Aberdeenshire’s administration has given itself 100 days to bring forward six key areas for development.

Investment in towns and villages, assistance to small and medium sized business and a focus on tourism and the hospitality industry are expected to provide a much-needed boost to the local economy.

The administration has also committed to increasing pre-school and nursery provision and increasing care at home services for older people and accelerating plans to improve roads, provide affordable housing and replace schools and care homes.

The announcement comes as the Aberdeenshire Alliance launches its vision for the next five years, with a cash injection provided to each of the six development areas. The money will come from one-off savings that the council has generated over the last 12 months.

Savings of £11million were announced by the council in April, and as the end of year accounts are being finalised, the savings are larger than were forecast in April – with possibly as much as £20 million of savings being made by the council through on-going efficiency projects.

In May, the Aberdeenshire Alliance was formed to take on the administration of Aberdeenshire Council. It has set out its programme of work which reflects the main priorities for the council over the next five years.

Leader of the Council, Cllr Jim Gifford explained: “In developing our five year plan, we have listened to what our residents are telling us they want to see happen. We believe that Aberdeenshire Council is widely recognised as an effective, efficient and responsible local authority. We want to build on this and continue to deliver excellent local services to and for our residents.

“The 100 day pledge demonstrates that we mean business. The projects we’ve chosen will make an important contribution to kick-start the economy, and respond to issues that we know are important to local people.”

The key areas for a cash investment as part of the 100 day pledge are:

• Invest in our towns and villages – creating better places to live and work
• Provide assistance to small and medium sized businesses – helping our economy to flourish
• Boost the tourism and hospitality industries – attracting visitors and inward investment to the area
• Increase pre-school and nursery provision – improving the life chances of all children
• Increase care at home services for older people – more choices, better quality of support
• Accelerate plans to improve roads, provide affordable housing and replace schools and care homes

Officers will draw up proposals for each of the development areas and these will be presented at the next meeting of full council on 28th June.

Deputy Leader of the Council, Cllr Martin Kitts-Hayes said: “This is an exciting programme which directly reflects what local people are telling us are their priorities.

“We are committed to building on the strong reputation we have as a council that is responsive to the needs of our communities. I believe that the 100 day pledge will up the pace of change in the areas of greatest need.”

Co-ordinator of the Independent Group Cllr Norman Smith added: “I believe that this is a strong programme of work that will deliver tangible improvements to communities right across Aberdeenshire.

“We want our council services to be the best available and this programme will support us on that journey.”

Read the Aberdeenshire Alliance document Towards the best in Scotland

I am looking forward to the first SW&H meeting of the new session next Thursday and I am delighted to have been appointed to this Committee. My special interest is affordable housing, but I look forward to finding out more about the proposed integration of health and social care services and how these and the many other services within the remit of SW&H can be shaped to meet individual needs. Huge congratulations to our colleague Karen Clark who has been appointed Chair; she brings both experience and new ideas to the committee and I look forward to working with Karen and all colleagues on Social Work & Housing. See Karen’s blog on her new role:

http://karenclark.mycouncillor.org.uk/2012/06/01/new-role-as-chair-of-social-work-and-housing/

Before you cast your vote on Thursday 3rd May, a reminder of the services your local authority is responsible for. It is important for all residents to have their say about who will look after the services they use over the next five year term.

Scotland’s 32 local authorities provide a wide range of valuable services to their local area. The main services they provide, in addition to their regulatory and licensing functions are:

Education

Social Work

Roads and Transport

Economic Development

Housing and the Built Environment

The Environment

Libraries

Waste Management

Police

Fire & Rescue

Arts, Culture & Sports

For further information on any of these local services, please see www.aberdeenshire.gov.uk

The Liberal Democrat Group on Aberdeenshire Council has launched their manifesto for the council election on May 3, detailing their proposals and commitments across the whole range of council services.

Entitled ‘Local, Listening, Delivering’, the manifesto builds on the achievements of the Liberal Democrat-led Administration, stressing the need for local decision-making in the delivery of services to residents and communities.

Aberdeenshire Council has been led by Liberal Democrats since its inception in 1995 and is independently recognised as an effective, efficient and responsible council, despite the significant reduction in grants over the past few years.

The council is delivering savings of some £54m from its budget. In addition it has set a course for meeting the further significant savings required over the next few years.

Council Leader Anne Robertson said, “In 2007 we made clear commitments to the people of Aberdeenshire. I am proud that we have delivered the overwhelming majority of them, despite the most difficult financial situation ever to face Aberdeenshire Council.

“Our record shows clearly that we keep the commitments we make. We have delivered effective and efficient services, always based on our core principles of fairness, equality and responsiveness. We have delivered services according to need and not for political advantage.

“Our careful management of the council’s resources and budgets has meant that we are able to invest for the future, by building new schools for example or putting extra money into our roads and economic development. We will continue to invest to strengthen the Aberdeenshire economy.

“Our priority is and will remain, Aberdeenshire. We are driven by common-sense, local decision-making rather than by political dogma. We listen to our residents and take their views very seriously”

For the manifesto in full, please click below:

http://iriswalker.mycouncillor.org.uk/?page_id=428&preview=true

Contact for further information

For further information contact Cllr Anne Robertson (07824461997), Cllr Karen Clark (01330824980) or Cllr Martin Kitts-Hayes (07909897571)

A printed copy of the manifesto can be obtained by sending an email to

aberdeenshire.manifesto@hotmail.co.uk

http://youtu.be/QBYGl6gFPsc

For full details click on the link below:

http://www.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/news/release.asp?newsID=2368

Councillors will also meet next Thursday to consider a five year budget for Aberdeenshire Council and agree a balanced budget for the next three years.

Councillors will be asked to agree a budget of £548 million to deliver a range of vital local services to the residents of Aberdeenshire over the next year.

In a report prepared by the Head of Finance, councillors will be asked to agree a series of Scottish Government policy initiatives. If agreed, the Council’s grant will be maintained at the level announced by the Government in December last year, and commit the council to delivering a council tax freeze for 2012/13, maintaining police and teacher numbers, a contribution to Change Funds and a re-profiling of capital funding.

Last year the council agreed to deliver £52 million of savings across all services, which included reviews to make the council more efficient, as well as some reductions to services. The council continues to progress this and these savings will be delivered by the end of 2012/13.

In considering a five year budget, the council will be in a good position to prepare for future challenges and restrict the impact that budget reductions have on local communities. At the meeting, councillors will be asked to consider options for making further savings in future years.

The Scottish Government has announced indicative settlement figures for the next few years, which reveal a £10 million shortfall for Aberdeenshire Council by 2014/15.

The council is making preparations now to relieve the impact on communities of these shortfalls and officers will recommend that underspends that are currently being forecast should be used to reduce the pressure in later years, along with other proposals for delivering service efficiencies.

Councillors will discuss the budget proposals at the meeting of Aberdeenshire Council on Thursday 9th February 2012.