Council warned it faces £58m four-year fund gap

WEST Lothian Council could be facing a funding gap of £58 million over the next four years, its head of finance has warned.

The council's head of finance and estates, Donald Forrest, explained the implications for the council's current financial position following an assessment of the UK Emergency Budget.

While the finance settlement for Scottish local government won't be known until the outcome of the Scottish spending review is published in November, Mr Forrest made an initial assessment predicting a reduction funding for four years.

Mr Forrest said: "I think that our budgeting assumptions are highlighting a difficult outlook for the next four years. However we would be hopeful that policy decisions could produce proposals that will generate budget savings for the council."