North Ayrshire Council has to set a balanced budget and as the Conservative Party member I do support this and congratulate the Cabinet member and Finance Officers for achieving this.
It would be churlish not to do so since for the first time for many years this has brought record levels of investment to the North Coast.
Unfortunately also for many years, the UK government has failed to balance their budgets - this has occurred irrespective of whether Labour or Conservatives were in power or in a fantasy world after May 2015, the SNP.
Hence the need to cut expenditure and austerity programmes irrespective of which government is in power
However the SNP government has exacerbated the problems for Councils
In the last 5 years in real terms expenditure on Health has increased by 6% whereas that on Councils has decreased by 9%. This has a huge effect. Added to that the council tax freeze has resulted in the prospect of more severe cuts than necessary.
However this is a budget solely designed by the SNP for the SNP – it is not a budget whose detail particularly for education the Conservatives would support
It cannot be argued that the proposed removal of over 100 teachers from classrooms will improve attainment.
If North Ayrshire is “the place to be” then educational standards must improve.
For many young people the well paid jobs of the future require high levels of skills in the stem subjects. This demands well qualified teachers in maths and science even in the primary schools.
Removal of staff is not the answer
Aspiring parents who want their children to get to a good university are seeking the gold standard of achieving 5 Highers. In North Ayrshire schools on average only 10% of pupils gain 5 Highers. Go to East Renfrewshire 50% pupils on average gains 5 Highers
We certainly do not improve by cutting teacher numbers
Having lost the referendum by a massive 11 % the SNP both nationally and locally have now to get on and govern for all within budget constraints
The leftwards march of the SNP with Nicola Sturgeon’s proposals for greatly increased stamp duty, an increased top rate of income tax and a land and property tax that Karl Marx would be proud of is just going to hit the aspiring middle classes and initiate a class war in the countryside
On the other hand the Conservative lead UK Government policies have ensured that the UK economy is the most stable in Europe, has the fastest growth in the G7 nations, has low unemployment, and record levels of employment.
These are the achievements that must be built upon
This budget presented today is not what a Conservative administration would promote.