Council leader not standing down

Kate Dean said she saw no reason to stand down

Aberdeen City Council's leader refused a call to consider her position as recommendations on how to try to save almost �50m were accepted.

Plans include a recruitment freeze and halting major capital projects.

Councillor Willie Young called on Kate Dean to consider her position, on the grounds the council leadership was the "catalyst" for the city's problems.

She said she had been elected to do a job and, although it would have been easier, she saw no reason to step down.

The pressure on a personal basis has been getting to me for some time but I believe I am committed to doing this and I want to continue that commitment Kate Dean Aberdeen City Council leader

It had been widely known that �27m of cutbacks were required but a report by the council's chief accountant showed the forecast had risen to almost double that figure.

A meeting of the local authority's urgent business committee on Friday was assessing the options for clawing back the millions of pounds.

BBC Scotland revealed earlier this week the council faced making the cuts of �49.7m.

Ms Dean, who is a Lib Dem councillor, said most of the calls for her to step down were coming from the Labour group and trade unions, rather than the majority of the general public.

'Pretty drastic'

She said: "The pressure on a personal basis has been getting to me for some time but I believe I am committed to doing this and I want to continue that commitment."

Prof Richard Kerley, a local government expert, said he believed the financial situation at Aberdeen was one of the most serious of its kind in the UK.

He said: "There really aren't any examples in Scotland, or England or Wales, where this kind of hit has been coped with without taking pretty drastic action."

A critical report from the Accounts Commission earlier this year said that Aberdeen City Council faced "extremely serious" challenges.

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