Meeting of the Parliament 19 February 2026 [Draft]
I thank those who have supported the motion, which echoes a joint statement put out by 22 community councils in Aberdeenshire. For 19 years, Scotland has struggled under the Scottish National Party. Our councils are underfunded, education standards are slipping, rural nurseries and primary schools are closing, our roads are full of potholes, our bridges are crumbling and our national health service is at breaking point. However, Scotland is the highest-taxed part of the United Kingdom.
We need a Government that will focus on Scotland’s priorities. For years, there have been repeated calls for the SNP to provide more funding to support local services. Our councils are stretched thin, while the Scottish Government receives the largest settlement of £50 billion from Westminster. The SNP budget for 2026-27 falls £1 billion short of what the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities called for and fails to deliver COSLA’s demand for £750 million to fill the cracks in social care. The Institute for Fiscal Studies highlighted that the SNP’s budget for health and social care, which covers hospitals and general practitioners, will fall in real terms. Local services do not get the funding that they need and, as a result, the most vulnerable suffer.
Aberdeenshire Council is the fourth lowest funded local authority. It has the sixth highest population, yet it receives £50 million less than the Scottish average. That forces cuts across all non-statutory services. There are now no adult attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and autism assessments, and hundreds of people are on waiting lists, left in the dark without support. Despite Aberdeenshire’s fragility in the face of flooding, erosion and extreme cold, there were cuts to winter resilience at a time when communities should be getting more support. In an attempt to save money, 1,200 grit bins were cut, leaving some communities without any. However, that is robbing Peter to pay Paul, because the council also shares half a health and social care partnership deficit. That means that, when somebody slips and breaks their hips, the potential cost is much greater.
This is not a challenge to be tackled as a test for the public sector; it is an unwinnable scenario, in which the elderly, road users and council tenants have been set up to fail. Morality is not understood by this Government. The SNP might have seen the countryside on its way to a photo call, but it is incapable of making policy that gives places such as the north-east their fair share.
Population sparsity, geographic area, failing infrastructure and travel times all have a huge impact on services. Aberdeenshire has more than 3,000 miles of roads to maintain—more than double that in Glasgow. It has 1,800 bridges—more per capita than anywhere else in Scotland. Aboyne bridge has been shut for more than two years, forcing people to take a 20-mile detour. It will cost £15 million to repair it or £30 million to replace it. However, that is just one of 200 Aberdeenshire bridges that require repairs and, over the next 20 years, 317 bridges might be forced to close. Can the minister even begin to comprehend what that will look like?
Rural schools are also at risk. Last year, I campaigned with parents to save four nurseries, but they are still under threat. When services are cut, rural areas are hit hardest as resources are redirected to larger settlements. That only encourages rural depopulation. It is no wonder that the SNP Government stands accused of modern-day Highland clearances.
It is no surprise that, two years in a row, the Local Government Information Unit has found that there is no confidence in local government finances. It has called for the Government to review how local authorities are financed and the funding formula for distribution. Without that, our councils have no option but to increase council tax to make up for the Government’s failure to provide a fair share to the north-east.
On health, NHS Grampian is, per capita, the second lowest funded national health service board, yet its elderly population is among the fastest growing. NHS Grampian is £45 million over budget, and, last year, the overspend was £65 million—the highest in Scotland—with auditors warning that staffing levels might have to be slashed.
While the SNP sits back and asks NHS Grampian to make further cuts, costs are still increasing. In Grampian, we have just 1.4 beds per 1,000 people, and there are now no minor injury units on Deeside. Community hospitals have been closed, despite the promises that the SNP made at the election in 2021. Waiting lists are at record highs, ambulance stacking at Aberdeen royal infirmary has caused chaos and care homes that need to run at capacity to survive have empty beds because it is cheaper for the SNP Government to ignore bed blocking than it is to fund people to be cared for in their community. That is having tragic consequences for people’s lives.
While our NHS staff are working hard under incredible pressures, we also face recruitment challenges. That is affecting GP surgeries such as the one in Kintore, which has reduced hours, because it does not have sufficient doctors to operate full time. Other GP surgeries, such as the practice in Alford, are being taken over by mega-practices, where oversight is non-existent and GP to patient ratios have plummeted. A proper Scottish Government would have improvement initiatives such as offering golden hello payments to encourage people to move from the central belt and would invest in local training opportunities so that people could work in their communities.
If members think that the situation is bad now, they should just wait. Audit Scotland forecasts that Scottish Government funding will fall in real terms in 2028. Things are going to get worse. Will the minister take any responsibility? He will undoubtedly talk about balancing the budget, as though it is an achievement rather than a legal obligation. He will talk about Conservatives not backing the SNP’s budget or identifying savings, despite the fact that we pointed out that independence spending had rocketed by £36 million and that there was a 25 per cent spike in foreign aid. He will talk about how Aberdeenshire Council is responsible for its budget, as Swinney did last week when he refused to help the Aboyne bridge group. He will pass the buck on to COSLA and its funding formula, knowing that it does not reflect rurality.
When will the Government take responsibility and govern, rather than hiding behind organisations that it controls? Politics is about spending choices, and the SNP Government is choosing to defund and destroy our rural communities.