BOMBSHELL council budget plans are primed to ‘eliminate services’ in Inverclyde as Municipal Buildings bosses wrestle with a funding gap of £13 million.

A catalogue of major spending cuts and job loss proposals have been drawn up — alongside a suggested hike in council tax bills of three per cent.

Among the list of potential savings to be put before councillors on Thursday is a plan to axe the district’s public CCTV system and cut community warden numbers in half from 28 to 14 in order to save a total of £545,000.

The council’s chief financial officer Alan Puckrin told the Telegraph: “There will be more of an impact on the public as a result of the budget process this time around.

“We are looking at an elimination of service in some areas.”
Other proposals include a 100 per cent increase in parking charges from £1 to £2 per day and the introduction of charges within car parks which are currently free to use.

Funding to regeneration body Riverside Inverclyde has also been earmarked to be slashed, along with an overall reduction in council investment in economic development.

There is also a plan to transfer Whinhill Golf Club to a third party in order to make a modest budget saving of £20,000.

Meanwhile 126 local authority jobs are set to go under the current plans, including a reduction of 16 frontline street sweeper and clean up staff.

Mr Puckrin said: “A lot will hinge on the settlement we receive from the Scottish Government in December and pay negotiations but yes, at the moment the picture is pretty bleak.”

The current proposals also include a range of increases in charges for services, including for burials and cremations and also a 10 per cent hike in registrar services.

Centrally funded breakfast clubs in primary schools could disappear in order to make a total saving over two financial years of £257,000.

There is also a planned reduction in how often non-hygiene areas within schools are cleaned in a bid to cut 22 jobs and save £624,000.

The withdrawal of free swimming for the over 60s is also on the agenda, alongside the ‘potential closure of some facilities’ run by Inverclyde Leisure — which, along with the district’s museums, may also have to endure reduced opening hours to save £958,000 across the next two financial years.

Funding for Inverclyde’s Youth Connections service is also earmarked to be axed in a £240,000 savings proposal, with the council looking to offload resulting ‘redundant property’.

Grants to voluntary organisations in the district are also primed to be slashed by 47 per cent, to the tune of £114,000.

Commercial waste charges are set to be increased, kerbside glass recycling removed, as well as a shift to bin collections every three weeks.

Roads, winter and verge maintenance could be reduced in order to achieve a saving of £424,000 over the next two financial years.

Elsewhere, it is proposed to remove five full-time jobs and save £240,000 by closing the council’s Port Glasgow customer service desk and also ‘reduce resources’ at its Greenock Customer service centre.

Mr Puckrin stressed that the proposals are ‘not set in stone’ and the public will be consulted prior to any decisions being made.

He said: “There is a significant amount of work in progress which will continue over the next three months around savings, efficiencies, pressures and policy proposals.”

Thursday’s meeting of the full council will be asked to approve a delay in the public consultation until after the financial settlement from the Scottish Government is known.

Inverclyde Council’s government grant for core service delivery has been cut by £10 million in the last two years and a total of £50 million has vanished from the local authority’s budget since 2008.