Aberdeenshire Council faces pressure to reconsider its decision to eliminate gifts for residents celebrating special occasions
Aberdeenshire: The council’s been told to think twice about cutting gifts for residents celebrating big milestones. They’ve been giving out gifts for birthdays and anniversaries, but now they want to scrap it.
These gifts have cost around £3,000 a year for the last five years. Instead of gifts, councillors will just visit people on their special days with a bouquet and a bottle of whisky.
They usually give gifts for 60th, 65th, and 70th anniversaries, plus for those hitting 100 and 105. They also planned to stop giving medals at citizenship ceremonies to save another £2,000.
With tight budgets, the council thinks it’s time to cut back. The business services committee recently discussed this, and while visits will still happen, it looks like only cards will be sent now.
Councillor Gwyneth Petrie isn’t totally against the change but thinks they should consider giving a different gift instead. She’s okay with cutting the citizenship medals, saying nobody really noticed them anyway.
However, she’s glad they’re stopping the whisky gifts. She mentioned that it doesn’t look good, especially with health concerns in mind.
She also pointed out that flowers can be pricey, suggesting a small gift would be better than nothing. If they’re just sending cards, she thinks it might be easier to mail them instead of having councillors deliver them.
Petrie urged the council to think a bit more about this before the budget is finalized next month. Councillor Mark Findlater backed her up, recalling how well-received the gifts have been over the years.
He acknowledged the financial challenges but felt that keeping some form of recognition is important. Council leader Gillian Owen agreed to revisit the discussion and see what can be done moving forward.
