Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser
Counting cost of coronavirus
The financial cost of Covid-19 for North Lanarkshire Council should be fairly straightforward.
The UK Chancellor has stated that he will spend “whatever it takes” to combat the virus.
The non-coronavirus, normal revenue budget of all Scottish councils is simple; 80 per cent of the cash comes from the Scottish Government and 16 per cent from locally-decided council tax; and the remaining four per cent is mainly from local business rates.
North Lanarkshire Council and all other local authorities expect the Covid- 19 extra emergency costs to be fully paid for by the Scottish Government.
Regarding his “whatever it takes” pledge, the Chancellor might simply add the costs to the UK public sector debt which currently stands at an eyewatering £1.8 trillion.
Simply paying the interest on this costs £56 billion a year in the current UK budget; it’s like paying the UK defence budget – currently £55 billion – twice over.
The public sector debt (national debt) has risen from £1 trillion when the Tories came into power in Westminster in 2010 to its current record level.
The SNP Scottish Government has passed on all of the “whatever it takes” funding from Westminster to Scotland’s 32 councils.
Local government has received £175 million from SNP finance secretary Kate Forbes. And this was before the Chancellor released £ 1.6 billion to English local authorities.
Scotland’s share of this latest cash means an extra £155 million – on top of the £175 million – for our 32 local councils.
This Scottish Government funding covers such matters as the various business support schemes; business support grants; newly self-employed hardship funds; the £50 million hardship fund; the £ 30 million food fund and more.
The crisis has hit council income like council tax money, housing rent arrears – already hit hard by the impact of Universal Credit – income from leisure and culture services, school meals and planning department fees, along with the additional costs for personal protection equipment (PPE) and social care.
Currently,the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) is working with local councils to work out a system for an effective dispersal of the £ 155 million waiting to be sent out by the Scottish Government.
Meanwhile, any return to work is fraught with challenges. How would the council maintain social distancing in previously busy office spaces?; how does two-metre distancing work out in office corridors less than two metres wide?; how effective are community facilities if numbers attending functions are restricted?; and would a council be held liable if such restrictions were breached or not effectively policed?