Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid) 18 March 2021
I thank all members who have taken part in the debate, albeit that it has been very short. I thank Bill Bowman for his time in the Parliament, and I wish him all the best in the future.
I also thank local authorities and their staff for the tremendous efforts that they have made throughout a very difficult and challenging time. It is right that we are here to vote for the order that will give them the finance that they need and deserve.
To pick up on Pauline McNeill’s point, the letter from COSLA is under active consideration by the Cabinet Secretary for Finance, who will respond on those matters shortly.
The motion seeks parliamentary approval for the guaranteed payment through the Local Government Finance (Scotland) Order 2021 of £10.4 billion in revenue support to Scotland’s 32 local authorities, to enable them to provide the people of Scotland with the full range of services and support that they expect and deserve. The order distributes £10.4 billion, but that is not the whole story, as it does not cover the £775.9 million of specific revenue grants, which includes funding for the expansion of early learning and childcare, criminal justice, pupil equity funding and additional support for ferries and Gaelic. That represents real money for vital local services, and it should not be discounted when trying to make funding comparisons. That means that, next year, the Scottish Government will provide local authorities with a total funding package worth almost £11.7 billion, delivering an increase of £375.6 million, or 3.5 per cent, for vital day-to-day services.
Further Scottish Government support of £650 million will be paid outwith the local government finance settlement for the attainment Scotland fund, the schools for the future programme and city deals. That money is paid to local authorities, bringing the Scottish Government’s total investment to more than £12.3 billion. That investment in public services underpins the Scottish Government’s commitment to supporting our young people to fulfil their potential and ensures that the people of Scotland get the right care and support in the right place and at the right time.
In partnership with local government, the Scottish Government will continue to deal with the current crisis and, more important, ensure that we recover from it as quickly and efficiently as possible. I need not remind Opposition members that failure to approve the order would result in Scotland’s local authorities and, as a consequence, all our local communities being deprived of almost £2 billion of additional Scottish Government investment, including £1.5 billion to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic and £375.6 million for vital day-to-day services.
I encourage Parliament to support the local government finance order.