Hansard

It is good to see Annie Wells back at work, and I hope that she is feeling better. It is just a shame that she was landed with this desperate motion on her return.

It is clear that an election is due. I was a bit surprised that Willie Rennie made the case for independence in his speech.

Ensuring a fair funding settlement for local government is one of the key tasks of any Government’s budget. Council services impact on family life daily, whether we are talking about children’s education, roads and parks maintenance, waste collection or social services. I welcome the SNP Government’s move to guarantee £11.6 billion for local government in its budget, to enable local authorities to invest in priority areas and implement national and game-changing policies such as the expansion of free early learning and childcare.

As part of the budget, my local authority, Glasgow City Council, is set to receive more than £1.36 billion, which is a welcome increase on last year’s funding package.

It is essential that Governments—local and national—are given the flexibility to respond to situations, whether they are anticipated or not. As we have seen in the pandemic, it is ridiculous that the Scottish Government has not had the appropriate fiscal levers to enable it to respond to the challenges. Unlike other countries around the world, Scotland has been unable to borrow, which has denied the maximum support to the people of Scotland. That is not for the want of trying, though: the Cabinet Secretary for Finance has repeatedly made clear what fiscal tools we require, but the Tory Government has repeatedly refused to listen and give us the powers that we need.

I appreciate that local authorities, too, need flexibility. I am pleased that, in partnership with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, local authorities have recently gained substantial financial flexibility and greater power to make informed decisions about spending at local level.

The Tories brought the motion for debate today, so I hope that they ask the Chief Secretary to the Treasury to allow the use of capital budgets to deliver additionality to councils for resource spending. That would allow councils to manage their budgets better in these challenging times.

I welcome the local governance review with COSLA that will bring the opportunity to recalibrate how powers and resources are shared between local government, national Government and communities. Throughout the pandemic, we have seen the importance of collaboration between spheres of Government when it comes to keeping people safe and supported, and I hope that the approach can be built on when we are out of the public health crisis. In the meantime, local government deserves as much clarity and support as possible.

The Tories are neglecting to mention three key points. First, in 2019, the UK Government’s budget was delayed from November of that year until March 2020, and then the 2020 UK budget was delayed until autumn and still has not taken place. If the Tories want to secure greater stability and clarity for our councils, perhaps they could ask their Westminster bosses to provide the Scottish Government with greater stability and clarity on funding.

Secondly, the biggest threat to the local government funding settlement has been the Tories themselves. Despite a decade of cruel Tory austerity, the Scottish Government has ensured that local government has been treated fairly.

Thirdly, we are still not sure how much the Tories would be willing to cut from national health service spending. After all, money does not grow on trees, and most of our money is spent, quite rightly, on the NHS.

Many of my constituents in Glasgow Cathcart, like people across the world, have faced severe financial challenges as a result of the public health crisis. I am grateful that the Scottish Government is funding a national council tax freeze, which is backed by almost £10 million for Glasgow City Council alone. In the face of Tory austerity, the SNP Government has invested in and protected local authority funding, enabling continued investment in schools and other crucial council services, while protecting people’s livelihoods.

I have been a councillor, so I know that local government has had and continues to have its challenges. However, it is absolutely apparent—and not just from this debate—that the only party trusted to ensure fair funding for local councils will, once again, be the SNP.