Hansard

I draw members’ attention to my entry in the register of members’ interests and my former employment with the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations.

In this debate, we need to acknowledge the importance of local government, its capacity to serve communities and its need for fair funding. Our councillors are the democratically elected officials who are closest to their communities, and they provide support to the most vulnerable in our communities, whether it is about access to mental health support in our schools; support for adults with learning disabilities and their parents to enable them to make the most of their skills and talents; or getting people from low-income communities into employment and training.

However, during the past decade, we have seen the impact of austerity on councils. Tory austerity from the UK Government has been not only passed on, but deepened by Scottish National Party budget cuts in Holyrood. Councils have consistently been asked to do more with less, and the blame for their underfunding is punted between the two Governments, but in the end it has been our communities that have suffered.

The Conservative motion calls for a clear “fiscal framework” for local government, and I agree with that. It is striking that, two decades into the running of our Parliament, a funding model that guarantees our councils income has yet to be agreed. However, I think that there is cross-party support for a fiscal framework, which could be agreed between the Scottish Government and local government—but that has just not happened. The centralisation of power via budget allocations hampers the ability of our councils to plan ahead and implement longer-term projects and services in their communities by forcing them to organise and think from budget to budget, year to year, rather than through forward planning.

The call for a set percentage in the Scottish Government budget to be guaranteed would be a step forward, as it would enable councils to plan ahead. That would have to be fair funding, however, and it would have to address the concerns that were raised by COSLA regarding recent budget allocations. It would also be critical for the UK Government to understand the failure of austerity and, as we come out of the pandemic, for it to commit not just to continuing the Barnett formula but to considering increased investment for Scotland.

We know that local government, in Scotland and in England, has struggled to cope financially with the demands of the pandemic, and we need not just fair funding but more autonomy for our councils. Last summer, the micromanagement of consequentials cut right across the principles that the Scottish Government is arguing for in its amendment.

The problem with the SNP Government’s amendment is that, while it is easy to agree with it—I do not disagree with it—it does not take us forward. We are waiting for action. In 2019, the SNP Government promised the Greens that it would make a three-year settlement for councils from the 2020-21 budget. There was also agreement that we would have cross-party talks to replace the council tax by the end of this parliamentary session, and that there would be proposals for that.

For me, the SNP amendment feels like a holding response: the issue will be dealt with at some point, but we are still waiting. The warm words from the cabinet secretary do not take away the fact that we have had more than a decade of underfunding, with £937 million of cuts to non-core funding for our councils.

My amendment calls for

“an increase in capital spend, and notes that this must be a priority”

for all of us,

“as it is fundamental to building back ... services, supporting communities and protecting jobs.”

For example, we need more affordable housing, as we discussed this morning in the Local Government and Communities Committee. More deaths are linked to homelessness in Scotland than anywhere else in the UK, and thousands of new homes would create thousands of new jobs—it would give people employment opportunities. We also need investment in our parks and outdoor learning opportunities, so that our young people can build new skills and so that those skills are not limited to those who can afford them. Furthermore, we urgently need investment in new schools.

Yesterday, we had a really good debate on heat networks, which represent an excellent opportunity to bring good local jobs to our communities, giving councils a stake in local energy and heat production and supporting communities with clean, cheap heat and energy. We need to retrofit housing to meet energy standards, not just meeting our climate targets but finally ridding Scotland of fuel poverty. However, our councils cannot do that without the financial flexibility that they should have at their control and without the capital investment that they need to make progress.

We know that we are facing a climate emergency and—some would say, post-Covid—the biggest recession in 300 years. Investment in low-carbon infrastructure by our councils could be transformational, and it is crucial. We need an end to centralising behaviour, which hamstrings local government and results in a loss of services at local level. Our recovery from Covid cannot happen without local action and investment. I am sure that, when we talk to our local authority colleagues, we find that they are all up for community wealth building but they need certainty and funding. Local government needs fair funding, the capacity to plan ahead and more financial autonomy.

I hope that we can agree to our Labour amendment, because it highlights the important role of capital expenditure, which has dropped in recent years from 27 to 12 per cent. That is a real-terms cut for the future, and our communities deserve better.

I move amendment 24206.2, to insert at end:

“; further believes that the Scottish Government’s historic underfunding of local government funding means that there must be an increase in capital spend, and notes that this must be a priority as it is fundamental to building back better services, supporting communities and protecting jobs.”