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News / Government cuts SIC grant

THE SCOTTISH government is to cut £1 million off Shetland Islands Council’s annual block grant next year.

It also plans to reduce its grant by a further £1 million each year until 2015 to reflect the amount of money it is receiving from Westminster, which is imposing severe public spending restraint.

Next year the SIC will receive £92.4 million, downs from £93.4 million this year. In 2013/14 the proposed grant will be £91.5 million and in the following year it reaches £90.5 million.

The cuts were expected and are unlikely to shake the council’s current drive to reduce spending by £26 million over the next two years.

The SIC is also likely to agree to the Scottish government’s condition that it prioritises certain conditions, such as a council tax freeze, as it has done for the past five years.

SIC convener Sandy Cluness said the cuts would make things more difficult for the council.

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Western Isles Council faces a similar cut of £1 million a year over the next three years, however Orkney Islands Council is being offered a better deal, with a promise to gradually increase the level of grant after an initial cut of around £800,000.

The full figures can be found here.

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