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Members of the public will be asked for their views on the council’s latest campaign to bring funding to �鶹��Ѱ� and Bute, as part of a consultation on budget priorities.

At its meeting today (17 October), council agreed to seek the views of local people on how best to bridge an estimated funding gap of £9.2million in 2020/21.

The consultation highlights work the council has been doing to increase funding for local services through the potential transfer of four council-run ferries to Transport Scotland.

This move would release £1m a year.

Council Leader, Councillor Aileen Morton, explained: “We’ve been doing a lot of work to raise awareness of �鶹��Ѱ� and Bute’s opportunities and challenges among those who could support its future.

“�鶹��Ѱ� and Bute needs its council to provide more services than many other councils, for example ferry services. �鶹��Ѱ� and Bute though has had a bigger cut to its council funding over recent years than most other areas in Scotland.

“We’ve been promoting �鶹��Ѱ� and Bute’s cause therefore in different ways, to try to secure more support for its council services. We want �鶹��Ѱ� and Bute to thrive.”

Work done includes setting up a Forum that brings together �鶹��Ѱ� and Bute’s Parliamentarians to consider local issues and opportunities; leading a partnership of West Coast councils seeking Scottish Government support in addressing de-population; raising �鶹��Ѱ� and Bute matters nationally via COSLA (Convention of Scottish Local Authorities); and working with other island authorities to promote island needs at UK and Scottish Government level.

The consultation agreed today includes a question on whether or not the public supports council-run ferries transferring to Transport Scotland to protect them from council budget cuts.

The ferry services under consideration for transfer are Easdale/Seil, Lismore/Port Appin, Luing/Seil; and Jura/Islay.

Councillor Gary Mulvaney, Depute Leader of the Council said, said: “It’s simple – the more funding the council has, the more we can do for local people. We are looking at all options for increasing funding for �鶹��Ѱ� and Bute. Transport Scotland delivers ferry services for other islands – it’s been running Western Isles’ ferries for a number of years, and has provided £20m+ for ferries in Orkney and Shetland.

“We obviously need to look at Transport Scotland’s role in supporting �鶹��Ѱ� and Bute, the area with the highest number of inhabited islands of all of Scotland’s councils.”

The consultation will be available on the council’s website (www.argyll-bute.gov.uk), from council customer service points, and by calling 01546 604171 from w/b 28 October, and will run until Monday 16 December.