Aberdeen City Council's financial woes are worse than first feared, as a new council report has revealed. The Scottish authority must make almost £50m in cuts – around double the £27m originally reported. The new figure of £49.7m has come to light after the Best value audit improvement plan report was presented to an all-party urgent business committee at the council last Friday. The city authority was forced to produce the plan after a damning best value report and subsequent inquiry in May, which found it was facing ‘extremely serious challenges'. The council claims it has always been transparent about the amount it needs to save this year to balance the books. But Aberdeen South Labour MP, Anne Begg, told the BBC the amount was a ‘bolt out of the blue', and warned it could lead to ‘enormous cuts in services'. Scotland's finance secretary, John Swinney, has made clear there will be no extra money for Aberdeen. He said: ‘The council has got to manage its way through what is a very difficult situation.' Cuts are likely to include a freeze on recruitment and a halt to all major capital projects. An external finance support group is advising the council and an interim chief executive is expected to be appointed within weeks.
