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West Lothian demands more cash from Holyrood to maintain services

Document Cited in Related
Vincent
AuthorStuart Sommerville
Published date27 June 2022
Publication titleEdinburghLive (Scotland)
It follows earlier announcements from the Scottish Government that it would freeze funding for all councils until the 2026 to 2027 financial year when an extra £100 million will be shared out among all 32 councils

The freeze -maintaining all local authority funding at its current levels despite surging inflation and increasing costs- will severely damage the council's ability to maintain services, said the council's finance director, Donald Forrest.

In West Lothian, the council has had to trim £150 million from its spending since 2007 to balance its budget- something it is legally required to do. Mr Forrest told a meeting of the council's Executive that the council faced a new five year term with a gap currently estimated at £38.4 million.

Mr Forrest said: "Since the financial crash in 2008, the economic outlook facing local government and public services more generally, has been constrained, difficult to forecast and impacted by the UK leaving the European Union, the Covid-19 pandemic and the current ongoing cost of living crisis."

Council leader, Lawrence Fitzpatrick proposed a motion that "instructs the Chief Executive to write a letter to the First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Economy seeking an improved settlement for local government."

He told the meeting: "I am very concerned. There are massive increasing costs in delivering our services. The Fraser of Allander Institute estimates that the Scottish Spending Review will see local government budgets decline by seven per cent in real terms between 2022 to 2023 and 2026 to 2027.

"Either the Cabinet Secretary is correct on this issue or 32 local government directors of Finance are correct. I leave members to make up their own minds.

" There is a disdain for the local authority sector that I for one cannot understand."

An amendment by depute SNP group leader Robert de Bold noted: "that because of...

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