The Scottish Government and the country’s local authorities have clashed over whether the local government financial settlement provides a real-terms funding increase.
SNP finance secretary, John Swinney, hailed the £11.8bn funding settlement as ‘an increase of £658M or 6% over 2008/09’ which would cover the cost of freezing council tax for a second year, and extra commitments.
Swinney said that despite the UK Government’s ‘£1bn raid on Scottish public services’ for the next two financial years, a settlement had been provided which was 11% more than in 2007/08, and would allow councils to meet agreed outcomes –including reducing non-car commuting.
However, Pat Watters, president of the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, claimed the Scottish Government had ‘spun this year’s settlement as bonanza time, when the settlement will be at a standstill, at best, once we strip out unavoidable commitments such as pensions’.
Labour finance spokesman, Andy Kerr, went further, claiming it was ‘a concordat for cuts’, pointing to Aberdeen City Council’s £25M reduction of expenditure, and Highland Council making £13M in savings. The SNP, however, claimed councils led by opposition parties were biased, and that Aberdeen’s problems were historic.
Bill Ross, secretary of the Society of Chief Officers for Transportation in Scotland, told Surveyor that his authority of Moray was not facing cuts to technical services in 2009/10.
Falling construction inflation and oil prices were expected to help reduce costs. Nonetheless, ‘in future years, there will be significant additional pressures on budgets, due to changing demographics, and there is uncertainty over future funding settlements’.
Dumfries & Galloway said the lack of indicative allocations for 2010/11 was ‘worrying’. Ross expected these to be provided in the autumn, alongside the next three-year settlement, adding: ‘It’s unlikely that councils will embark on a major capital project where the funding for future years is unknown.’ Aberdeen is to cease collecting plastic for recycling to save £120,000 annually. The Highland Council will shave £700,000 from its annual winter maintenance budget ‘to reflect the reduction in days of lying snow’.
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