JOHN Swinney has blamed divisions in the SNP-led umbrella body for local government for the bin strikes sweeping the country as he prepares to hold a summit on the problem.

The acting Finance Secretary said it was “frustrating” that non-SNP council leaders on Cosla had delayed passing on a 5 per cent pay offer to workers by a “critical” week.

He said that if they had acted differently “maybe we’d be in a better place”.

Edinburgh is currently half way through a 12-day refuse collector strike, leading to bins overflowing across the capital, the reek of rotting garbage and concerns over rats.

Mr Swinney is due to hold an emergency summit with council leaders this afternoon in a bid to avoid the strike taking hold nationwide. 

Similar refuse collection strikes started in 14 more councils today, with industrial action due to begin in another six on Friday.

The SNP is the largest party in local government, winning 453 of the 1,227 seats at May’s council elections, and helping to run 14 of the country’s 32 local authorities.

In Moray councillor Shona Morrison, the SNP also has its first Cosla president.

On Tuesday, SNP cabinet secretary Angus Robertson, the MSP for Edinburgh Central, laid the blame for the strike in the city on the newly-elected Labour-run council.

Opposition parties have blamed years of council underfunding by SNP ministers

Speaking to the media at the annual publication of the GERS report on Scotland’s public finances, Mr Swinney also spoke about the bin strike, noting he had recently offered Cosla an extra £140m to help it reach the £277m needed for a 5% pay rise for staff.

He said: “The situation is obviously a matter of very serious concern. 

“I think the condition of the city of Edinburgh just now is deeply concerning at a whole host of levels, not least of which is in relation to public health. So I acknowledge the significance of the issue, which is why I want to see the industrial action resolved.

“Why I would prefer if it didn’t spread to other parts of the country and we could resolve the situation in Edinburgh as quickly as possible.

“In relation to the role of the government, the government's role is to engage in constructive discussions with all parties. We are not the employers here. The employers are local authorities and they've obviously got to agree a deal with trade unions.

“Local authorities have come to us to ask for our support. They asked us to make a contribution towards the overall cost of what a 5% pay offer would mean in global terms for local government. That cost is £277m. 

“The government gave just over 50% of that cost in new money.

“That is not a pain-free option for the government. We are going to have to take decisions to change financial priorities because as you know, we operate within a fixed budget. 

“So the government's made that contribution towards the deal, but we'll continue to talk to local government and the trade unions to try to encourage a resolution because the discussion has to come between those two. I can't write the offer. I'm not the employer. But I can encourage dialogue between the two and I will be doing that.”

Asked about Cosla and the unions asking him only yesterday for more money, Mr Swinney went on: “I’ve explained to Cosla already what the limitations are on us giving any more money and the limitations are that we have a fixed budget, that we have allocated that budget,  if we were to put in any more money we've got to change priorities to afford that.

“One thing that is frustrating me is the fact that Cosla did not immediately engage in discussions with trade unions about a 5% offer when I put the money on the table to enable that to happen. 

“And that happened because a majority of Cosla leaders voted against an SNP proposal to offer 5%.

“That would have given another week for dialogue to take place, a critical week in advance of the Edinburgh cleansing dispute. 

“So the point of legitimate criticism of local government, in my view, is that Cosla leaders

got a response to what they asked for. They got £140m. 

“They didn't, because of the votes of non-SNP leaders in Cosla, a putting off that offer to employees was delayed by a week, and I think that was a critical week in timing.

“And I'm not at all surprised unions are annoyed and frustrated by it. 

“So I think if non-SNP local government leaders had grasped the seriousness of the situation and the urgency, the  response that I gave financially, maybe we'd be in a better place.”