HOW much more can council finances be squeezed? That is surely the question ahead of next week’s budget. Leaders at Scottish local authorities are preparing for the worst.
There remains some doubt over the £300m figure which is being talked about behind the scenes at councils’ body Cosla. Preparing for a three per cent reduction in funding may be an exercise in managing expectations. Should the final settlement from Finance secrtary Derek Mackay be more generous, there will be relief, but councils are erring on the side of pessimism.
That is wise given recent experience. Councils have seen year after year of budget reductions, and for much of the time have been unable to even raise council tax in an attempt to compensate. There is little prospect now of councils absorbing further cuts by restructuring, increasing efficiency measures or shedding staff through “natural wastage”.
We have already seen cuts to schools through the loss of clerical staff, sports coaches, school librarians to nursery nurses.
Routine road maintenance is now beyond the reach of many local authorities – Unison claims road budgets have been cut by 21 per cent in five years, there are 300 road team vacancies across the country, and cheap repairs are storing up problems for the future. Waste collections have been cut, libraries closed, day centres shuttered. Charges have been introduced for services relied upon by the elderly and disabled.
Councils say they need a £545 million increase just to stand still, so the real impact of a big reduction could be £850m of further cuts. The Scottish Government says councils have been treated “very fairly” given the reduced amount coming from the UK Government.
The council tax freeze has been lifted – but the reality is local authorities cannot raise it by enough to mitigate the pressures on budgets.
Cuts to council services generally target the poorest and most vulnerable in society. It is for the most part not the better off who benefit most from public libraries, day care centres, or homeless shelters. But increasingly their impact is being felt by us all – with road maintenance a prime example.
One of the ironies here is that by allowing local government funding to be eroded further, ministers would risk undermining some of their own policies.
Increasingly forced into difficult choices, councils have had to concentrate funding on statutory duties rather than the kind of preventive measures in the early years or criminal justice which underpin national strategy. Further council cuts could also place thousands of jobs at risk.
By making use of Holyrood’s tax-raising powers, ministers could ensure the scenario is not as bleak as that being contemplated by Cosla. But ultimately we need proper reform of council tax and local government finance. It is a challenge that has been ducked for too long and now the need is urgent.
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