'Awful' budget cuts as more Scottish public toilets and libraries axed and potholes left unfilled by councils

Ministers have been told councils are not able to invest in the future, because ten years of cuts means they are struggling to cover the day-to-day costs. This comes amid warnings the funding gap facing councils will rise by hundreds of millions of pounds over the coming financial years.

Cosla, the umbrella organisation for Scotland’s 32 local authorities, and two council chiefs were quizzed by Holyrood’s finance committee on Tuesday when they said councils were being “increasingly forced” to make reductions to their budgets.

David Robertson, chief executive of Scottish Borders Council, said: “People are noticing potholes on the roads, grass cutting, general maintenance, the ability to access the library, all these things.

“Our flexibility is constrained year-on-year and we are increasingly forced to make reductions we wouldn’t want to make to make sure the local authority is financially sustainable. So closing public toilets and grass cutting, people are noticing.”

It is estimated one in seven libraries in Scotland have closed over the past decade and it is estimated it would cost £2.56 billion to repair the backlog of potholes.

Earlier this year the Accounts Commission said Scotland’s councils have a funding gap of £575 million, estimated to increase to £780m by 2026/27.

Only hours before the finance committee met, the commission published a report saying there needed to be more emphasis on preventative work to reduce the public’s demand for services.

The commission also warned a backlash from local communities to the cuts to public services will undermine the need for local authorities to transform how they manage their finances.

But Councillor Katie Hagmann, Cosla’s resources spokeswoman, said this was “really challenging” because there was not enough money to cover day-to-day spending.

She said: “It is at the point where it is almost impossible to stop delivering services where we are catching people after they’ve already fallen.

The Steamie newsletter will bring you the best analysis of Scottish politics - join those in the know and sign up now

“Some really awful decisions are having to be made. At this point it is not possible to identify areas we are OK with [cutting] because we’ve been cutting for the last ten years.”

Cllr Hagmann, who sits on Dumfries and Galloway Council, said any further cuts to council services going forward could have a “detrimental impact on communities”.

She said: “Public Health Scotland has done a huge amount of work demonstrating the value of preventative spend on how much it will save going forward. But when do we stop spending on the here and now so we can invest in the future?

“The communities are right in front of us. We can look people in the eye when we tell them we are stopping things that are making a huge difference to them so we can make a difference in the future. It is a really difficult ask.”