highest rate of Business Gateway supported start-up businesses” at more than double the Scottish average.

Additionally, “the Comhairle and its partners reacted quickly to the pandemic. It made good use of digital technology to maintain council business, home working and access to education”.

The Comhairle’s “corporate strategy” is criticised for not identifying its main priorities within a broad range of outcomes.

It advises: “The Comhairle should set clear and specific priorities to identify exactly what it needs to do to achieve its vision.

“This would support elected members and the corporate management team in ensuring that the vision is achieved. It would also help communicate a compelling case for concentrated action on key issues to staff and stakeholders”.

The report continues: “The Comhairle should seek to involve members more in strategic decision making. Many papers recommending policy or decisions are presented for members’ approval. It should consider making greater use of options papers to allow members to take active decisions. A stronger Comhairle-wide focus on its priorities would also encourage stronger strategic scrutiny and leadership from elected members”.

The Comhairle should have “stronger oversight of elected members’ development”, says the report, explaining: “Training is provided on key issues, such as budget strategy and the Islands Growth Deal, but there is no formal ongoing training programme.

"Members’ uptake of training is mixed, and they would welcome more structured ongoing training. This should include training on statutory roles and wider topics such as financial scrutiny, members’ conduct, working relationships and using social media”.

A survey of Comhairle senior management found that “one of the most significant issues was the conduct and behaviour of some elected members. The chief executive has worked with elected members to address concerns over how a small number of members have interacted with officers”.

The report states: “Population decline is the most significant issue facing the islands and poses challenges for sustaining services such as social care and health services.

"The population is projected to fall by 9.4 per cent between 2018 and 2033, the biggest decline for any Scottish local authority, whereas the Scottish population is projected to increase by 2.3 per cent.

“Over this period, the population of people in the islands aged over 75 years is projected to increase by more than 30 per cent, with a decline in the working age population of 13 per cent and a decline in the numbers of children by almost 20 per cent”.

Gazette view: More than a decade of Scottish Government cuts to council budgets are coming home to roost in a big way with the Western Isles treated far worse than any other authority – as now confirmed by the Accounts Commission for Scotland.

A population-based formula fails to recognise the challenges faced by a council which struggles with depopulation and additional costs of remoteness. It is beyond comprehension that the Western Isles is treated in this way with so little challenge.

Loss of working age population means authorities need more money per head to maintain services – not less! There has been a culpable failure to highlight the treatment of the Western Isles at Holyrood over all the years in which the numbers confirmed by the Accounts Commission have been evolving.

We are living through hard times and the challenges are intense. Dipping deep into reserves may tide the Comhairle over but, as Malcolm Burr warns, that option is “unsustainable”.

The vast majority of Comhairle funding comes from Edinburgh. There are few other sources from a small population base. Once reserves run out, further shortfalls can only translate into even more cuts.

Nobody can now dismiss the shocking statistics confirmed by the Accounts Commission. Unless they’re addressed and reversed, the future for public services in these islands is indeed bleak. Fewer services mean fewer people and so this cruel cycle will go on.