THE SCOTTISH Conservatives have been accused of “typical hypocrisy” after councillors in Edinburgh proposed removing the city council from Cosla despite the party at Holyrood consistently fighting the corner of the local authority organisation.
Douglas Ross’ party has called on the SNP Government to give councils a better funding deal – regularly pointing to concerns raised by Cosla, the umbrella organisation for Scottish local authorities.
But in their proposed budget, Conservative councillors in Edinburgh want to end the city’s membership of Cosla in the 2023/24 financial year in order to make a saving of £255,000.
Andrew Johnston, the Edinburgh Tory finance spokesperson, has claimed that Cosla has been “ineffectual in protecting council budgets”.
Criticising the move by the Conservatives, SNP leader of Edinburgh City Council, Adam McVey, said: “This is typical hypocrisy from Edinburgh Tory councillors.
“We’ve heard Tory MSPs banging on about listening to Cosla but that rings very hollow now. Not only are they trying to weaken Edinburgh’s negotiating position, they are trying to undermine the voice of local government by attempting to take Scotland’s capital city out of Cosla.
“The negotiations on local government budget have been led by a Tory councillor, Gail Macgregor, and she done a very good job in representing the views of all councils fairly and robustly.
“Our budget settlement is in a better position thanks to all 32 councils standing behind Cosla’s efforts.
“It’s a shame that yet again Edinburgh Tories are so out of touch with reality they fail to recognise that our Capital City is benefitting from being at the heart of Cosla.”
In response, Mr Johnston said: “Cosla has been ineffectual in protecting council budgets and in this climate has outlived its usefulness.
“When an administration which respects local government is in power in Holyrood we would reconsider this decision, but as it stands we are better off using this money to protect local services.”
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