PROPER funding for local authorities in Scotland would allow councils to help ease the pressure on the NHS, the country’s local government body has said. 

Ahead of the Scottish budget on December 9, Cosla has called for ministers to adequately fund crucial local services, restating the importance of councils having the resources they need to contribute to the improved health and wellbeing of the whole population.

The body has also warned that without adequate funding there is a very real prospect this winter and beyond that the NHS will not have the capacity to cope, waiting lists will increase and targets will be missed.

Cosla’s president, councillor Alison Evison, said: “By investing adequately in the essential services that local government provides, the Scottish government would be enabling us to ease the pressure on the NHS.

“Significant additional funding has gone into the NHS over recent years, yet health inequalities still exist and our communities are still seeing too many drug deaths. 

“The NHS is having to deal with problems once they are too far gone and at the most expensive part of the process.”