Meeting of the Parliament 28 February 2024
That is a good question, and it is great that I can clarify that. I have spoken to 31 council chief executive officers. I have gone right to the top of the chain to speak about the cuts that the SNP Scottish Government is making, which will be devastating for local services. I hope that that satisfies the minister.
Before I conclude, I make it clear that we will not vote against the order at decision time, as the order is required so that councils can receive the revenue funding that they have been allocated, but nor can we support the order, which will only continue the trend of ever-worsening council budgets. We will therefore abstain in today’s vote.
With this year’s budget, councils have yet again been left with a financial settlement that leaves them unable to deliver the services that their communities expect. Instead of deciding how to improve local services, councils are currently signing off budgets that will deliver more cuts to services. We badly need to see a new approach to how councils are funded—an approach that empowers councils to deliver for their communities in the way that they know best.
The Scottish Government says that it wants to build a relationship with local government that has “mutual trust and respect” at its core. The onus is now on the SNP to deliver that.
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