Highland Council rent increases .....

[mrs_inkstack]

The Highland Council are bumping up their prices to rent school gym halls for after school clubs, making it completely unviable for small community groups and clubs to survive.

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/ArtsCultureSport/Sport

To quote Government Legislation -

The Scottish Government is committed to removing all barriers in anyone's path and encouraging people to take part in sporting activities at all levels.

So why then contradict themselves and put gym hall prices up to ridiculously unrealistic prices, without any warning or consultation?

We should be encouraging our children to keep fit and stay active, considering childhood obesity is on the increase, not discourage or hinder them.

Some joined up thinking wouldn't go a miss ....... try thinking outside the box for once and not just the short term, penny pinching tactics!

What to do next? How can we persuade them to rethink their decisions and to support our local groups and all the good work that they do in the community?

[sids]

How much of an increase is it?

[Corrie 3]

How much do you have to pay to use the facilities?

C3.

[mrs_inkstack]

Around a third each year, three years ago, for three nights a week was around £1000, last year they rose to nearly £2000 and the bill from Jan - August, 8 months this year, is nearly £3000 ...... madness !

[Corrie 3]

Thats ridiculous, I would contact Rob Gibson and Alex Macloud and ask them to look into it for you. As you say, The govt's rules are that nothing should get in the way of sport.

C3.

[Bill Fernie]

The problem is that council budgets are being squeezed for another year. There was consultation - budget consultation in 2010 asking the public about what they want to spend money on in council services. Another consultation is currently underway and a public meeting was held recently in wick where about 12 members only of the public turned up. You can send in all your comments online and the link is on the front page of the Highland council web site. The more people who send in about this topic the more likely you are to have some affect on the budget and where the cuts are made for this round.

There are no easy answers as the cuts are very large and if you heard on the radio today all councils will make more cuts to one degree or another. We already had big reductions but there are more to come. Councils have few places to raise revenues now that the government has frozen the council tax for five years. Although Scottish government compensates partly for the freeze they have also cut funding to councils. The council might not increase rents for lets of halls but suggestions of what to do instead would be most welcome. But check online to see what is already cut per the last budget and what is still feeding through like hall letting rises.

As councillors we have been told by finance officials to expect more reductions for the next couple of years so there i much more pain to come in council services.

Add to this the changes to welfare benefits that are starting in April next year things are going to get much tougher before things improve.

Sorry if this sounds mite brutal but we are trying to see the best ways to keep as much going as possible and even though I am now in the opposition on the council we are going to try hard to keep the best that we can. If hall letting is high priority for many people then we will push for that but realistically we must have something to put in its place or it will not be supported.

Can you email me the details of the hall concerned so I can look more into the details. PM me your name and contact number to get back to you.

Bill

[weezer 316]

Corrie,

At risk of sounding like I am fishing, do you support the council tax freeze that's helped to cause this situation?

[sids]

Around a third each year, three years ago, for three nights a week was around £1000, last year they rose to nearly £2000 and the bill from Jan - August, 8 months this year, is nearly £3000 ...... madness !

This must mean that, in many cases, instead of getting £1,000, they'll get nothing.

[Bill Fernie]

I am still interested to get more information about school lets and the problems about charges.

The current administration via the budget consultation is once again asking for views on income generation and one of the topic for consideration is another rise in letting charges.

The numbers attending the budget consultation meetings have generally been very low so far. Anyone can put in views online at the council web site.

See this item - http://www.caithness-business.co.uk/article.php?id=3389
(http://www.caithness-business.co.uk/article.php?id=3389) then go and put your views in on this and any of the other topics - http://www.highland.gov.uk/yourcouncil/news/haveyoursay/budget2012/
(http://www.highland.gov.uk/yourcouncil/news/haveyoursay/budget2012/)
Sometimes a loud voice can work. the last administration listened and change what was possibly going to happen on support in the classroom via classroom assistants so if enough people state a view on letting charges then perhaps this will be looked at in the light of usage rather than income generation. However it should be noted that if this is saved from an increase something else will probably have to be put in its place to balance the budget. But it is important to get as many views as possible for whichever group are in administration more cuts are on the way via this budget.

Even though I am now in the opposition side as an independent councillor I have every sympathy for the current administration trying to balance the budget for next year in the face of more cuts being passed down from Westminster via the Scottish Government to local authorities.

Stil time to get your views know on school lets charges so do it now.