Plea for PKC share of 155million

Perthshire councillors are urging the Scottish Government to swiftly release a portion of its £155 million relief fund to aid cash-strapped Perth and Kinross Council.

Councils across Scotland are due to receive a share of the cash as part of Barnett funding consequentials, to lessen the financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

OnWednesday, Scottish finance secretary Kate Forbes confirmed in parliament“every penny” of the cash would be made available to local authorities, but said she will first need details from COSLA on the funding pressures that its members are facing.

Councils had previously been advised to raid their own savings despite Audit Scotland warning that many local authorities were in great financial difficulty.

Scottish Conservative councillor for Strathearn, Roz McCall said asking PKC to raid its“depleted reserves is nothing but a slap in the face”.

She added:“Councils across the country have been struggling to meet the demands of this virus and will continue to struggle as demand on health and social care services grow and greater supplies of personal protective equipment are required.

“Local authorities across Scotland are spearheading the response to this virus and Perth and Kinross should not have to go begging to the SNP for funds.”

Kinross-shire ward Liberal Democrat councillorWillie Robertson also called for the money to passed on as a matter of urgency.

He said:“To work successfully, councils and government must work together.

“The government has to be able to trust councils to do what is best for their communities.

“The withholding of this much-needed funding by the SNP government shows they don’t have that trust.

“The real losers in all this are the people within Perth and Kinross who are totally dependent on council services to maintain a quality of life.”

However, Perth and North Perthshire MP Pete Wishart said Mr Forbes had“already made it clear that all funding packages will be passed on to local authorities”.

He added:“COSLA is taking a lead on directing this support and this is happening across political parties in charge of councils, right across Scotland.

Deputy first minister and Perthshire North MSP John Swinney added:“Whilst they choose to unconstructively snipe from the sidelines, the Scottish Government will continue to do all it can to support local authorities and the country as a whole during this crisis.”