Budget cut for local government 'totally unacceptable' says councils

A £350m cut to local government funding outlined in the Scottish Government’s draft budget has been labelled “totally unacceptable” by council leaders.

Local government umbrella body COSLA held a meeting of Scotland’s council leaders as finance secretary John Swinney laid our his draft budget, which included a cut of £350m to “resource support” for councils, despite the council tax being frozen for the ninth year in a row.

COSLA accused Swinney of failing to understand “the reality on the ground” of service delivery, but the Deputy First Minister said councils would receive extra money from NHS funding to pay for social care.

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COSLA president, Councillor David O’Neill, said the cut would be “catastrophic” for local jobs and services, with the potential loss of 15,000 council jobs.

“Make no mistake this is a budget that has been made in Scotland and imposed on Scottish Local Government.  The 3.5 per cent cut coming to us next year cannot be laid at Westminster’s door this time around as we all know that the Scottish Government got a cash increase. 

“A cut of 3.5 per cent is catastrophic for jobs and services within Scottish Local Government – because the harsh reality is that it actually translates to real job cuts that hit real families, in real communities throughout Scotland.  Everyone will be hurt by this.

“This budget could only have been constructed by someone who has no responsibility for service delivery and who clearly does not understand the reality on the ground or the impact it will have on those struggling in Scotland,” he said.

In his statement Swinney said: “The old boundary between NHS and Local Government spending – the boundary that has stymied so many attempts to improve care over decades - ceases to exist from April this year.

“So while this budget delivers a strong but challenging financial settlement for local government, we must recognise that the substantial investment in social care will support the delivery of that essential service.”