Briefing highlights the financial pressures faced by Scottish Councils 

The key financial challenges facing Scotland’s 32 Councils are highlighted in a briefing prepared by the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe), COSLA said today (Monday). The document comes as Pre-Budget Scrutiny begins.

The Local Government Finance Briefing is a factual brief prepared by SPICe and draws from various sources, including Audit Scotland to present an accurate reflection of the decisions, constraints and circumstances that Councils have had to endure over recent years.

The briefing also includes a look at how COVID-19 affected the balance of Local Government funding in 2020-21.

COSLA’s Resource’s Spokesperson Councillor Gail Macgregor commented:  “This briefing highlights perfectly the key financial challenges Scotland’s 32 Councils are facing.

“It highlights that Local Government has seen a 2.1% real term reduction in funding since 2013-14, meanwhile the Scottish Government has seen their overall budget increase.

“In addition, the briefing gives all of our MSPs a key resource that can be accurately referred to throughout the Budget Scrutiny Process.

“The SPICe Briefing also presents key questions for the Scottish Government over the use of directed spend, legacy policy commitments and the distribution of funding from the UK Government.

“The Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Economy has recently commended Local Government for its work to support communities and businesses during the Pandemic, but we also need to recognise the vital role that Councils will play in recovery.”