Council Budget 2024 – Green “wins”

There was never any possibility that other political groups would support the Green group’s budget as it was the only one which did not support a council tax freeze.

While other groups backed accepting that council tax would be frozen at 5% in accordance with the direction from the Scottish Government, (who would also pay compensation to the council of £16.1 million), the Greens wanted to increase council tax by at least 6.75%.

But while their budget in full failed to get sufficient backing, the administration budget included several “green wins” according to finance spokesperson Alys Mumford.

She said: “There is an additional £2.5 million invested in climate, nature and jobs. Some of these are things which appeared in Labour’s original budget after lobbying from us and include the climate team, night time coordinator, and no education cuts in Year 2. There are also moves to spend on biodiversity equipment in parks and other public spaces as well as a massive expansion in trees for the city with investment in staffing and maintenance.”

Other additions made to the budget proposed by the administration include investment in Local Heat Networks and making homes energy efficient, while also raising money and reducing emissions from energy efficiency from the council’s corporate estate.