This is the last article you can read this month
You can read more article this month
You can read more articles this month
Sorry your limit is up for this month
Reset on:
Please help support the Morning Star by subscribing here
SCOTTISH Labour called on the SNP government today to invest properly in councils after years of budget cuts have left Scotland’s local authorities on the brink of collapse.
The Scottish Parliament Information Centre has revealed that the local-government revenue budget has been cut at more than twice the rate of the government’s own budget in real terms since 2013.
On Wednesday the Scottish government announced that it expects councils to make use of reserves in place of proper funding from Holyrood.
Scottish Labour said that years of deep cuts had left councils ill-equipped to deal with crises such as the coronavirus pandemic.
MSP Sarah Boyack said: “To instruct councils to make use of reserves in order to keep essential services going is not only financially irresponsible but an admission on the part of the Scottish government that it is failing to fund councils properly.”
The government said that “exceptional measures” had been taken, including continuing to work with local authorities, with hundreds of millions of pounds in funding passed to councils.
