Council leaders have pledged to persist in pressuring SNP ministers into a re-think over the draft Budget for next year – warning the funding deal will have a “detrimental impact” on communities across Scotland.
The umbrella organisation for Scottish councils, Cosla, has claimed that the draft Budget delivered by SNP Deputy First Minister and Finance Secretary, Shona Robison, is a missed opportunity for communities amid the need to transform the economy and meet climate targets.
In her Budget Ms Robison handed local authorities a record £13.9 billion for revenue funding, including £6 million to support the expansion of free school meals, £242 million for teacher pay rises and more than £266 million for local government pay deals.
But Cosla has warned that local councils have been left with a deficit for day-to-day revenue funding of £251 million including up to £156 million to mitigate the controversial council tax freeze.
Read more: Scottish Budget: Cosla: Plans fail to tackle 'root causes' of poverty
The organisation has also claimed that for capital projects, local authorities are facing a shortfall of almost £100 million.
Cosla has been left angered by the settlement and has claimed that council leaders, councillors, the local government workforce and communities should be treated with the respect they deserve demonstrated through investment, not cuts.
Read more: Council bosses warn over 'cuts in every community' after SNP Budget
A Cosla spokesperson said: “At a special meeting just before Christmas, there was dismay and frustration from Scotland’s council leaders about the way local government and the communities we represent had been treated in the Scottish Government’s draft Budget.
“As the Budget currently stands, communities will see and feel a range of negative impacts.
“The response from the Scottish Government to our Budget ask is disappointing and will mean that the potential that councils have to prevent problems occurring will be limited severely.”
The spokesperson added: "The Budget is bad news for the just transition to a net zero economy. We are still analysing the impact across all services but one notable cut is to the regeneration capital grant fund (RCGF) and the vacant and derelict land improvement programme (VDLIP). Overall capital regeneration funding to local government has been cut by 27%, from £62.5 million to £45.8 million.
Read more: Scottish Budget: £200m cut to housing condemned amid homeless crisis
“This undermines work to regenerate communities, tackle inequalities and to reduce carbon emissions. This means the RCGF, which is jointly managed by local and Scottish Government, now won’t be open to new bids for 2024-25. Our town centres and communities will be worse off due to this decision.
“On a larger scale, cuts to local government revenue and capital funding are completely the wrong things to do if (the) Government is serious about tackling climate change and its impact on society and the economy.
"Given that 82% of all emissions are within the scope of influence of local authorities, plans to deliver on the Scottish Government 2030 statutory target must now be in serious doubt a few weeks after ministers were talking up Scotland at COP28.
“Cosla’s president, vice president and political group leaders from all parties have written to the Deputy First Minister and are seeking an urgent meeting. Council leaders will not let this lie, they simply cannot afford to because it will have such a detrimental impact on the communities they represent.”
Ms Robison said: “The Scottish Budget includes record funding of over £14 billion for councils in 2024-25 – a real-terms increase of 4.3% compared with this year’s Budget – should they agree to freeze council tax.
"The Budget also invests more than £5 billion in building a fair, green and growing economy which creates jobs, supports businesses and helps finance Scotland’s public services and the transition to net zero.
‘The Scottish Government is happy to meet with Cosla to discuss their concerns. We will continue engaging with them and other stakeholders to ensure regeneration funding is targeted where it is most needed.”
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