It’s not too late for MSPs to fix city budget woes

I’ D like to wish a very Happy New Year to all Glasgow Times readers. I hope that even in these trying times you have things to look forward to in the year ahead. Optimism is not easy to come by in the council. In just over a month from now, councillors are required by law to set a balanced budget. That is never an easy task, but this year it is extraordinarily hard.

When Finance Secretary John Swinney unveiled the draft Scottish Budget before Christmas, he claimed it included an extra £ 500 million for local councils. Cosla, the national body representing councils, quickly debunked that. Indeed, this week we learned that the extra cash actually available to Glasgow is just £ 7 million. That leaves us with almost £ 70 million still to find.

Over the past few months, a cross- party group of councillors has heard budget ideas from council departments. In most years, political groups then have some flexibility to choose between different options and consider what contribution, if any, should come from the council tax.

This year, there is virtually no room for manoeuvre. There will need to be both large spending cuts and council tax increases in order to balance the budget. The only way this can be avoided now is if MSPs in Holyrood increase funding to local government.

I know that won’t be easy. All levels of public spending are under pressure due to soaring inflation and the catastrophic consequences of Liz Truss’ calamitous premiership. It’s also true that the Scottish Budget, while not fixed, does not offer the kind of flexibility that a devolved Government responsible for delivering huge swathes of public services needs and deserves, not least in a time of crisis.

In that context, my Green MSP colleagues are absolutely right to prioritise increasing devolved social security payments, as well as increasing climate action. But local government is also fundamental to what makes us Greens. We know that well- funded, widely- available council services help to prevent crises in the NHS and stop people falling into the poverty trap.

That’s why my MSP colleagues were elected on a manifesto commitment to protect council funding in real terms over the life of the parliament.

Thanks to Green MSPs, Scotland has a system of rates and bands for income tax that raises money more progressively than any other part of the UK. The draft Budget proposes further changes for the highest earners, which are very welcome. But I would argue it’s not enough to raise funds progressively if the overall level of funding, and how that is allocated, then means regressive measures – like cuts to council services and council tax hikes – are an inevitable consequence.

It is not too late to fix this. The Scottish Government can go further with the tax powers it has. Councillors of all parties must put pressure on their MSPs in the days and weeks ahead to change the Budget in its present form.