Budget will hurt Scottish councils
Life-size dog showcased by artist Louise
There are certain things we can always rely on in Scotland in February; we can always expect the weather to be miserable, and we can always trust the Scottish Greens to vote for an SNP budget in the Scottish Parliament.
And that is precisely what happened in the Scottish Parliament last week, when the SNP and Greens combined to push their budget plans for 2020-21 through.
The consequence of this will be yet more savage cuts to local councils across Scotland.
The budget plans produced by the SNP will mean a real terms cut of £117 million in capital funding for local authorities.
This means councils like Perth and Kinross, already struggling with constrained budgets, will have to look at reducing the spend on infrastructure.
This means roads will become more potholed, we will not see new road improvement projects, we could even see upgrades and replacements of schools and recreation centres being dumped or postponed.
Revenue pressures have already led to councils across Scotland reducing teacher numbers, removing classroom assistants, sacking school crossing patrollers, reducing opening hours of libraries and leisure centres, and charging for garden waste uplift.
On top of that, council tax continues to rise by well above the rate of inflation.
And there was no need for any of this to happen.
Thanks to increased spending at Westminster, the overall Scottish budget saw a 3.7 per cent real terms increase. There was plenty of money overall to be played with, but once again it is local councils that are bearing the brunt of cuts being passed down by the SNP at Holyrood.
The Greens supposed big “win”from the budget was the introduction of free bus travel for under-19s.
But when we look at the detail, what is actually promised by the Scottish Government falls far short of a firm commitment to deliver this.
All they are doing is looking at the possibility, and have committed just £15 million in the coming year, nowhere near the estimated annual cost of £80 million of this policy.
But even if this policy were to be delivered, it will come at the expense of vital services delivered by local councils.
They are seeing their services slashed, to fund the pet projects of the Greens. What is the point of giving youngsters free bus travel if the roads on which the buses will drive are so full of potholes that they won’t be able to go anywhere?
The Scottish Conservatives put forward an alternative approach, help for business and proper funding for our public services.
With more money from Westminster, the Scottish budget should have been a whole lot better.
• Murdo Fraser always welcomes feedback from constituents. He can be contacted at The Control Tower, Perth Airport, Scone, PH2 6PL, by email on murdo. fraser.msp@parliament.scot or by telephone on 01738 553676.