Council spending - have YOUR say

Skerries Hall - 28 October

Transport links were the main concern at the third public meeting on council spending in Skerries.

19 people attended the afternoon meeting in the Skerries Hall, which was chaired by Councillor Leslie Angus, accompanied by Councillor Allison Duncan and the Council’s interim Head of Finance, Hazel Sutherland.

In the presentation, Ms Sutherland indicated that education, care services and transport are the highest areas of spend for the council.  One commenter highlighted that, as Skerries has no care centres, the only area where significant savings could be considered was in transport.

Several attendees stressed the importance of maintaining the current level of ferry service for Skerries, keeping both the Lerwick and Vidlin runs.

It was suggested that more could be done to identify weak points in the use of public transport throughout the isles and any points of low usage should be put forward as first for savings.  The Skerries ferry runs as a bookings-only service, and it was put forward that this could be extended to all off-peak sailings in Shetland, reducing the number of empty sailings.

It was also suggested that there should be an investigation into fare and crew levels on all the ferries.  One commenter wondered whether 6 crew for a 30 person ferry was really necessary. Would getting rid of the fares actually save money, with potentially one less member of crew?  The possibility of basing the ferry crew out of Skerries rather that Whalsay was also raised, potentially reducing the number of working hours.

The dredging of the South End was another concern that was raised at the meeting.  The project was suggested as a key "spend to save" way to increase the capacity of Skerries harbour, reduce the time it takes for the ferry to get in and cut carbon costs.

Some people expressed the opinion that the air service had become unreliable due to weight and wind restrictions and that if it was more reliable, it would be used more. It was stressed that any cuts to the air service would need to result in an increase in the ferry service.

Other issues that were discussed at the meeting included; the possibility of fixed links for other islands, the perception of inefficiencies within certain council departments and a lack of communication between them, the effects that new oil developments will have on reserves, and making sure that safeguards are in place so that money isn’t wasted revisiting large scale projects again and again.

Towards the end of the session, it was acknowledged that more notice would be appreciated for the follow up meetings and that an evening slot would mean that more people would be able to attend. Councillor Duncan welcomed the presence of three young high school students at the meeting.

Click here for a full transcript of the meeting

If you have a savings suggestion for the council please email: savings@shetland.gov.uk

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