Meeting of the Parliament 04 February 2026
Aberdeenshire Council is the lowest-funded rural council in Scotland, and its public services are among the most expensive to deliver across miles of coast and glen. Years of penny-pinching Scottish National Party budgets and eye-watering cuts mean that there are no real savings left to be had. We have more than 3,000 miles of road to be maintained and more than 1,800 bridges—more per capita than anywhere else in Scotland.
When cuts are implemented, rural areas suffer more. Bin collections are cancelled, public transport comes to a halt and grit bins are not where they need to be. The result is that residents in some parts of the shire pay the same council tax as those in larger towns—and, indeed, in other parts of Scotland—but receive noticeably less in return. Does the cabinet secretary recognise that her underfunding of councils has created a postcode lottery in public services in Scotland?