COUNCILS are planning to raid more than £100m form their back-up reserves for the third year in a row to fund day-to-day services, it has emerged.
Official statistics show 26 of Scotland’s 32 local authorities intend to draw on their general reserves in the current financial year, up from 24 last year.
Seven councils - Clackmannanshire, Eilean Siar, Moray, West Dunbartonshire and East, South and North Ayrshire - plan a second year of double-digit raids in percentage terms.
In the most extreme case, Moray, which has been beset by political instability, plans to use 31.5 per cent of its reserves in 2018-19, after using 30.5 per cent in 2017-18.
Earlier this year the Accounts Commission said it was "seriously concerned" about acute financial problems at Clackmannanshire, and said using reserves to avoid difficult political decisions was “unsustainable”.
The watchdog also warned Moray - which has gone from reserves of £18m to £10m in three years - and North Ayrshire could run out of reserves in two or three years’ time.
The Scottish Government’s provisional outturn figures for 2017-18 and budget estimates for 2018-19 showed councils collectively spent £126m of their general reserve last year.
This year it is expected to be £113m, while in 2016-17 it was £195m.
The budget for councils this year is around £12bn, with reserves sitting at around £1bn.
Although the headline figures in 2016/17, 2017/18 and 2018/19 are offset by transfers in to reserves of around £33m a year - half from oil-rich Shetland - the net drawd-owns of £163m, £93m and £80m still represent percentage declines of 14, 8 and 7.5 per cent
The Scottish Tories said councils were being driven to “last resort” measures by SNP cuts, and claimed that on current trends all reserves would disappear within 14 years.
Tory MSP Alexander Stewart said: “Councils are increasingly dipping into their rainy day fund, and that’s a direct consequence of SNP budget cuts. It’s not like these reserves are being used for landmark projects, it’s a last resort to keep day-to-day services going.
“It’s not something that can continue – mathematically this option will disappear in little more than a decade if current trends continue. Under an SNP government, the financial wellbeing of Scotland’s 32 local authorities has deteriorated alarmingly.
“What’s worse is that, while reserves are being used, services only appear to get worse.”
Labour MSP James Kelly said the figures were “deeply concerning”.
He said: “The SNP government has cut £1.5 billion from local authorities and now they are forced to use emergency measures in a bid to balance the books.
“It is time the SNP government stood up for our communities and used the vast powers of the Parliament to end austerity.”
The council umbrella group Cosla said: "Council’s hold reserves as part of a prudent financial strategy for a variety of purposes.
"It is to be expected that the planned use of reserves will vary year to year in line with individual Council’s approved published financial plans.
"Some recent examples of this would include:- contingency sums to deal with the impact of an exceptionally harsh winter, such as we have just experienced; investment in service transformation; deployment of resources to fund new service initiatives; and to assist with the phased delivery of budget savings.”
The Scottish Government has been asked for comment.
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