Scotland’s Council Leaders today (Friday) said that any interference in the democratic decision making of Councils by Scottish Government Ministers is disrespectful.
Commenting following the meeting COSLA Resources Spokesperson Councillor Katie Hagmann said: “Council Leaders were absolutely clear today that it is not appropriate for Scottish Government Ministers to interfere in the democratic decision making of Councils.
“Leaders also reaffirmed in the strongest possible terms the principle that it should be for individual Local Authorities to set their own level of Council Tax without sanction or financial detriment imposed by Scottish Government.
“Leaders were clear that given the financial situation in which councils find themselves as a result of the proposed Scottish Budget, recurring penalties in relation to setting council tax levels should not be applied.
“I have been asked to seek confirmation from Scottish Government that there will be no further Council Tax freezes for the remainder of this Parliament.”
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.”
COSLA Vice President Councillor Steven Heddle has sent a strong warning to the Scottish Government that any Council Tax Freeze must be fully funded.
COSLA’s message is a response to comments made to the media by Deputy First Minister Shona Robison on Sunday.
Councillor Heddle said: “There were a few things in the comments made by the Deputy First Minister yesterday (Sunday) that I am uncomfortable with on behalf of COSLA, our member councils and the communities that we represent.
“Firstly, the Deputy First Minister cannot decide or unilaterally say that the ‘Council Tax freeze to stay’- it’s up to 32 individual council to decide if they have a council tax freeze or not, not her government.
“Secondly, unless it is funded with additional money for each council that allows them to fund their planned Council Tax increases, then it is not fully funded, and it will be our service users who will suffer as a consequence.
“The funding for the freeze needs to be transparently additional and consolidated into our Budgets for future years.”
“The DFM also mentioned the ‘Changing shape of public sector workforce’. Local Government’s workforce has already changed shape drastically. Between 2006 and 2018, the Local Government workforce reduced by 15% (35,000 FTE) before Scottish Government policies such as Early Learning and Childcare added staff back in from 2019.
“The Scottish Government workforce has nearly doubled since 2006; staffing in non-departmental bodies has also doubled and in Scottish Government agencies, staffing has grown by 15%. These increases have added more than 7,000 FTE staff in just over 15 years.
“The Verity House Agreement was designed to ensure positive working between Scottish Local Government and The Scottish Government, and a focus on better outcomes and person-centred services.
“The VHA has three priorities – to tackle poverty, particularly child poverty; to transform our economy through a just transition to deliver net zero, recognising climate change as one of the biggest threats to communities across Scotland; and deliver sustainable person-centred public services.
Local Government will be unable to contribute to these if underfunded.
“COSLA knows that Scottish Government is under pressure financially around this Budget. However, the Council Tax freeze came out of the blue and has serious financial implications.
“And any suggestions that Local Government’s workforce needs cut further will have serious consequences for communities.”
Details of progress towards a new fiscal framework between the Scottish Government and Local Government have been published.
The Verity House Agreement committed the Scottish Government and COSLA to establish a new framework, which will govern how councils’ funding is negotiated and agreed.
It is intended to give councils greater flexibility over their budgets to deliver our shared priorities and meet local needs.
Publishing the update together with COSLA, Deputy First Minister Shona Robison said: “We have made good progress on the new fiscal framework, which is an important plank of the Verity House Agreement and our commitment to better partnership working with local government.
“Already many of the principles we have agreed together are being put into practice, such as improved engagement ahead of the publication of the Scottish Budget and joint working to consider new local tax powers.
“We will continue to work closely with COSLA to progress the next phase of work and continue the positive discussions we’ve had with them on behalf of local councils across Scotland.”
COSLA Resources Spokesperson Councillor Katie Hagmann said: “I welcome this update on progress towards the new fiscal framework – getting this framework in place is a priority for Local Government.
“The new framework should, when complete, give councils greater flexibility over our budgets and enable us to deliver our shared priorities and meet local needs. It will also see much earlier budget engagement.
“The Verity House Agreement commits both spheres of Government to establish a new framework, and it is positive that we have made progress this year but there is more to do, which Ms Robison and I both acknowledge.”
STUC: ‘Today’s announcement will only make situation worse’
COSLA: ‘We were unaware of it in advance‘
Council tax rates will be frozen in the next financial year to support people struggling with the effects of high inflation, the First Minister has announced.
The freeze will benefit every Council Tax-payer in Scotland at a time when rising prices are putting significant strain on household finances. The Scottish Government will fully fund the freeze to ensure councils can maintain their services.
First Minister Humza Yousaf said: “Today’s announcement will bring much needed financial relief to those households who are struggling in the face of rising prices. Council tax is already lower in Scotland than elsewhere in the UK, and some 2.5 million households will now benefit from this freeze.
“Of course, the public sector across the UK is facing budget pressures as a result of UK Government austerity, and we know councils are facing financial challenges themselves. That’s why the Scottish Government will be fully funding this freeze to ensure they can continue providing the services on which we all rely. This is on top of the real-terms increase to local government revenue funding this financial year.
“The Scottish Government remains wholly committed to the Verity House Agreement, and as part of that are continuing work with COSLA on a new fiscal framework for local authorities.
“We are also working on longer term reforms to the council tax system, which are being considered by the working group on local government funding that we are chairing jointly with COSLA.”
A COSLA Spokesperson said: “We have just heard the announcement made at the SNP Conference in relation to freezing council tax. We were unaware of it in advance.
“This has longer term implications for all councils right across the country, at a time when we know there are acute financial pressures, and where we are jointly looking at all local revenue raising options.
“We will need to consider the implications for COSLA and Local Government with our members when we get more of the detail.
“This will also need to be examined against the principles of the recently signed Verity House Agreement.”
COSLA arranged an emergency meeting of their Executive, who issued the following statement:
There is absolutely no agreement to freeze Council Tax next year COSLA’s Presidential Team said today (Wednesday 18th October).
“The announcement of a council tax freeze as we said yesterday was made completely without reference to Local Government and there is no agreement to freeze council Tax next year, the decision to freeze council tax is one which can only be made by Councils.
“Our Cross-Party Group Leaders held an emergency meeting first thing this morning on the back of the announcement and there is real anger at the way this has been handled and what it puts at risk.
“On the back of this our Political Group Leaders also asked us to seek an urgent meeting with the First Minister.
“We deplore the way the announcement was made and its substance, both of which fly in the face of the Verity House Agreement which we all recently signed.
“It has been shown that previous council tax freezes have been regressive, having no impact for the poorest in society and eroding the council tax base, compounding councils’ ongoing underfunding.
“We will explore the implications arising and what the Scottish Government might propose when we meet with the Deputy First Minister later today – but we are clear that local taxation and particularly Council Tax should be left for democratically elected councils to determine.”
THE STUC responded swiftly to the First Minister’s announcement of a council tax freeze:
Freezing the council tax will result in the decimation of our public services.
It's wrong. It's damaging. It's regressive and it shouldn't have been used as a political football to be announced at a party conference.
THE Scottish Greens, the SNP’s partners in government, have also expressed concerns. Scottish Greens finance spokesperson Ross Greer MSP said: “We are concerned about the effect this freeze could have on already-strained frontline public services if it is not properly funded.
“Our local councils and people who rely on services like social care, schools and early years centres must not lose out as a result of this announcement.
“Green MSPs will now work with our government colleagues in the SNP to work through the details, ensure that their decision is sustainably financed and that the most vulnerable people in our communities do not see the services they rely on being underfunded as a result.
“The First Minister is right to want to support those who are struggling the most through the cost of living crisis, but the way to do that is to completely replace the deeply unfair Council Tax with a more progressive system.
“As we have repeatedly highlighted, council tax is a ludicrously broken system. It hasn’t been accurate since before I was born, with most people now paying the wrong rate as a result of those 1991 valuations.
“The Scottish Greens have ensured that Scotland’s income tax system is the fairest in the UK, raising a billion pounds more every year for essential services like the NHS and our schools by asking those earning the most to pay a bit more.
“That is the progressive approach we will take once again as we work with SNP colleagues to agree the national budget for 2024-25.”
Jonathan Carr-West, Chief Executive, LGIU Scotland, said: “LGIU Scotland is deeply concerned by yesterday’s announcement from the First Minister to freeze council tax.
”The lack of consultation with local government demonstrates a failure of the principles of trust and respect that should be the foundation of the working relationship between the Scottish Government and local authorities and which are at the heart of the Verity House Agreement.
“Our research shows how important it is that local government is empowered to make decisions regarding its financing. International comparisons clearly show the detrimental impact that undermining the financial independence of local authorities has on the financial sustainability of the sector and the delivery of essential local services.
“Freezing council tax should be a decision for councils, not for central government. Even where those freezes are funded by grants, the loss of growth in the council tax base undermines the council’s finances for years to come. Many councils in England are still recovering from this nearly a decade on.
“Everyone aspires to a sustainable, stable future for local government finances but this can only be achieved by giving councils control, not by imposing decisions upon them.
“Scotland had seemed to be making good progress in this regard with the Verity House Agreement and commitments to empowering local government. So it’s disappointing to see this backward step.”
Verity House Agreement signed by First Minister and COSLA President
A landmark agreement to forge a stronger partnership between local and national government has been signed by First Minister Humza Yousaf and COSLA President Shona Morrison.
The Verity House Agreement sets out principles for working together to empower local communities, tackle poverty, transform the economy and provide high-quality public services.
It includes commitments to:
agree a new Fiscal Framework governing how local authorities’ funding is allocated, reducing ring-fencing and giving them greater control over their budgets to meet local needs
regularly review councils’ powers and funding, with the expectation that services will be delivered at a local level unless agreed otherwise
incorporate the European Charter of Local Self-Government into Scots Law
reform public services, building on the partnership working established during the pandemic recovery
develop a framework for collecting and sharing evidence to ensure progress is maintained
The First Minister said: “Today we have committed to build a stronger relationship with local government, with mutual trust and respect at its core.
“The Verity House Agreement is based on the idea that councils know best how to serve the people in their communities. By giving them greater flexibility over how they use their budgets and regularly reviewing their powers and funding, we can empower them to put that knowledge into practice – whether that’s to tackle poverty, transform our economy to deliver net zero, or to provide the high quality public services on which we all rely.
“This is just the start of the process, and we look forward to working further with COSLA and councils in the interests of the people of Scotland.”
Councillor Morrison said: “Signing the Verity House Agreement today at COSLA’s offices is a clear signal that both parties want to reset the relationship between central and local government in Scotland.
“This agreement is about creating a new way of working as a partnership of equals – discussing key issues as early as possible and using our collective expertise to deliver for communities across Scotland.
“Scottish local government is the sphere of government closest to the people of Scotland and delivers a range of essential services that impact on people’s everyday lives and livelihoods – from education to improving health; from social care to the fabric of our communities.
“When national and local government work together to tackle shared priorities, the result will be better outcomes for the people of Scotland. This is ultimately what councils seek to achieve every day of every year – better local outcomes for the people we serve, enabling everyone to live well locally.”
