Budget choices in Perthshire
Last week was all about budgets. In the Scottish Parliament, the rates of tax were set and the budget for next year was approved. In Perth and Kinross Council the level of council tax was set and the forward budget was approved. Both processes, although taking place in different institutions, reflected different choices but raised some fairly similar issues.
In the Scottish Parliament, the Scottish Government budget included measures to increase NHS spending by over £300 million, invest £120 million in schools across the country - many in our locality - to boost attainment, reduce or remove business rates for 100,000 small businesses, invest resources to deliver superfast broadband, and to dual the A9.
The budget also included some assistance to support businesses wrestling with the implications of the recent revaluation of business properties. That is just a sample of the provisions but there were many more examples of really valuable investment to strengthen our country and ensure we can take opportunities in the future.
The budget does involve some people with higher incomes not getting a tax cut that had been promised by the UK government. And that was apparently the sticking point for the Tories. They voted against the budget and turned their backs on this vital investment for that one issue. Are they serious? The answer is no because their budget debate contribution revolved around personal insult after personal insult to the finance secretary rather than a serious set of alternative proposals.
Which brings me neatly to the Perth and Kinross Council budget.
The SNP administration brought forward a budget that increases the council tax by 2% after a ten year freeze, to ensure there is more investment in education, social care, road safety and the environment.
The SNP budget involved higher investment in local bus services and night buses, local jobs and in the community warden service. On an issue that has vexed people locally in Blairgowrie, the SNP administration put money into the budget to safeguard public toilets in the town.
When it came to the Tory budget in Perth and Kinross it was a very different story. The supposed alternative Tory budget involved closing public toilets in Blairgowrie, Perth, Pitlochry and Dunkeld, cutting support for the Citizens Advice Bureau that gives vital advice to vulnerable people, reducing support for local bus services and cutting back on early years education.
It is really hard to imagine how a more cack-handed set of proposals could have been put together. They would have damaged local infrastructure, weakened our tourism proposition and delivered less investment in our local economy.
Politics is about choices and I am the first to admit these choices are never easy to make. But the Tories have demonstrated they are prepared to make reckless choices that would damage the interests of local people.
I am glad my colleagues in Perth and Kinross Council and the Scottish Government have been able to take decisions that protect local interests and enable us to build for the future.