FIFE councillors are due to agree on cuts which will help to plug a £9 million funding gap today (Thursday).

A range of cost-saving measures and investments will be outlined at a special full council meeting.

The joint administration has said it will review management structures in the secondary schools, look at increasing primary school class sizes and cut the number of supply teachers as part of its cost-cutting.

The SNP and Labour co-leaders announced last week that they do not plan to cut pupil support assistant numbers, breakfast clubs and music tuition while cash – a total of £400,000 – will be set aside to tackle holiday hunger.

More than £300,000 is to be invested into schools over the next 10 years with £117,000 set aside for replacement schools for Inverkeithing, Woodmill and St Columba's high schools.

Council Tax is set to rise by three per cent – the joint administration said it had been suggested that local authorities raise this by 4.79 per cent, however, they decided to limit the increase as they recognised the other financial pressures on families and individuals across Fife.

Council tenants will see their rent increased by 3.2 per cent or an average of £2.27 per week.

The joint administration said they would not be proposing the introduction of a workplace car parking levy because of the mixed rural/urban nature of Fife and the lack of suitable public transport alternatives.

A fund of £50,000 will be allocated to each of the seven areas in Fife to put towards anti-poverty measures.

Fife Gingerbread will get a funding allocation of up to £60,000 for three years, on condition that two staff members from Fife Council are taken on board to restructure its organisation to become sustainable (see story on page 22).

A total of £300,000 has been allocated for headstone repair and maintenance in Fife's cemeteries.

At today's meeting, Conservative councillors were due to propose an amendment to the joint administration's budget proposals which they describe as "an unimaginative, lacklustre offering from an unimaginative, lacklustre administration."

It said the SNP and Labour offering missed "a golden opportunity to put Fife Council on a path that would offer both better services now and even better services in future years" and that outsourcing was the "gateway to that path."

The amendment added: "Conservatives have the political will to make value for money for the taxpayer its highest priority. We will only deliver services in-house if there is clear and unequivocal evidence to support that decision.

"We believe that Fife Council could move from a mainly service delivery organisation to a mainly service enablement organisation over the next three years and beyond. This would be achieved by the incremental outsourcing of council delivery capability which would, in turn, produce significant budget efficiencies in future.

"Providing services from in-house capability is low-risk but carries a cost. We judge that cost to be unaffordable in the current financial climate."

Selected areas where they have identified this could be done included waste management, fleet services, catering and transport/road maintenance as well as cleaning/janitorial, contact centres and cemeteries/public conveniences.