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UNISON tells Holyrood 'urgent funding' needed for local councils such as Moray and Aberdeenshire


By Alistair Whitfield

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Scottish local government must be funded properly for the first time in over a decade, says UNISON

UNISON Scotland has today written to Scottish Finance Secretary Kate Forbes calling for an urgent meeting to discuss what is calls a funding crises in local government.

Johanna Baxter, UNISON head of local government, said: "We have already seen £2billion of ‘efficiencies’ taken out of local government over the last decade and the pandemic has led to a double whammy of extra demand for services alongside a substantial loss of income.

"The recent package of measures announced by the Finance Secretary contained very little new money.

"Much of it comprised of a complicated set of 'fiscal flexibilities' which only increases debt repayment periods and switches money across different budget headings.

"Those flexibilities are no substitute for a fair funding settlement and simply kicks the can of further cuts down the road.

"While councils across the country try to get their heads round these new flexibilities they remain in a perfect financial storm which puts essential jobs and services at risk.

"Urgent investment is needed to protect essential jobs and services, reward the heroic efforts of local government workers and provide the stability needed for economic recovery."

In its letter to Ms Forbes, UNISON writes: "While we welcome the recognition that the Scottish Government needs to do something to address the financial crises local government is in we remain concerned that this ‘package’ does not solve the problem.

"The headline that this package was ‘worth up to £750m’ was misleading.

"Our understanding is that only £139m of this was ‘new’ money (£49m of which had already been announced).

"The remainder of the package would only be available if local authorities made full use of the ‘fiscal flexibilities’ being opened up to them.

"These fiscal flexibilities will be more attractive to some councils than others but that they are no substitute for a fair funding settlement."

The full letter to Kate Forbes can be found here


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