Money-saving improvements to be identified at Moray Council

MORAY Council is to bring in external consultants to identify money-saving improvements.

The authority is seeking expertise from i-ese - a not-for-profit social enterprise - to help modernise and improve services, as well as delivering further savings to ensure the council is financially sustainable. It comes as the council yesterday reiterated that it’s facing a £12.4million deficit in its 2019/20 budget.

Opportunities for savings will be identified as part of the eight-week programme of work, as well as the potential scale of savings.

Convener of Moray Council, Cllr Shona Morrison, said: “i-ese have a considerable track record in helping councils to identify savings and it’s clear that we need to do more to balance the budget in February 2019.

“We were impressed by i-ese’s inclusive and enabling approach to build skills within the council for future changes. Their work will support transformation from a customer’s perspective, review our processes and remove parts which are of no value to our customers. All of this only seeks to improve the services which we offer to Moray residents, and offer best value for money to taxpayers.

“The work i-ese will be carrying out will simply be to identify opportunities for change; it will be up to the council to decide which ones should be taken forward, and how we manage this.”

Preparatory work will begin immediately so that the project can get under way as early as possible after the summer.

Famous for its colony of dolphins, fabulous beaches and more malt whisky distilleries than any where else in Scotland, Moray is a thriving area and a great place to live. Nestling between Aberdeenshire and the Highlands, Moray stretches from Tomintoul in the south to the shores of the Moray Firth, from Keith in the east to Brodie Castle in the west.