Meeting of the Parliament 12 February 2026 [Draft]
No, I do not have time.
The cabinet secretary has repeatedly claimed that the budget offers a fair deal for Scotland’s councils, but COSLA begs to differ. It has admitted that some services that are offered that are “critical to population health” will be slashed this April. Despite her claims, for the period that is covered by the budget and the spending review, councils are set to see a real-terms cut in their cash settlement. That means more cuts and higher bills, not just this year but right through to the end of the decade. Therefore, is it any wonder that the Accounts Commission has warned that, combined, Scotland’s 32 local authorities face a budget black hole of nearly £1 billion by 2027, which is 500 times more than the £28 million that the Government has come forward with today? That means that there is a real risk of Scotland’s councils collapsing into bankruptcy by the end of the decade, while council tax bills for hard-working Scots are set to climb.
It is not just council tax that will rise as a result of this bad SNP budget. Yet again, the SNP is reaching for the only lever that it ever pulls: clobbering middle-income earners with higher income tax bills. By the end of the decade, one in three Scots will be paying the SNP’s higher rate of tax. A tax that is intended for the few will be paid by the many. Why is tax soaring in Scotland? Under the SNP, the benefits bill is, frankly, out of control. By the end of the decade, SNP ministers will be spending £10 billion on social security. The truth is that the SNP is happy to park people on benefits, many with treatable mental health conditions, because the culture of dependency creates political advantage for John Swinney. It is the crudest form of vote buying. It is cynical, unsustainable and, frankly, wrong.