THE Finance Secretary has been accused of passing the buck for public sector cuts on to councils.
Derek Mackay pledged a minimum pay rise of three percent for national public workers who earn £30,000 or less, two percent for those earning over that, and a cash cap of £1,600 to people who earn over £80,000.
However, he admitted local authorities will have to raise council tax to achieve a real terms increase in funding.
READ MORE: 'People earning up to £33,000 a year protected from any increase' on income tax, says Derek Mackay
COSLA, the council umbrella group, said the budget amounts to a £153 million cut for services, and a £60 million cut to local capital funding, without taking into account the money it would have to raise to match the Scottish Government’s national pay pledge.
Labour went even further, claiming the budget will strip £850 million out of council budgets, with a £135 million cut in real terms spending exacerbating the £545 million black hole it has identified "just to stand still”.
Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie said Mr Mackay had delivered a “harsh” settlement which “passes on the buck for cuts to councils”.
Even the SNP’s fair-weather friends on the Green benches said “it is not acceptable for the Scottish Government to pass on a real-terms cut to our local councils”.
Convener Patrick Harvie said: “If we include the additional costs that our councils will face if they are going to apply the same three per cent uplift for their public sector workers, who are delivering vital services that every one of us depends on, it is clear that the Scottish Government will have to make changes to its local government settlement.
“What will the consequence be, other than real-terms pay cuts, service cuts or job losses in our councils, if the cabinet secretary does not change what he has proposed today for local government?”
Aberdeen City Council co-leader Jenny Laing called him the "Pontius Pilate" of Scottish politics
Like the notorious Roman governor, Mr Mackay has “washed his hands of our city's plight,” she said.
But Mr Mackay said his settlement is “far better" than councils were expecting.
“If councils used their powers to increase council tax by up to three per cent, that would put local authorities into real-terms growth,” he said.
He said the local government resource budget will be protected in cash terms and that the capital budget will be increased in real terms, which "will result in a total increase in local authority core funding of £94 million".
He said councils could also raise an additional £77 million if they raise council tax, "which would secure a real-terms increase in local government funding”.
READ MORE: 'People earning up to £33,000 a year protected from any increase' on income tax, says Derek Mackay
Mr Mackay also criticised Labour local authorities that blamed the Scottish Government for their refusal to raise council tax.
“Richard Leonard said that, because the Scottish Government did not give councils enough money, Labour councils would raise even less — what a ridiculous proposition,” he said.
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