Council elections are so important

CLACKMANNANSHIRE AND DUNBLANE MSP

In just three short weeks, people across Scotland will elect local councils; deciding who, for the next five years, will be in charge of delivering a range of key local services.

Council elections are massively important, and the majority of public services that we come into contact with on a daily basis are delivered by our local authorities.

Having worked for 19 years at Stirling Council alongside elected members committed to improving public services in their community, I know first hand the challenges councillors face day in, day out, in what can often be a thankless role - particularly following years of Tory Westminster austerity.

Local government, like every other area of the public sector and our economy, has faced its most significant challenges over the past two years. Whether its been through administering Covid business support funding, supporting communities during the pandemic, or working with our NHS to deliver testing and vaccinations centres across the area, local government has been front and centre of protecting people from harm and keeping us all as safe as possible.

No government or organisation has responded perfectly to the pandemic, a great many honest mistakes have been made as we all learned more about the spread of Covid-19, but having worked closely with both Stirling and Clackmannanshire Councils over the past two years, I applaud the efforts of council officers, community volunteers, and indeed our councillors too.

However, this election is now about who will take the lead as we recover from the impact the pandemic has had on our communities and economy.

This is, of course, alongside the impact that Brexit is having as well as now the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Mismanagement of our economy from Westminster means that the whole of the UK is facing a much greater cost of living crisis than many other parts of Europe. Last week’s round of French elections is a reminder that while on average households in the UK are facing a 54 per cent increase in energy bills, electricity price hikes in France have been capped by the government at just four per cent.

Similarly, in Scotland, management of Council Tax under the SNP has meant that Stirling residents in a Band D house will pay £581 a year less on Council Tax than the average equivalent in Tory run England and in Clackmannanshire this figure is £622. On top of this, at the start of the month, Tory Chancellor Rishi Sunak increased the amount in National Insurance constitutions by more than 10 per cent for most people, raiding the bank accounts of hard working folk who are facing one of the most severe cost of living crises in living memory.

The Conservatives know the state of play for many people, but they either don’t fully understand or, simply, don’t care enough to take meaningful action to make things easier for households during this incredibly challenging period. The next few months and years will be severe, and it cannot be allowed to be the case that those who cannot afford it, bear the biggest burden yet again.

Having ballooned the national debt to £2.2 trillion, imposed the highest tax burden since 1948, depressed living standards and now stalled the economy through Brexit we didn’t vote for and economic mismanagement – the Tories are the last people we want to run our councils.

In both Stirling and Clackmannanshire only the SNP can keep the Tories away from holding power on our local authorities. If you want leadership on your local council that stands up for public services, invests in our communities, and supports people when they need it, please consider giving your first and second preferences to the SNP candidates on your ballot paper in May.