Councillors have agreed to some of the most comprehensive cuts in North Ayrshire as they bid to save almost £20m over the next three years.

The council’s ruling SNP administration have admitted that they have had many difficult decisions to make in the proposed budget but argue that the importance of moving to deal with social and health issues before they happen is vital in the long term.

The budget proposals include the loss of 217 FTE positions - almost half of these teaching staff..

Among the list of cuts and charges set to come into effect next year are the introduction of charging for blue and brown recycling bins, an increase in special uplift charges to £13.50, a rise in school meal prices to £2, reduced business support staff hours, reductions to child care support, business grants, funding for the recently launched nurturing excellence programme, reduction in library opening hours, budgets for community facilties.

In the following two years there will be further savings, including the end of the council’s financial backing for the Viking Festival Party at the Pencil.

However, Largs could be spared from the full extent of cutbacks to street cleaning and ground maintenance.

In a pre-budget press briefing, the council’s director of ‘place’, Craig Hatton, said that town centres and areas reliant on tourism would not be hit as hard by the proposed 10% cut in street cleaning.

He said: “We would be looking at the frequency of street cleaning, so that we would not be cleaning streets that are already clean.

“We will take into account areas like town centres and those reliant on tourism.” A council spokesperson said that £19.4 million was being ‘redirected’ towards areas of priority, including: • More than £6 million to tackle the needs of an aging population • Almost £3 million additional ‘Early Years’ services • Over £750,000 to support waste and recycling.

They added that one off investment in three new employment hubs in the area, a new business grants fund, new skills centres for engineering and construction.

See next week’s News for a full round up and reaction on the impact of the budget for residents.