NLC Labour group slam minister’s refusal to meet
Talks on £22m savings declined because of draft budget stage
Labour in North Lanarkshire claim the Scottish Government has shown contempt by refusing to meet council leader Jim Logue to discuss proposed £ 22 million cuts to the authority’s budget.
The leader of the council wrote to finance secretary, Derek Mackay, after he announced the draft budget settlement for local authorities in December.
Councillor Logue asked to meet with him to point out first-hand the devastating impact his proposed budget would have on residents in North Lanarkshire.
The council leader said:“At a time of great austerity, with the financial pressures that exist on public services this year, I felt it incumbent on all politicians to put aside their party differences and work together to ensure a fair deal for North Lanarkshire in this year’s budget.
“The fact that Derek Mackay has refused to meet with me to discuss these concerns is an abdication of his responsibilities as cabinet secretary and his claim that local government has always been treated fairly by the Scottish Government shows how out of touch this SNP government are with the people of North Lanarkshire.”
Councillor Logue says £ 200 million has now been taken from public services in North Lanarkshire over the last decade and the public have, quite rightly, “had enough”.
“We are ambitious for North Lanarkshire, with record investment in schools, the biggest councilhouse building programme in Scotland and the regeneration of Ravenscraig, but we can only do these things with a fair deal from the Scottish Government,” he added.
And it has also emerged that a budget blunder by Derek Mackay has cost North Lanarkshire Council over £ 700,000 after the Scottish Government admitted it had double counted elements of justice spending that left his draft settlement offer to local authorities in tatters.
Council leader, Jim Logue said: “Not only does it appear that Derek Mackay is too arrogant to meet with me in North Lanarkshire, it now transpires that he is too incompetent to make sure his sums add up too.
“This budget blunder by the cabinet secretary means North Lanarkshire alone has to find a further £700,000 worth of savings on top of the £22 million cut already handed to us by the Scottish Government.”
In his reply to the meeting request, finance secretary, Derek Mackay, said he noted what Councillor Logue was saying about the implications of the settlement for North Lanarkshire Council,
“But I believe the Scottish Government is continuing to treat local government fairly despite cuts to the Scottish budget from the UK Government,” he said.
Mr Mackay added that taken together with other support for local authority services, North Lanarkshire Council has an extra £14.1 million to support services in 2017-18, which equates to an additional 2.2 per cent compared with 201617, he claims.
“The council did, of course, forego a further £4 million this year by not increasing council tax levels by the available three per cent.”
He concluded by adding: “I note your request to meet with you to hear first-hand the implications of the proposed settlement, but I do not think it would be appropriate to meet at this time as discussions on the 2018- 19 draft budget are ongoing.”