Fair funding campaign welcomed by council

The leader of Argyll and Bute Council has welcomed a campaign by the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) for fair funding for local government.

Councillor Aileen Morton said: ‘People across Argyll and Bute will be only too aware of the impact years of funding cuts are having on their council services.

Schools, road maintenance, bin collections, social care, building standards - these and more essential, everyday services depend on council funding.

‘Years of making savings and changing how we work to deal with funding cuts makes finding more savings tougher and tougher. Easy choices have all been made. There are only difficult decisions left.

‘Maintaining council services means maintaining council funding. I’m sure local people would recognise the importance of their local services and back the Scottish Government providing the necessary funding.’

COSLA negotiates local government funding settlements with the Scottish Government on behalf of councils.

Ahead of the budget negotiation period, COSLA launched a briefing document entitled Fair Funding for Essential Services 2019/20 which outlines the central role local government plays in the economy.

The council’s funding will not be confirmed by the Scottish Government until the end of the year or early 2019.

Mid-range forecasts indicate Argyll and Bute Council will have a funding shortfall of £7.8 million in 2019/20, and while the council is already taking steps to address this, there is still a need to find further savings of £3.7 million.