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Chamber

Meeting of the Parliament 19 January 2022

19 Jan 2022 · S6 · Meeting of the Parliament

Item of business

Local Government Funding

Briggs, Miles Con Lothian Watch on SPTV

I open today’s Scottish Conservative debate on local government finance by thanking all those who work in our local authorities across Scotland. It is incredibly important that we thank them for what they have done during the pandemic in going the extra mile to support all our communities.

Today’s debate is an important one for Parliament to consider, because this Scottish National Party-Green budget is not acceptable and will not help services to recover from the pandemic.

After 15 years of this SNP Government underfunding local government in Scotland, there is increasing concern over the long-term financial sustainability of local government finances and the problems facing our Scottish councils that have been allowed to build up under this Government with no reform or leadership shown by SNP ministers. Put simply, council leaders across Scotland have nothing else that they can cut to save money and balance their books.

How we adequately fund local government is vitally important, which I think we all agree on. For many individuals and families, the local services that they depend on are delivered by their council. SNP ministers have underfunded councils for many years. From 2007 to 2019, the Scottish Government’s budget increased at more than double the rate of the grant that SNP ministers passed on to local councils.

The question today is therefore a simple one: why have SNP ministers delivered such a poor financial settlement again this year?

In the same item of business

The Deputy Presiding Officer (Liam McArthur) LD

The next item of business is a debate on motion S6M-02838, in the name of Miles Briggs, on protecting local government funding in Scotland. I invite members ...

Miles Briggs (Lothian) (Con) Con

I open today’s Scottish Conservative debate on local government finance by thanking all those who work in our local authorities across Scotland. It is incred...

The Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Economy (Kate Forbes) SNP

I respect Miles Briggs’s position on supplementing the local government budget. Where would he take it from?

Miles Briggs Con

We have been absolutely clear. The finance secretary has seen £3.9 billion of additional Barnett consequentials from the United Kingdom Government. That shou...

Neil Gray (Airdrie and Shotts) (SNP) SNP

Will the member give way?

Miles Briggs Con

Very, very briefly.

Neil Gray SNP

Miles Briggs will note that the Scottish Fiscal Commission has said that, year on year, the Scottish budget is down 5.2 per cent accounting for inflation. I ...

Miles Briggs Con

The member needs to understand that the Government that he supports has not handed on to local authorities the money that it has been given in Barnett conseq...

The Deputy Presiding Officer LD

I call the minister to speak to and move amendment S6M-02838.2. 15:39

The Minister for Public Finance, Planning and Community Wealth (Tom Arthur) SNP

I welcome the debate. As Miles Briggs has done—and I am sure that many others will do—I recognise the crucial role that councils play in delivering public se...

Douglas Lumsden (North East Scotland) (Con) Con

Can the minister give us a comparison with the budget two years ago, given that last year, of course, we had a huge increase because of Covid spend?

Tom Arthur SNP

I note that it was about two years ago that my colleague Kenny Gibson raised in the Parliament the issue of a new virus that had been detected in China—I thi...

Miles Briggs Con

Will the minister give way?

Tom Arthur SNP

I will give way to Mr Briggs in a moment. In the context of a 5.2 per cent real-terms reduction in the overall budget, the local government settlement has i...

Liam Kerr (North East Scotland) (Con) Con

Will the minister take an intervention?

Tom Arthur SNP

I am afraid that I need to make a wee bit more progress; I will take an intervention from Mr Briggs in a moment. In acknowledging the challenges, we must al...

Liam Kerr Con

Will the minister take an intervention?

Tom Arthur SNP

I said that I would take an intervention from Miles Briggs, as he requested one first.

Miles Briggs Con

I thank the minister. I have two things to ask. First, COSLA highlighted that the Scottish Government has not handed on national insurance contributions com...

Tom Arthur SNP

I recognise that the challenges that we face in our budget are ultimately a reflection of the challenges that we face as a consequence of the UK Government’s...

The Deputy Presiding Officer LD

You must now conclude.

Tom Arthur SNP

I again welcome the debate, and I am looking forward to the contributions of members from across the chamber. I move amendment S6M-02838.2, to leave out fro...

Mark Griffin (Central Scotland) (Lab) Lab

Here we are again: another debate about local government budgets, another SNP budget, another devastating raid on council budgets that provide absolutely vit...

Kate Forbes SNP

I assume that Mark Griffin wants the local government settlement to go up. Every penny is allocated, so where would the money come from in the budget?

Mark Griffin Lab

It is clear that the Scottish Government’s budget has increased. We are asking for the—

Kate Forbes SNP

Where would he take the money from?

Mark Griffin Lab

We are asking for the Scottish Government to respect local government. I grant that the Accounts Commission has said that, since 2013-14, Scottish Government...

Tom Arthur SNP

Will the member give way?

Mark Griffin Lab

I would normally take as many interventions as members would like to make, but I have only five minutes. Today the president of the Convention of Scottish L...

Willie Rennie (North East Fife) (LD) LD

We have learned something new today, which is that Kenny Gibson discovered Covid. We already knew that local government has been on the rough end of the SNP...