The SNP’s pledge over a council tax freeze has unravelled after councillors in Argyll and Bute agreed to hike the charge by 10%.
At SNP conference in October, First Minister Humza Yousaf vowed that council tax will be frozen across Scotland in the next financial year.
The umbrella organisation for Scottish councils, Cosla, warned that £147 million of funding, equivalent to a 5% increase, would not be enough to fully fund the freeze with some authorities considering higher rises to the charge.
Read more: Extra £63m offered to councils after funding deal 'not sufficient'
Deputy First Minister Shona Robison, who is also the SNP’s Finance Secretary, has offered an extra £62.7 million to local authorities, including £45 million in consequential funding from the UK Government as a result of extra funding made available for adult social care in England.
Ms Robison acknowledged that the funding deal with local councils was "not sufficient".
But the council tax freeze will not go ahead across the whole of Scotland after Argyll and Bute Council agreed to hike the charge by 10%.
Speaking in Holyrood on Thursday, Ms Robison said she hopes the council will “reconsider” the move, claiming it will leave the authority £400,000 worse off than if it had taken the funding offered by the Government.
Read more: Analysis: Scottish council funding as usual won't cut it
Other local authorities such as East Lothian and Edinburgh City Council are set to defer a council tax rise until the 2025-26 financial year.
In the LibDem and Tory-run Argyll and Bute Council, the council tax hike will mitigate a £40 million funding gap, meaning Band D properties in the area will now pay £1,627.12.
Councillors in Argyll and Bute were told they would need to take money out of reserve to balance the budget in a “one-off fix” if they had adhered to the council tax freeze.
Robin Currie, the LibDem leader of the council, insisted he had “no option” but to support council tax rising by 10%.
He added: “Our focus has to remain firmly on supporting people now, and on building the sustainable future we all want for Argyll and Bute.
“That focus cannot slip away in the face of severe and ongoing budget gaps.
“This service-saving budget is only possible with an increase in council tax. Council tax funds council services. Increasing council tax saves services.
“It was a difficult decision to take but it is the responsible one.
“Council tax reduction benefits are there to help those in greatest need. Communities across the area can continue to rely on the council services and support they need.”
Gary Mulvaney, the policy lead for financial services at Argyll and Bute Council, added: “The Scottish Government funding settlement available to the council on the basis of a council tax freeze would have meant cuts to services.
“Decisions made today keep services going for our communities. Decisions made today keep investment going in Argyll and Bute’s future.”
Scottish Conservative shadow finance secretary, Liz Smith, said: “This rise is a blow for those in Argyll and Bute, but it illustrates the impossible position councils have found themselves in after years of SNP underfunding and mismanagement.
“It also shows that Humza Yousaf’s unilateral decision on a council tax freeze was no more than a hollow boast and gimmick to please his own party members at their conference.
“There was no consultation, and Shona Robison’s combined threats and bribes did nothing to fix the black hole in council budgets.
“The SNP’s years of incompetence and neglect have led to savage cuts and crumbling public services, and left councils with no option but this rise – which thoroughly exposes the appalling failure to provide for essential services.”
A spokesperson for the First Minister said "it would be a reasonable assumption" that Argyle and Bute Council will not receive its share of extra funding pledged by the Scottish Government to freeze council tax.
He added that the Scottish Government "will look at the specifics" of what councils have decided.
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