Scottish councils call for 'fair' budget funding

Cosla says core council services are under "huge pressure"

Scotland's councils have called for an "adequate and fair" funding settlement ahead of the Scottish government's forthcoming draft budget.

Local authority body Cosla published a paper setting out the "huge pressures" facing councils due to their budgets.

It said councils had made £1.4bn in cuts and lost 15,000 full-time equivalent staff since 2012.

Ministers say the government will "continue to treat local government fairly" in December's draft budget.

Chancellor Philip Hammond sets out his autumn budget next week, before Scottish Finance Secretary Derek Mackay follows suit with his draft budget in December.

Talks have begun with opposition parties to strike a budget deal, with ministers considering an increase in income tax to raise funds for local services.

'Downward shift'

Ahead of the budgets, Cosla - the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities - published a paper calling for an "adequate and fair" funding settlement for local government.

It argues that councils need a revenue increase of £545m in 2018-19 just to stand still, as a result of inflation and rising demand for services.

The group said there had been a "significant downward shift" in money for core services, warning that "there is no more room for manoeuvre".

Cosla is calling for an end to cuts, better investment in staff and capital funding, a move to multi-year budgets and the scrapping of the 3% cap on council tax increases.

Cosla want councils to be able to raise local taxes by more than 3%

Councillor Gail Macgregor, the group's resources spokeswoman, said "local government can no longer be the poor relation of the Scottish public sector".

She said: "Our councils support, and contribute to, the local economy in their areas in a number of ways, employment being a major one. Therefore, investment in local government is vital to stimulate and develop inclusive economic growth.

"That is why we are asking that in the 2018-19 budget there is adequate and fair funding for all local government services."

On Wednesday, Culture Secretary Fiona Hyslop told MSPs that "the 2018-19 budget will continue to treat local government fairly despite cuts to the Scottish government from the UK government".

A government spokesman added: "Councils are receiving funding through the local government finance settlement of more than £10.4bn for 2017-18.

"Taken together with a range of other measures, this amounts to £383m in additional support compared to 2016-17. Local council budgets for 2018-19 will be confirmed later this year."