SNP budget delivers £6.3m funding boost for council
North Ayrshire Council (NAC) is set to receive a significant funding boost as a result of this year’s Scottish budget, with local services benefiting from an additional £6,285,000, according to the SNP.
The SNP said the government’s ‘progressive reforms delivers a tax cut for 70 per cent of Scottish taxpayers and 55 per cent of all taxpayers will pay less in income tax than if they lived in the rest of the UK’.
It added: ‘This has been achieved while delivering a 2.3 per cent rise in NAC’s resource budget, providing extra funding for schools, roads and housing. The budget also provides an additional £4,413,960 paid directly to North Ayrshire schools as part of the Pupil Equity Fund, to help tackle the attainment gap.
‘The Scottish budget also delivers £11.3 million more for NHS Ayrshire and Arran to help protect our health service from UK Tory austerity.’
Arran’s MSP Kenneth Gibson said: ‘This extra funding for NAC means its grant from the SNP government will rise to a record £275,273,000 from April.
‘Despite the UK Tory government at Westminster cutting Scotland’s grant by a further £211 million, Tory regional MSP Jamie Greene had the cheek to write to me on January 21 demanding an additional £5 million for NAC.
‘In fact, we have delivered £6,285,000 extra in grant to NAC, plus £4,413,960 directly to North Ayrshire schools. It is therefore disappointing that Mr Greene joined with Labour MSPs to vote against the budget. Had it been voted down as he wished, there would have been no grant increases for NAC and no additional funding for the NHS.
‘This progressive budget also provides more money for broadband, our economy, research and our environment too, as well as protecting free university tuition, free personal care for the elderly, free school meals and free prescriptions. ‘The ferry budget has also been increased from £181 million to £251 million, a rise of almost 40 per cent, showing the importance we place on continued investment lifeline ferry services.
‘While the Tories tried to con folk by demanding additional spending in every area of the Scottish budget, they also suggested cutting over £556 million from public services in order to pay for tax cuts for the wealthiest. Meanwhile, neither they nor Labour proposed an alternative budget.
‘While other parties posture, the SNP government delivers, helping to protect vital local services for Arran, even in these challenging times.’
Sir, Your readers will have seen claims from the SNP that North Ayrshire Council is set to receive an increase in our budget this year. I have even seen a claim from one of our MSPs, Kenny Gibson of the SNP, of a £6.5m increase. This is pure fantasy. It’s so inaccurate as to be laughable. The final budget out-turn for North Ayrshire is a tiny £130,000 cash increase on a £330m budget. Bear in mind that, with inflation currently at three per cent the council would need around £10m increase just to stand still.
It’s worth noting that, on Wednesday February 21, in Holyrood, the same Kenny Gibson voted, with all other SNP and Green MSPs, to make North Ayrshire poorer. I’m sure he didn’t put that in his election leaflet – vote SNP and we’ll make you poorer – but that’s what he did. He did it last year too. And the year before. In fact Kenny Gibson has voted to reduce council budgets and therefore cut vital North Ayrshire services every year since 2007/8: first through a prolonged council tax freeze and flatcash settlements, then for SNP cuts on top of Conservative cuts from Westminster. That’s 10 years of cuts to social care that Kenny Gibson has voted for. And cuts to elderly services, children’s services, schools and education, roads, public toilets, public libraries, community groups and services and other vital resources. Not to mention the hundreds of jobs lost. And while Kenny Gibson has cut these services every year, he has never issued a word of apology or explanation to the people who voted for him.
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