Cashboost
But big cuts still on the cards for South Lanarkshire
Cash-strapped South Lanarkshire Council looks set to receive extra funding from the Scottish Government.
The grant settlement to the local authority will now be £551m – an increase of £12m since December.
However, frontline services will still face massive cuts.
Cash-strapped South Lanarkshire Council looks set to receive extra funding from the Scottish Government.
The local authority had been looking to make £23 million worth of cuts to balance for the books for 2018/19.
This was reduced by £6m based on the block settlement of £539m from Holyrood.
However, this was revised last month to £541m following the allocation of an extra £1.9m due to an error in the original calculations.
And after the Scottish Government budget was passed last week, the settlement to South Lanarkshire Council will now be £551m – an increase of £12m since December.
However, residents are still facing a council tax hike of three per cent despite £16m worth of cuts being put to councillors at a meeting of the council’s executive committee last week.
A final decision on what will be axed was postponed and council officials are now crunching the numbers following confirmation of their new settlement.
Vital services in the firing line include the proposed closure of a day care centre for the elderly and the cost of school meals being increased along with charges for the community alert alarm system for the first time in 17 years.
The local authority’s carriageway replacement programme also looks set to be slashed by £3m.
A council spokesman said: “Key decisions on the budget paper were continued to the meeting of the executive committee on February 28 and an updated report will be considered by elected members at that time.”
Rutherglen’ SNP MSP Clare Haughey claimed the funding package would “give Scots the best deal in the UK”.
She added: “The draft budget shows that where Scotland has the power, the SNP will take a different, fairer approach – and give Scots the best deal in the UK.
“Thanks to the decisions made by the Scottish Government, South Lanarkshire Council will see an above inflation rise in their revenue funding – with an extra £9.5 million to spend on local services than was initially proposed.
“That’s a good deal for taxpayers and for public services in Rutherglen and Cambuslang – and is only possible because of the SNP’s progressive tax reforms, that are backed by the public by two to one.
“In the face of massive Westminster cuts, the Scottish Government is using its powers progressively to invest in our schools and our hospitals – and in communities across South Lanarkshire.”
However, the council’s Labour group say the cash boost does not go far enough with frontline services still at risk.
Depute leader, Councillor Walter Brogan, who represents Cambuslang East, said: “In South Lanarkshire I understand we will see an improved figure in our settlement, however, this will still see cuts being endured by our constituents to frontline services for yet another year.”
And Glasgow MSP James Kelly added: “Unfortunately the SNP’s budget is not good news for Rutherglen and Cambuslang.
“Nicola Sturgeon has chosen to just pass down austerity from the Tories, rather than using the powers she has to raise more money and invest it in our public services.”
Rutherglen South councillor Robert Brown, of the Lib Dems, said: “The SNP government’s overhyped publicity suggested it was bonanza time for councils.
“Instead they have tried a sleight of hand against local communities and local services. The result of the SNP budget is actually a complicated mishmash which will be damaging to council services.
“According to research by the Scottish Parliament, the budget leaves councils facing a cut of £183.7m in real terms as well as having to find another £150m to meet the Scottish Government’s unfunded pay policy.”