LABOUR are warning West Dunbartonshire Council is preparing to make millions in cuts over the next three years under the SNP.

Council bosses are expected to reveal their proposals for cuts – dubbed “management adjustments” – on Thursday with the SNP revealing a draft budget on December 20 ahead of public consultation.

Former council leader and now opposition leader Councillor Martin Rooney said he had been briefed on the proposals and alleged they would total £14.5 million between 2018 and 2021. That includes a list of £1.2m worth of cuts “delayed” from being presented to the public.

Council leader Jonathan McColl did not provide a list of possible cuts, but said Labour were misleading voters and Scotland needed independence to fix its finances.

Cllr Rooney said: “The SNP councillors have hammered the final nail in the coffin on their election promise to be an open and transparent administration.

“The decision to delay the announcement of over a million pounds worth of cuts looks like a deliberate move to give opposition parties and members of the public less time to scrutinise the proposals and campaign to protect their local services.

“Many local services will hit breaking point or cease to operate altogether if the SNP administration goes ahead with plans to slash a further £13.3 million over the next three years.

“The impact will be felt in every aspect of local people’s day-to-day lives, from how we care for our older people to our children’s schools and the cleanliness of our streets and parks.”

MSP Jackie Baillie urged the council to “stand up to their SNP bosses”.

But Cllr McColl told the Post: “We’ve been open about the scale of the projected budget gap since before the election and with Labour telling this newspaper only a few weeks ago that we were in the best position ever, I hope now people will see Labour are the ones misleading the public.

“I’ve had many discussions with the finance secretary, Derek MacKay MSP, since the election and I’m confident that he will get the best possible settlement for councils; as a former council leader himself he has a first hand understanding of the importance of local services.

“But the UK chancellor’s autumn statement cut £200m from the Scottish budget so Derek has a lot less money to allocate across the board.” Until we are independent and in control of, not a handful of powers but, all of our finances, we’re at the mercy of Ms Baillie’s Tory pals.

“On Friday the list of officers’ savings options will be published and in two weeks, at the December council meeting, we will release a draft budget for full public consultation.

“The public will have both the full savings options list and the draft SNP budget showing which of those options we are considering taking to close the budget gap. We want the public to tell us what they would change in our draft budget so we can deliver what our constituents want when we set the final budget in February.”