North Edinburgh News – Page 2428 – The NEN

Real terms funding increase for local government?

The Scottish Government says:

The Scottish Budget delivers a total funding package amounting to £11.1 billion for local government.

This provides local authorities with a £197.5 million increase for day to day spending on essential public services in 2019-20, alongside a £207.6 million increase on their capital spending budget.

Finance Secretary Derek Mackay said despite a £2 billion reduction in real terms to Scotland’s block grant over the last decade, the 2019-20 Scottish Budget provides local authorities with a real terms increase in overall funding of over £210 million. This alongside a real terms increase in both the revenue and capital settlements.

Mr Mackay said: “The Scottish Government has continued to ensure that our partners in local government receive a fair funding settlement despite further cuts to the Scottish Budget from the UK Government.

“After removing the health uplift the Scottish Government fiscal resource block grant funding goes down by £340 million or 1.3% in real terms for 2019-20. Despite that reduction, we have still provided a 2% real terms uplift in the total Local Government settlement for 2019-20.

“If local authorities choose to use their powers to increase Council Tax by up to 3% they can generate up to an additional £80 million to support the delivery of essential local services.”

2019-20 Local Government funding allocations.

Local Authority	Revenue	Capital	Total Local Government Settlement	Council Tax Increase	Total Local Government Funding Plus Potential Council Tax Income
£m	£m	£m	£m	£m
Aberdeen City	335.935	36.645	372.580	3.669	376.249
Aberdeenshire	422.419	47.964	470.383	4.197	474.580
Angus	204.922	20.131	225.053	1.567	226.620
Argyll & Bute	195.978	21.878	217.856	1.559	219.415
Clackmannanshire	95.667	8.068	103.735	0.742	104.477
Dumfries & Galloway	285.816	27.803	313.619	2.088	315.707
Dundee City	298.885	27.361	326.246	1.921	328.167
East Ayrshire	231.385	22.897	254.282	1.686	255.968
East Dunbartonshire	186.682	13.850	200.532	1.921	202.453
East Lothian	174.747	15.824	190.571	1.660	192.231
East Renfrewshire	177.809	12.984	190.793	1.608	192.401
Edinburgh, City of	731.695	107.886	839.581	8.504	848.085
Eilean Siar	95.399	10.384	105.783	0.327	106.110
Falkirk	282.900	22.102	305.002	2.104	307.106
Fife	649.412	50.805	700.217	5.186	705.403
Glasgow City	1250.279	178.834	1429.113	8.655	1437.768
Highland	450.617	50.165	500.782	3.770	504.552
Inverclyde	166.007	11.719	177.726	1.082	178.808
Midlothian	162.730	17.000	179.730	1.427	181.157
Moray	160.995	15.355	176.350	1.287	177.637
North Ayrshire	276.359	24.705	301.064	1.920	302.984
North Lanarkshire	619.950	47.063	667.013	4.139	671.152
Orkney	74.592	8.283	82.875	0.280	83.155
Perth & Kinross	250.919	34.288	285.207	2.485	287.692
Renfrewshire	315.487	23.672	339.159	2.621	341.780
Scottish Borders	207.926	23.957	231.883	1.731	233.614
Shetland	85.703	9.026	94.729	0.289	95.018
South Ayrshire	202.043	18.863	220.906	1.848	222.754
South Lanarkshire	564.744	41.482	606.226	4.392	610.618
Stirling	169.881	14.923	184.804	1.503	186.307
West Dunbartonshire	188.777	13.361	202.138	1.268	203.406
West Lothian	319.734	22.711	342.445	2.333	344.778
Undistributed	150.768	82.221	232.989	0.000	232.989
Scotland	9,987.162	1,084.210	11,071.372	79.768	11,151.140

‘A Bad Deal for Local Government’?

COSLA says:

COSLA said it was disappointed that the value of the essential services provided by Scottish Local Government has not been recognised by the Scottish Government in the Scottish Government’s budget announcement.

COSLA went on to describe the proposed budget as a cash cut to Local Government’s core budget and said that as a priority would use the next few weeks to engage in meaningful dialogue with both Scottish Government and the wider Scottish Parliament.

COSLA’s Resources Spokesperson Councillor Gail Macgregor said: “First and foremost my feeling is one of disappointment. Disappointment for councils, disappointment for communities and disappointment that Local Government’s role as a deliverer of vital services, an employer and a procurer has not been recognised.

“There is always smoke and mirrors around how those at the centre present their budget. The one message that the Scottish people need to take from today’s budget is that the Local Government’s core budget which provides our essential services has taken a hit.

“We have engaged positively with Scottish Government throughout these budget negotiations and we have run a positive campaign around the meaningful impact that our essential services make to communities throughout Scotland.

“The essential services that Local Government deliver are the foundations on which Scotland is built – today’s announcement means that these foundations are under severe pressure.”

COSLA President Councillor Alison Evison said: “Whichever way you want to dress it up, the reality of the situation is that yet again the totality of the essential services Councils deliver has been neglected by the Scottish Government.

“There is no scope for Local Government to mitigate the impact of these cuts as there has been no movement yet on local taxation – the 3% Council Tax Cap remains and there is no indication about discretionary taxation, including Tourist Tax.

“It is extremely frustrating that, having worked well on a range of issues with the Government this year, our contribution to meeting key outcomes across Scotland has not yet been acknowledged.

“What we have today is a bad deal for communities and for jobs. Given these proposals today, serious financial challenges lie ahead for councils.”

So who is telling the truth about local government funding?