Cosla calls for councils to have more tax powers to help Covid-19 recovery

Councils must have more powers over tax, an organisation representing local authorities in Scotland has said.

The demand is one of several in a new Blueprint for Local Government document launched by the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (Cosla).

The organisation highlighted the role of local authorities in response to the coronavirus pandemic and warned without “proper resourcing” cuts to council services are inevitable, risking the country’ s recovery from the virus.

Among the demands are new powers to set and raise taxes.

It also calls for a commitment to“fair funding” including funding for health and social care which “accounts for our new financial realities” and reversing ring-fencing of cash for children’s services and education.

“The blue print we are launching to day provides a narrative around the kind of country we want, and about the changes that could make a real difference to communities across the country,” Cosla vice-president councillor Graham Houston said.

He added :“Scottish local government must be further em powered to bring about the change we now need. The financial impacts of Covid-19 have been severe and have placed extreme pressure on already strained council budgets and on our workforce.

“Without prop er resourcing, we will see reductions in spending and inevitable cuts to services, furthering the inequalities highlighted by the pandemic and putting at risk the very recovery we seek.”

A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: “The Scottish Government has committed £379 million of additional funding to local government for Covid -19 measures, on top of the local government finance settlement of £11.4 billion from this year’s budget.”