Playing fast and loose with facts

Sir, – Would you believe the good old Liberal Democrats are at it again? Lib/Dem councillor Peter Barrett, who sits on the council umbrella group Cosla was quoted in media outlets as saying: “A month ago Derek Mackay (Finance Secretary) promised to help communities remain resilient and councils deal with any immediate and unforeseen costs resulting from the recent heavy snowfalls and ongoing cold weather – he is going back on his word.

“In Perth and Kinross alone we have been hit by more than £2 million of extra winter maintenance costs. We will end up with just a few hundred thousand pounds because of the Scottish Government’s sleight of hand.”

Enter Willie Rennie: “Derek Mackay has ditched the Bellwin formula activated only a month ago in response to the Beast from the East. Instead, he’s offering a measly £10 million when the councils need five times as much”.

The Scottish tabloids ran the story with all the juicy headlines about there being no money left for potholes, then in the small print at the bottom of an article: “The Scottish Government said: ‘This additional £10 million is being made directly available to local authorities, and distributed via Cosla, immediately so they do not have to submit formal Bellwin claims and await approval”.

In other words, £10 million is over and above the normal contingency measure already in place for emergency funding,