SCOTTISH councils will be handed £40 million of extra cash but ministers have been accused of overseeing “more than a decade of chronic underfunding”.

Public Finance Minister Ivan McKee confirmed to MSPs that the extra £40 million will take the total funding for local authorities in the 2021-22 to £11.7 billion and added that councils will have autonomy to allocate the extra money for whatever priorities it sees fit.

Mr McKee told MSPs that his Government’s budget “delivers a fair settlement” for councils.

He added that the arrangement for councils in Scotland “provides continued fiscal certainty” in relation to non-domestic rates revenue, which he said is not in place in England.

Mr McKee added that lost revenues from Brexit or the pandemic over non-domestic rates is “compensated for” by the Scottish Government.

He said: “We are extremely grateful to local authorities for the crucial role they continue to play in maintaining critical public services, managing welfare support and administering key grant funding throughout the pandemic.

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“This additional funding reflects the key role that local government will play as we focus on how we rebuild and renew our communities.

“For 2021-22, councils now have an additional £375.6 million for vital day-to-day services and a further £259 million of Covid-19 support that they have complete autonomy to allocate based on the specific needs and priorities in their communities.”

But Conservative public finance spokesperson, Bill Bowman, in his last Holyrood speech, claimed that local councils “have been betrayed”, pointing to his party’s plans for a Barnett-type funding arrangement to guarantee a percentage of Scottish Government funding.

Mr Bowman said the Scottish Government has “failed to head the warnings” from Cosla over a lack of funding for day-to-day services and capital projects.

He added that the SNP has “failed to produce a fair funding deal” for the “cash-strapped councils across Scotland”.

Scottish Labour local government spokesperson, Pauline McNeill, warned that the Scottish Government has continued a policy to “centralise control” of budgets for councils, stressing that “we must push powers down to councils”.

She added that the SNP has presided over “more than a decade of chronic underfunding” of councils.

Scottish Greens co-leader, Patrick Harvie told MSPs that the funding deal for councils remains “some significant way short of perfect”, but he stressed that “some progress has been made”.

He added that Holyrood must take responsibility for a “failure” to “reform a broken system” of local government finance – and called on the newly elected parliament to prioritise that work.