Following a special meeting yesterday (Friday 9th February) Council Leaders are seeking an urgent further meeting with the Deputy First Minister in relation to the Budget settlement for Scottish Local Government, highlighting the dire consequences of the Government’s current spending plans on communities throughout Scotland.
Commenting following the meeting the COSLA Resources Spokesperson Councillor Katie Hagmann said: “Leaders were clear today that an urgent meeting with the Deputy First Minister is a priority.
“Leaders expressed anger at the Budget setting timetable which has left Councils unable to set their budgets due to a lack of certainty from Scottish Government and as a result of having to wait until UK Government Spring Statement before knowing what additional funding could be passed on.
“In addition, there was a clear direction from Leaders to seek restoration of the £63m cut to the core Local Government budget on behalf of their communities and the essential services they rely on at the meeting with the DFM.
“Leaders also agreedthat the council tax freeze should be on a voluntary basis with agreement that the £147m, already earmarked by Scottish Government for this purpose, is distributed to all Councils with flexibility to raise Council Tax by up to 5%. There should also be no penalty or reduction in funding in line with the principles of the Verity House Agreement.
“Leaders were clear that Councils should be given full flexibility of funding to deploy within Schools, and the wider community, to provide the right support for the diverse needs of children and young people across Scotland, therefore recognising that a wide range of people who contribute to a child’s education.
“Finally, Leaders agreed to seek a guarantee that the £45m Barnett consequentials resulting from the UK Government’s recent announcement will be passed in full to councils, also in accordance with the Verity House Agreement so it can be used to address local priorities.”
City councillors have considered a report outlining proposals for balancing the city’s budget.
In order to plan for this reduction and a proposed national Council Tax freeze, while continuing to deliver the Council’s priorities, a number of savings and spending proposals have been published as part of a Revenue Budget Framework and Medium Term Financial Plan.
Proposals include:
A revised employer pension contribution rate of 17.6% which could save the council £16.5 million without impacting the value of employee pensions
Continuing to provide annual support to the Council’s transport ALEOs worth £12.95 million in recognition of changing patterns of commuter usage
Additional actual investment of £11.4 million towards the delivery of health and social care services
Accelerating Council service payments to Edinburgh Leisure in 2024/25 of up to £3.2 million to provide additional financial support in 2024/25, including sums that would allow payment of the Real Living Wage, pending development of sustainable longer-term plans to ensure the organisation’s financial sustainability
Net savings of £1.7 million on the council’s energy spend, supporting sustainability goals
Recommendations to avoid reductions to school budgets in the 2024/25 academic session, further to a cross-party Motion passed at Tuesday’s Education, Children and Families Committee meeting
An ongoing change programme to underpin the transformation required by the Council if it is to close future budget gaps.
At their meeting on Thursday (25 January), the Finance and Resources Committee also heard how the city faces a like-for-like cash-terms reduction in core grant funding of £10 million in 2024/25.
A further meeting of the Finance and Resources Committee will take place on 6 February, before decisions are made at a special budget-setting meeting of the full council on 22 February.
Cammy Day, Council Leader, said:“In four weeks’ time we will need to set the city’s budget for the year ahead so I’m pleased to see these proposals suggest a positive way forward.
“My priority as we agree savings and investments will be to ensure we continue to protect the core services on which so many people depend. We need to stay true to our ambitions, to focus on our financial plan and ending poverty, becoming net zero and creating a good, inclusive place to live and work.
“What’s clear however is that we can’t achieve this alone. As a Council, we can shape and influence change through our policies and plans, but this needs to be a team effort, a pulling together of resources and plans across the public, private and voluntary sectors.
“So, while we develop sustainable financial plans to help us achieve savings, we also need to maximise the opportunities we have to raise more local income – including introducing a Visitor Levy as quickly as legislation will allow.
“It’s also imperative that we find a better way of working with the Scottish Government which, yet again, seems set on making Edinburgh the most underfunded Council in Scotland.
“An estimated £10m reduction in the city’s funding is hugely disproportionate and I am urging the Scottish Government to reconsider. It is not to late listen to local government and put this right.
“Over the next few weeks through COSLA and directly with Ministers I will continue to fight for fairer funding for our Capital City.”
Mandy Watt, Finance and Resources Convener, added: “This report, presented at Committee on 25 January, highlights the increasingly difficult decisions we’re taking ahead of the budget in February. The scale of our financial challenge is clear to see.
“Local authorities have suffered a decade of continuous real term income cuts from central government and Edinburgh is no exception.
“This is despite the unique pressures which come with being Scotland’s capital city – our projected population growth, the climate crisis, escalating poverty under the cost-of-living crisis, unprecedented service running costs and our housing and homelessness emergency.
“The suggestions being put forward by officers to balance the budget are hugely important and I’m immensely grateful for their work on this, particularly in proposing funding for Edinburgh Leisure and for finding potential alternatives to education cuts.”
While Labour leads the city, the party ranks second in terms of number of councillors in Edinburgh and runs the city in a controversial partnership with the Conservatives and Lib Dems.
Last year the City of Edinburgh council passed not a Labour, but a Liberal-Democrat budget.
Councils are keyto unlocking both the potential and the best outcomes for our local communities but require proper funding to do so, COSLA said yesterday.
The comments came as COSLA launched their Budget Lobbying campaign for the coming year, ahead of the Scottish Government’s Budget announcement on December 19th.
COSLA President, Councillor Shona Morrison, said: “Councils really are the key to unlocking the best for our communities – from safe, quality housing; to clean streets; to supporting the most vulnerable people to thrive; to education and social care – the importance of these services cannot be emphasised enough, but they need to be funded properly.
“We all see the headlines in our local and national press about the difficult financial choices councils need to make, deciding whether to reduce or even cut vital services and ending funding for essential charity and community partners.
“Unfortunately, Councils have no choice but to protect core statutory services, especially with the unprecedented financial challenges we are all experiencing. Budgets are tight, creating risks to many other local services our communities rely on, such as programmes supporting children and young people, sports and leisure facilities and public transport.
“The Verity House Agreement has facilitated positive working between Scottish Local Government and Scottish Government since being signed in June, but COSLA is clear that we must use this to jointly tackle poverty, make a just transition to Net Zero, and achieve sustainable public services.
“Fair funding for Local Government must be a Scottish Government priority in order to unlock the full potential of our councils to achieve these goals.
“The campaign we are launching today clearly illustrates not only the challenges our Councils are facing, but the great potential they have if funded properly. We will continue to work closely with Scottish Government and other partners to get the best deal for our councils and our local communities.”
COSLA Resources Spokesperson Councillor Katie Hagmann added: “What councils deliver with and on behalf of communities is key to creating the safe, healthy, vibrant and empowered communities we all want to see.
“Local Government holds the key to unlocking the potential in local areas, with its unique understanding of context, challenges and opportunities in individual local areas.
“Sadly, our reality right now is an extremely challenging financial climate coupled with years of real-terms cuts to council budgets while additional policy commitments are continually being introduced.
“If this situation doesn’t start to improve soon, it will mean tough choices being made and the many essential services councils currently provide will cease – services that not only address problems on the ground, but actively prevent bigger issues occurring down the line.
“We have been clear that cutting frontline staff isn’t the answer. We need to see Scottish Government investing in Local Government, so we can do what we do best – preventing problems in the first place and improving quality of life.
“The challenges we face nationally are best addressed at the local level, not at crisis point in A&E or within the criminal justice system. From better health to reaching our net zero ambitions to improving our economy, a well-funded Local Government is the key to Scotland achieving a better future.”
