COSLA’s Resources Spokesperson Councillor Gail Macgregor said: "I welcome the movement made by the Scottish Government today in recognition of the essential services Local Government delivers.

"This helps councils across the country in making their tough choices.  Councils will continue to work to mitigate the impact on communities.

"COSLA, on a cross party basis, has engaged positively with Scottish Government and all political parties throughout these budget negotiations.

"COSLA ran a pro-active campaign around the meaningful impact our essential services make to communities throughout Scotland. The messages in this campaign were well heard.

"I would also like to put on record my thanks to the Green Party for working with COSLA to get us to this position today. Meaningful progress has been made on a number of fronts including a commitment to secure more sustainable funding for Local Government going forward."

COSLA President Councillor Alison Evison said: "Whilst challenges still remain, and today’s movement from Scottish Government clearly doesn’t mitigate all of our funding issues, we are now in a better place than we were with the original budget proposal.

"I welcome the commitment today to the introduction of discretionary taxation (Transient Visitor Tax) and the Workplace Parking Levy – it is right that Local Authorities across Scotland should be able to raise revenue locally to address local issues.

"A key part of COSLA’s work is to promote the democratic role and rights of our Councils. Therefore, I appreciate the movement from Scottish Government today, with support from the Greens. The job does not end here: with on-going political leadership and cross-party engagement we must all work together to deal with the challenges ahead on behalf of our communities."