West Lothian Council is facing an additional £12.5m of cuts as a result of the Scottish Government’s draft budget, which the council leader described as "the worst settlement ever provided."
Lawrence Fitzpatrick has joined the leaders of Scotland’s 32 local authorities in co-signing a letter calling for an urgent meeting with the First Minister to address the ‘unacceptable’ cuts to core funding for local councils.
The First Minister has now agreed to have a meeting with council leaders, after an initial rejection of a request for a meeting with Finance Minister Kate Forbes.