Concern over £15,000 spend

Today the council's recess sub-committee met to consider a variety of reports. You can read the agenda here. I am not a member of this sub-committee but I was interested to read reports about the £15,000 which is being spent on staging an outdoor section of the Last Night of the Proms in Dundee. I welcomed the announcement in May that Dundee was to host the Scottish finale of the Proms. I think that this will be an excellent event and I welcome it to Dundee. However I do agree with my Labour colleagues Kevin Keenan and Brian Gordon that spending £15,000 on setting up a big screen needs to be placed in the context of the council's current financial position.

It is good to note that SNP councillors in the city are keen to promote this celebration of British identity. Unfortunately it would be better if they shared more detail on the financial situation which faces the council. Whilst I think this will be a good event for the city I could not support this expenditure without knowing what services will be cut and which services will be protected in the future. There is a need for much more openness on the future budget of the City Council. I think that as councillors we need to ensure that we are doing all we can to protect jobs and services before we start spending extra money.