Anger as Scots council considers buying £24,000 painting as cuts to vital services loom

dailyrecord.co.uk:

West Dunbartonshire council is considering buying a £24,000 oil painting while proposing to charge disabled people for vital services.Councillors are looking to splash out on the fancy artwork even though local residents are facing a barrage of cuts.Labour councillor Martin Rooney said of the plan: “It’s absurd at the best of times but completely bonkers in the middle of a cost of living crisis”.

SNP -led West Dunbartonshire is facing a series of tough choices over how to plug a projected £5.5m funding black hole. A list of cuts options were presented to councillors last week, including reducing the number of pupils who qualify for school travel and introducing fees for brown bin collections.Other options include charging over 65s and disabled people for a garden maintenance service they currently receive for free, as well as reducing the number of school crossing patrollers.Officials also drew up proposals to scale back street sweeping, close public toilets and remove elderly welfare grants.Despite the prospect of service cuts, the local authority is considering using its budget to boost its art collection.A meeting of the council’s Cultural Committee, chaired by Independent Denis Agnew, was scheduled for last week but did not take place.An email had been sent to councillors about an “urgent item of business” which was “at the request” of Agnew.Attached was an image of “Evelick” - a painting by Scottish artist Alison Watt - which has a price tag of £24,000 excluding VAT.A Committee paper from last month stated that officers had continued to research “acquisition opportunities” and make contact with selling galleries:“A particular focus of this activity has been on identifying works by Alison Watt currently available on