SNP MSP warns over council tax hikes as Shona Robison accused of 'wing and a prayer' over extra funds
Finance Secretary Shona Robison has insisted that “history” has shown Westminster always cough up more funding that will help local councils in the coming years.
The SNP convener of Holyrood’s finance committee has warned huge council tax rises are “almost a certainty” as he criticised Shona Robison’s “wing and a prayer” hopes that the UK government will cough up “considerably” more funding in the coming years.
Local government is set for a small real-terms increase in overall funding for the next financial year, according to Ms Robison’s draft Budget, subject to the approval of MSPs. However, councils have argued the 2 per cent increase is not enough to meet demand, particularly for health and social care pressures.
But the Scottish Government's spending review, which charts projected spending up to 2030, has forecast a real-terms cut in funding - with fears that Scots can expect big rises to council tax in the coming financial year.
Addressing Ms Robison in front of Holyrood’s finance committee, SNP convener Kenny Gibson said: “One area I think where there's real concern being raised is local government funding.
“The government has made it clear one of its aims is tackling the cost of living crisis. It's obviously not easy to tackle the cost of living crisis if people get above inflation council tax rises. I think that is almost a certainty given the settlement for local government.
“Why is local government, in many ways, a poor relation of what is in many ways, a good budget?”
But in response, Ms Robison said: “There is a real-terms increase.
“There is then a difference in terms of what that real-terms increase is. We are saying it’s 2 per cent.”
The Finance Secretary admitted the outlook for local government from 2027-2030 is “flat cash”, which is a real-terms cut.
She added: “The reason for that is the constraints of the spending review itself.”
But she argued that “history” has shown SNP ministers that the UK government has always made more money available to Holyrood in future years.
She said: “If you look back to the last spending review when local government again had a flat cash outlook, the actual funding that was then delivered to local government bore no relation to that outlook.
“So the spending review is for planning purposes.
“The local government budget has always been set budget to budget and it has always been set above the spending review outlook. It's likely to be again.”
But her SNP colleague, Mr Gibson, branded the strategy “a bit wing and a prayer”.
Pressed about council tax increases in the coming year, Ms Robison said she “would expect it to be reasonable”.
“What I’ve provided, I think, is a fair settlement for local government”, she added.
Scottish Conservative finance spokesperson, Craig Hoy, accused Ms Robison of “sowing confusion” for local councils.
He said: “This confusion is causing real problems for councils across Scotland who were told in the budget they were going to get year-on-year real-terms increases.
“The ones I'm speaking to are looking at quite considerable above inflation council tax increases because they do not believe they are going to get the levels of funding that you say they are. That's the impact of the confusion you are sowing.”
The Finance Secretary insisted she is “not sowing any confusion”.
She added: “That additional funding is absolutely there.
“The spending review is essentially for planning purposes and it's for flat cash because the spending review is incredibly tight. 27/28 is particularly tight.
“The planning assumptions I have set out to local government are what we have available to us. I expect those figures to change and change considerably.”
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