Meeting of the Parliament 28 February 2024
Let us remember that the Verity house agreement, the existence of which the minister could not confirm when I intervened earlier, talked about a “positive working relationship”, “mutual trust”, “respect”, “joint leadership” and “shared priorities”. It said:
“Where we disagree, we will seek to deal with these matters constructively in the spirit of cooperation, through the engagement mechanisms described in Section D of this agreement”.
That was before the conference decision that the First Minister made—overnight, in a matter of minutes—to freeze the council tax without consulting any local authorities, his advisers or any officials in the Government, and probably without consulting any of the SNP back benchers who are here today. That process would probably make Liz Truss blush, because it was reckless and cavalier, and it drove a coach and horses right through the Verity house agreement.
The Verity house agreement is as good as dead, and the minister should acknowledge that. The trust between local and central Government has completely disappeared and there is no chance of its recovering under the current Government. It is not just in the mechanisms where it is clear that the agreement has broken down. I listen to ministers in private and I hear what they say about councillors. Members of this Parliament complain about the disdain and distrust at Westminster, but that is exactly how ministers treat local councillors—I have heard it.
For example, the language about local authorities on teacher numbers is appalling. The implication is that councillors do not care one jot about schools and that their only intention is to cut teacher numbers. However, that argument has had a hole blown in it, because Glasgow City Council, which is led by the SNP, proposes to cut 450 teachers over the next three years—