THE Scottish Conservative group on Fife Council have given advance notice of what they would do if in power by laying out their Budget plans, which include keeping any Council Tax rise below 4% and re-opening leisure centres.

The Budget meeting at Fife House takes place on Thursday when some hard decisions may have to be taken.

In addition, the Opposition Conservative Group would invest to allow greater competition in road maintenance and transport, focus on hungry children during school holidays, and stop cutting privately owned grass for free.

Speaking ahead of Thursday’s annual Budget meeting, Councillor Dave Dempsey, the Leader of the Opposition on Fife Council, said: “We can’t keep cutting budgets and damaging the services the public rely on. In recent months, we’ve seen council swimming pool and recycling centre hours slashed - with more to come.

“It doesn’t have to be like this - if only the council administration weren’t so paranoid about allowing more private enterprise into the mix".

He went on: “As part of a package of measures, we will invest to allow greater competition in road maintenance and transport, saving hundreds of thousands in subsequent years; re-instate the swimming pool and recycle centre opening hours and, instead of feeding everyone regardless of need, we will target the holiday service at genuinely hungry children, and allow a third sector organisation like Gingerbread to deliver it - saving the Fife taxpayer £150,000 per year.

“We will also stop cutting privately owned grass for free - saving £650,000 per year - and give that cash to area committees to spend as they see fit on local services – including reversing Fife-wide cuts if that’s what a locality needs most.”

Councillor Dempsey added: “We will do this and more while keeping the Council Tax rise below 4%. We wouldn’t have to raise taxes at all if the Scottish Government would fund local authorities properly.

“COSLA, the local authority body, has stated that the SNP Government is cutting £95 million from local authority budgets which is around £6 million from Fife Council. With the Scottish Block Grant rising by more than inflation, it’s no use blaming Westminster - we know where responsibility lies.”

The SNP/Labour coalition will be putting their proposals on the table on Thursday morning at Fife House.