Infrastructure, land and environment services placed under the spotlight as they try to address financial pressures.
A veteran politician has offered to “batter heads together” in a Renfrewshire Council department after a revenue overspend of £1.2 million was predicted for the end of this financial year.
Infrastructure, land and environment services have been placed firmly under the spotlight as they try to address the financial pressures they are facing.
The situation – which the department has experienced before – has become a growing concern for elected members eager to see it brought under control.
A vexed Councillor Eddie Devine raised the issue directly with Councillor Michelle Campbell, convener of the infrastructure, land and environment policy board board, at a meeting on Wednesday.
The Paisley Southeast representative said: “It’s happening every time and I’m quite sure you’re not happy with it. I’m not happy with it when it comes time for this board because it’s just déjà vu. It’s not good enough.
“Officers need to get a grip of it and start doing their job better and I have to say that I’m disappointed that the convener, yourself, doesn’t seem to be getting a hold of it.
“I’ve been there, I know what it’s like, but you really need to get a hold of it and if you want somebody to batter heads together, I’ll volunteer with you.”
At the close of the reporting period on January 7, the projected revenue outturn at March 31 for services reporting to the board was an overspend position of £1.21m (3.6 per cent) against the revised budget for the year.
Councillor Michelle Campbell, who is also an SNP representative for Erskine and Inchinnan, said: “Thank you for your supportive comments in relation to your wisdom of having been in this position yourself, Councillor Devine.
“I think that obviously…I’m dealing with what are the predominant issues that are affecting the board at this time.
“As convener, I’m absolutely confident that I am best representing all the members of this board, the council as a whole and in the best interest of the public and that’s why these papers have a new way of being reported.
“If you remember back to your tenure and time, it would always be a sort of break-even position but there wasn’t much of a breakdown.
“That is also not a slant on yourself as the convener in the way it was reported, that was the way officers would report those papers to councillors.
“There’s been a far more transparent approach to the way that the papers are reported, which allows for members to have that better scrutiny, which I am glad to see.”
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