CRUCIAL public services at one of Scotland's smallest and most affluent local authorities are at serious risk unless a financial black hole running into tens of millions of pounds is addressed, watchdogs warn.
The Accounts Commission has said that without major improvements to the way it is run, East Dunbartonshire faces "increased risks to the long-term sustainability of the council's services", with its financial reserves lower than most other authorities.
The council, which lies to the north of Glasgow and includes the towns of Bearsden, Milngavie, Lenzie, Bishopbriggs and Kirkintilloch, has a shortfall of £23.3 million to make up in the three years up to 2017/18, around 10 per cent of its budget.
But in the year until 2019, the council still requires to make £17m-plus in savings.
The spending watchdog said it had "serious concerns" about the pace of the council's attempts to improve since its last inspection a few years back, warning of deficiencies including financial control and management of resources.
The Commission said: "The scale of the reductions required in its spending mean that it needs to make some fundamental changes in the services it delivers."
Despite the findings, the Labour-Tory-LibDem-run council said the funding shortfall was not of its making, with its leader Rhondda Geekie claiming there was "no blackhole in the finances" and that the authority "has a well-established approach to financial planning".
The report comes as Scotland's councils gear up for the tightest three years since the squeeze on public finances began over six years ago. Several are due to unveil how grim their outlook is up until 2019 over the weeks ahead.
With education one of the biggest spends in East Dunbartonshire, the financial situation will raise concerns about attainment in its schools, which is among the highest in Scotland and the most improved over the past decade.
The report says that while the council "now has a better understanding of the impact of an ageing population on future service demands and costs" this has resulted in it establishing it has considerably less cash than previously anticipated.
It has already overspent last year's social work budget by around £3.7m.
Since 2013 the council has also voluntarily released 179 employees, at a cost £5.6m, and reduced the number of administrative posts from 158 to 90 full-time equivalents.
But it warns there will be other impacts on staff, including reviewing terms and conditions, flexi-time working, and using agency staff.
Accounts Commission chair Douglas Sinclair said: "There is a gap between the council's ambition and seeing evidence of that on the ground. This is what East Dunbartonshire needs to address if it is to continue to deliver good quality services in the future."
Ms Geekie said: "We have delivered savings of £40m over the last eight years and our primary objective is to find the additional savings of £23m (up to 2017/18) but to still protect services and jobs.
"Our transformational approach, we believe, is the only way to achieve the unprecedented further savings whilst maintaining maximum service delivery to our residents. Whilst we acknowledge that this approach is not without risk, we intend to fully manage that risk going forward."
The council's opposition leader, Ian Mackay, of the SNP, said: "We have an authority which borrows millions, doesn't spend half it, then pays back more in interest.
"Part of the problem lies in the different priorities from members in a multi-party coalition."
David O'Neil, president of councils umbrella body Cosla, added: "Scottish local government as a whole has not got the funding to do everything it wants to do and obviously, therefore, East Dunbartonshire is no different from any other council in this respect."
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