Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid) 24 February 2021
I have a registered interest related to funding provided by Unison for my member’s bill, the Breastfeeding etc (Scotland) Bill.
I am pleased to be speaking in the debate, in one of the last contributions that I will make in the chamber after serving as an MSP for 22 years.
I have a particular interest in local government. More than 30 years ago, I was a homelessness officer in a district council, where I saw at first hand the devastation that homelessness causes. One of my best times in the Parliament was when, in 2003, a Labour-led Scottish Executive introduced homelessness legislation that was widely regarded as the most progressive in Europe.
Decades later, after 14 years of SNP Government, we see the grim scenes of massive queues of homeless people waiting on food from a charity soup kitchen in a snow-covered George Square in Glasgow. I was helping at a George Square soup kitchen when I was 14 years old. It is shocking that such poverty and homelessness still exist. Having access to food and a home should be a right for all citizens in 21st century Scotland.
As a council officer, I also worked with a grants scheme, which demonstrated what people could do in their communities with funding help from the council. Now, year-on-year SNP cuts to council funding have meant cuts to community groups that do vital work connecting people, tackling exclusion and providing activities for young people, among other things.
In the 1990s, as the branch secretary for Unison at Highland Regional Council, I fought continually against Tory cuts to local government budgets. The Tories have short memories. However, now we are seeing SNP cuts implemented year on year, despite its claim to be a party of social justice. The Scottish Parliament information centre reported that, pre-Covid, the local government revenue settlement as a proportion of the Scottish Government revenue budget had decreased by 2.6 per cent between 2013-14 and 2019-20. [Interruption.] I really do not have time. If I have time at the end, I will give way to the member.
Now we have COSLA saying that the past year has been like no other and the forthcoming budget
“does nothing to represent fair funding for councils”.
That is even more shocking during the pandemic, because local government has been playing a crucial role in trying to maintain critical public services, administering key grant funding to businesses and managing vital aspects of much-needed welfare support. Overall, as Sarah Boyack said, local government has not received its fair share of funding and it has had cuts imposed well beyond those received by the Scottish Government from the Tory grant allocation. That deliberate choice made by the SNP Government has a direct impact on the poorer in society and an even worse impact on our more deprived areas.
Basically, due to the funding pressures, local authorities are taking difficult budget decisions on, for example, libraries, swimming pools and lunch clubs, and on the reduction in public park maintenance. Those are services on which people on low incomes, particularly women, depend. Space to study; parks to walk and play in; and community centres to provide a focus—those are all facilities long fought for and highly valued.
As we adopt progressive policies such as Monica Lennon’s Period Products (Free Provision) (Scotland) Act 2021 and recognise the needs of women and girls, surely we should also be asking where the strategy is to make that a reality. Within the Covid restrictions, outdoor activities are being encouraged but they are not being supported in a practical way. In that regard, we need accessible, staffed and well-maintained public toilet facilities.
Covid restrictions have undoubtedly brought the lack of local services and public provision into sharp focus. For those who depend on and use the wi-fi and computers that are provided on council premises, their closure has meant that access to essential services has been denied for too many.
It should also be remembered that local authorities provide employment and income for many people who then put money back into local economies. Council workers should be fairly paid.
I know from the experience of both working in local government and representing constituents for more than 20 years, that perpetuating inequality is not inevitable. Provision of well-staffed and well-resourced public services to meet local need is essential to address the inequalities in our society. We desperately need policies that reverse the growing inequality, a Scottish Government that values local delivery and decentralisation, and funding decisions that give councils the investment that they desperately need.
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