Scotland has a long and proud tradition of delivering high quality public services but, with the proposed settlement from Scottish Government, the ability of councils to maintain even essential services is coming under real threat.
The Scottish Government’s draft budget for local government should be of considerable concern to us all. There is a £237m cash cut to the core budget which does not recognise that the essential services that Local Government deliver are the foundations on which Scotland is built.
Even today, every reader in Scotland will have encountered work done by their Council, from the street lighting that keeps us safe in the dark mornings and nights through to transport to school and across our rural communities, housing, education and social work.
. This cut will not go unnoticed.
In many areas our investment in local people and local places plays an essential role in strengthening the communities that we live in.
This can be seen through our investment in education, transport, social care, environmental protection, leisure centres, museums, trading standards and so much more.
Scottish local authorities have a unique role in promoting and achieving inclusive economic growth across the communities which stand at the heart of Scotland’s prosperity. This is our firm aim. But it is an aim we cannot achieve without adequate financial support.
The draft budget will have a considerable impact on the important work Local Government does and in turn, on the daily lives of citizens and communities across Scotland.
Council budgets have been subject to year on year cuts , while at the same time the demands on the services they provide have only increased.
That is why we have now reached a point where there is simply nowhere left to go.
Without a rethink from Scottish Government or a Parliamentary intervention, these budget proposals could put the final nail into many communities and services we deliver.
The settlement for Scottish Local Government, as it currently stands, puts inclusive growth for our whole country at risk.
This is not an idle threat. This settlement means that real jobs in real communities will go. It is as stark and simple as that.
Cllr Alison Evison is President of the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel