South Lanarkshire Council is calling on the Scottish Parliament for funding to help locals through the cost-of-living crisis.
At the executive committee meeting yesterday (August 24), councillors passed a formal response to the finance and public administration committee of the Scottish Parliament as part of scrutiny ahead of the 2023/24 Scottish Government budget.
Upon approving this, elected members urged for input from MSPs.
Councillors stressed that the funding squeeze on local authorities is impacting vital local services which means the council are not able to do as much to support national priorities like tackling poverty and child poverty.
Council Leader Joe Fagan said: “It is good that Holyrood politicians are asking us to explain how financial pressures are impacting locally.
"Now they must listen to what we have to say and understand exactly how tough life is for the council and our residents, and how much tougher it could get.
“According to Audit Scotland, funding for councils has been cut by 4.2 per cent in real terms in the last eight years, in stark contrast to a 4.3 per cent increase in the Scottish Government’s budget.
“This has already weakened our ability to support local people, who – like us – are now having to cope with rising food, fuel, energy and other costs, with inflation now at 10 per cent and predicted to rise as high as 18 per cent next year.
“So our message is clear: councils cannot take any more cuts in our budget without severe implications for the people we serve and for local jobs.
“Instead, councils must be funded to continue to address the cost-of-living crisis, providing assistance and support across our areas to those who are struggling to meet the costs of living – money advice, support into employment, backing for the Living Wage, the Council Tax Reduction Scheme and in many other ways.”
The finance and public administration committee of the Scottish Parliament was interested in views on how the rising cost of living will have an impact on the Scottish budget and whether the Scottish Government’s proposals for reforming public services will deliver the efficiencies expected.
SLC's response also notes that there are areas of spend within the council budgets that are ‘ring fenced’ due to the Scottish Government.
Local authorities are looking for more flexibility across their budgets to allow them to make decisions to improve outcomes and circumstances for local residents.
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