Councils are facing crippling budget black holes of more than £1.2billion, a Sunday Mail investigation has found. The massive deficits across 32 local authorities have sparked fears of major tax rises or deep cuts in Scotland on top of the pain announced by Chancellor Jeremy Hunt in his autumn statement last week.
Trade union the GMB has blamed governments at both Holyrood and Westminster for creating the crisis by “passing the buck on austerity” on to councils for over a decade. They warn income and council tax increases are needed to stave off the devastation of education, social care, waste management and library services.
The SNP’s stand-in finance minister John Swinney will announce the Scottish budget for next year at the Scottish
Parliament on December 15. GMB Scotland senior organiser Keir Greenaway said: “Chronic decline or recovery? That’s the question facing political leaders as budgets are set but, after a decade of political austerity, the answer should be staring them in the face – you can’t cut your way out of a crisis, you must invest.
