Councillor Gail Macgregor, COSLA’s Resources Spokesperson described the decision by Scottish Government to pass the £155 million of Consequentials from the UK Government in full to Councils as a positive step in the right direction.

Councillor Macgregor said:  “Today’s announcement of the full £155million coming to Scottish Local Government is a positive step in the right direction and we look forward to engaging with Kate Forbes, Cabinet Secretary for Finance, to get this money to Councils quickly.

“Scotland’s Councils are doing a heroic job in keeping a huge range of essential services running to meet the needs of communities and to be responsive locally.  The costs to Local Government in dealing with this pandemic and coping with the loss of income are going to be substantial. COSLA is working closely with all councils on an ongoing basis to understand the scale of these costs and to ensure that Scottish Government recognises that this could well exceed the £155m Consequentials.”