CHARGING for car parking in Alloa and cutting buses for pupils who live too close to school are just two ideas Clackmannanshire Council is considering in order to bridge the budget gap.

The local authority is looking at slashing non-statutory services in order to tighten the belt amid intense financial pressures.

Facing an indicative funding gap of £13.1million for the 2018-19 financial year, officers of the council have proposed a range of savings options, totalling just under £9.5m, as elected members prepare to set the budget early next year.

Nothing has been set in stone yet and residents are being invited to have their say on the proposals via clackmannanshire.citizenspace.com or at any CAP office – something that could also be done away with in Sauchie, Alva, Clackmannan, Menstrie, Tullibody and Dollar for a £134,000 saving.

Nearly £2m could be saved across the Wee County's schools by reviewing the primary pupil and teacher ratios; cutting back on transport; reducing subject choices; and decreasing learning assistants available by a fifth.

Kids could suffer further with the withdrawal of music tuition and non-school curriculum-related sports services.

In addition, the public toilets at Maple Court in Alloa, as well as those in Tillicoultry, Tullibody, West End Park and Johnstone Park, Alva, could be closed for a £75,000 saving.

Officers further propose a £500,000 saving through the removal of the car parking "subsidy in Alloa", meaning the council would charge for parking.

Big chunks of expenditure could be lessened by changing the terms and conditions for workers at the local authority, the largest employer in the county.

Additional payments for weekend and evening working could be done away with altogether, there could be a reduction in overtime rates and the length of the working week could be reduced.

On the other hand, the top of the tree may also be chopped with a potential £900,000 saving by taking away 40 per cent of management posts across the organisation as part of a corporate redesign.

Furthermore, vacant posts could be removed, while there is the possibility of reductions on staff travel costs, repairs budgets, storage and security costs, training budgets, administrative support costs and more.

The council could also generate more income by selling land and buildings, increasing council tax by one per cent and charging for legal services provided to third parties.

As reported in the Advertiser last week, the consultation is now open and Les Sharp, leader of the SNP administration, explained that nothing has been finalised yet.

He said: “That's why it's important that our residents give us their views, so that all councillors can hear what they have to say when the time comes to make the difficult decisions to balance the budget and protect essential services.”