South Scotland MSP Brian Whittle has hit criticised the Scottish Government’s budget proposals for the coming year, accusing the SNP of short-changing councils and other vital services.
In particular, Brian has condemned the Scottish Government’s funding for South Ayrshire Council and other local authorities. Despite Scottish Government claims that local authorities will see an extra £500 million pounds, CoSLA, the body which represents Scotland’s councils, has said the Scottish Government are actually cutting a combined figure of over £210 million from councils’ revenue and capital budgets. Meanwhile, most of the new funding coming to councils has strings attached and can only be used for specific projects.
Councils across Scotland have also been blindsided by the Scottish Government’s decision not to continue funding to cover the cost of an 11% pay increase for teachers that the Scottish Government agreed last year. Despite funding the increase previously, the Scottish Government has told councils they now have to foot the bill themselves.
Scottish Conservative Party Wellbeing & Sport spokesperson Brian has also condemned the lack of funding for drug rehabilitation. Since the SNP came to power in 2007 the number of drug treatment beds across Scotland has fallen from 352 beds across 22 sites to just 70 beds in three facilities.
Brian Whittle MSP said:
“This budget is a huge disappointment at a time when the Scottish Government are receiving an extra £1 billion thanks to UK Government spending pledges. Even SNP councillors are saying these budget proposals are a recipe for serious cuts to vital public services.
When the Scottish Government negotiated a pay increase for teachers, local authorities made clear they would struggle to meet the costs, but this budget pulls the rug out from under them. This week, I’ll be asking the Scottish Government to explain why they made the deal but are handing every council in Scotland a multi-million pound bill to pay for it.
East Ayrshire has the worst figures for drug and alcohol deaths in Scotland and those numbers are rising, but the Scottish Government ignored proposals from the Scottish Conservatives to invest £15.4 million to fund desperately needed rehab beds.
Even when the Scottish Government do offer councils new money, it comes with so many strings that councillors have no option about how best to use it. This budget comes with a huge sting in the tail for some of Scotland’s most important local services. The SNP should explain why it’s decided to force councils to put more local services on the chopping block.
My Scottish Conservative colleagues and I have put forward some very reasonable proposals to improve funding for local authorities, the police and addiction services. As negotiations begin at Holyrood, I hope the SNP will put the public before politics and work with us to pass a better budget.”
