WATCHDOGS have warned the Scots council running some of the country's most affluent neighbourhoods that it “needs to significantly up its game” amid mounting anxiety over a multi-million pound black hole.
East Dunbartonshire has been told that despite several previous instructions to get to grips with a funding gap approaching £30million, concerns remain over its ability to deal with the problem.
It is the third time the council, home to leafy suburbs including Bishopbriggs, Bearsden, Lenzie and Milngavie, has been inspected by Audit Scotland in as many years, with a further investigation now scheduled for 2017.
The watchdog has said some cash-saving projects have been delayed by over three years, raised concerns about the size of redundancy pay-offs and said councillors have been asked to make decisions based on jargon-heavy 1200-word reports.
It added that although East Dunbartonshire was looking to make significant savings by sharing services with neighbouring councils in one of the boldest moves attempted within Scots local government, the level of anticipated cash savings was not clear.
But council leader, Labour's Rhondda Geekie expressed her disappointment in how the report has been published, claiming that while the document outlines progress "their media emphasis is on 'concern' and 'capability'".
The report, released today, states: "We remain concerned that the council does not demonstrate adequate capability to deliver its ambitious transformation programme and thus its ability to address its significant funding gap. Our concern is evidenced by failure to meet targets and lack of clarity about the savings to be achieved.
"The (Accounts) Commission needs the council to demonstrate effective leadership in ensuring the required change."
Accounts Commission chair Douglas Sinclair said: "All councils face future funding gaps and are having to make radical changes in how services are provided. East Dunbartonshire needs to significantly up its game to deliver on its ambitions."
But Ms Geekie said: "I make no apologies for our ambitious transformation programme. Local government has faced unprecedented and relentless budget cuts in recent years and no one can deny the challenging financial environment we all face.
"Our approach has been to continuously review our organisational structure and transform how our services are delivered, before we consider cutting services. We have said from the outset that maintaining services, particularly to the most vulnerable in our communities, is our absolute priority."
The inspection found a raft of significant improvements at the council since the last report but said rectifying a projected funding gap of £27.6m remained behind schedule.
It said the council had reduced its number of chief officers and other staff over the last year to make savings. But the cost of removing 101 employees from the books was £8.99m, with East Dunbartonshire having the second highest total cost of redundancies among Scottish councils. adding that this "also suggests scope for the council to review whether the terms of its exit packages represent best value".
New HR and payroll system were now operational, three years behind schedule, with a community hub in Lennoxtown also now open but two years later than planned.
The watchdog also found less meetings were taking place in secret but added: "On occasion, elected members have been asked to consider papers of over 400 pages for a single meeting, with papers for the council meeting in November 2015 totalling 1212 pages.
"The language in some reports is still inaccessible, with a reliance on jargon. The council still has some way to go in...providing members with clear, concise reports written in plain language."
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