Showdown on council’s cuts
Council leader Jim Logue has written to Scotland’s finance secretary to request a meeting over the local authority’s budget settlement – which he says will amount to a £22m cut.
He told Derek Mackay the draft Holyrood budget for 2018- 2019 is “potentially disastrous for Nor th Lanarkshire” and “will have evastating consequences on both our day-to-day and capital spending”.
He was responding to the budget statement at the Scottish Parliament outlining a proposed total of £ 10.5 billion for local authorities; with £ 626m allocated to North Lanarkshire, while up to a further £ 4m could be raised by a three per cent council tax increase.
Councillor Logue wrote to the cabinet secretary: “It is vital that any potential budget [protects] the services that the people of North Lanarkshire rely on and as such, I would like to invite you to meet me to hear firsthand the serious implications of this draft settlement.
“These cuts are on top of a £19m reduction in our social care budget over the next five years through the integrated joint board, and also require the council to find an additional £ 9m to pay for salary increases for our valued workers.
“Even a three per cent increase in council tax would only pay for a one per cent pay increase for our staff, and so it is crucial that the Scottish Government takes the lead to ensure our workers get the increase they deserve.
“We need a fair deal for North Lanarkshire which protects our most vulnerable, secures jobs and economic growth and allows our school and house-building programmes to continue to give [our] residents the best possible opportunities to succeed.”
Members of the council’s Labour group joined trade union representatives for a protest at Holyrood on the day of the draft budget; while the minority administration’s finance group met the following day to consider what Councillor Logue described as a “dire” settlement.
He added: “The public already see their services being squeezed on a daily basis and yet the SNP Government have chosen to decimate their communities further still, with £22m of cuts to local services next year.
“With the budget vote in Parliament not taking place until February, we will continue to demand a fair deal for North Lanarkshire – cuts to our council are cuts to our communities, and it’s time that local services were finally treated as a priority by this government.”
Fina n c e s e c re t a r y Mr Mackay says the allocation for councils is “a fair funding settlement, despite further cuts to the Scottish budget from the UK government” – which he says total £200m from the country’s block grant.
He said: “We have protected day-to-day local government spending, while increasing the capital budget.
“We are using our taxvarying powers to boost investment in public services.
“And, if local authorities choose to use their powers to increase council tax, they will have an overall real-terms increase in the funds at their disposal to support local services.”
The Scottish Government’s budget – including changes to income tax bandings – was also praised by MSP Fulton MacGregor.
He said: “This is a budget for a stronger economy and a fairer society, with increased funding for our NHS and protection for low- and middle-income earners.
“The Scottish Government is delivering lower income tax for the vast majority of Scots, while protecting the public services across North Lanarkshire that we all hold dear.”