Earlier this month, the SNP Scottish Government set out their draft budget and shortly after, I joined political leaders from all 32 authorities in Scotland at the Convention of Scotland Local Authorities (COSLA) to discuss the budget.
The message from that meeting was very clear: this budget represents an extremely poor settlement for local government in Scotland and means real term cuts for councils.
The most alarming elements of the SNP budget are:
- Despite the immediate £750 million of additional funding needed for social care, this has not materialised and will affect our communities and shared national priorities.
- Flat cash over the medium-term – with no inflationary uplift – means that council high demand core services are at risk.
- The Scottish Government has deprioritised local government with our share of the Scottish Budget reducing from 26.4% down to 24.8%.
- Capital funding is facing real term cuts and will impact on our ability to decarbonise our infrastructure to meet net zero targets.
In fact, the Scottish Government is not only underfunding social care, but they are passing the problem on to councils.
Their Real Living Wage commitments affecting adult and children's services are being cut by £19m and the burden is being passed on to council taxpayers instead.
In West Dunbartonshire, we are looking at a £334,000 shortfall.
It was also really disappointing to learn that the SNP Government budget had chosen not to commit any funding for a new Dumbarton Health Centre.
The health centre has been a priority for NHS Greater Glassgow and Clyde but clearly not a priority for the Scottish Government.
Also, the planned reduction in Scottish Government capital spending seems to suggest that there won’t be any money to build a new Dumbarton Health Centre for many years to come which impacts on the town centre regeneration plans around the Artizan Centre.
It’s clear that the SNP Scottish Government has failed to deliver sustainable multi-year and flexible funding that recognises the scale of the challenge and empowers councils to deliver for every community.
No amount of SNP spin can hide the fact that the Scottish Government is imposing continued austerity on local government.
Councils are facing a £528m budget gap in 2026/27, alongside rising demand, inflationary pressures, and continuing pay awards.
The services that people in West Dunbartonshire rely on such as early years, education, social care, roads, leisure and housing are under constant threat from the SNP Government.
It’s time to prioritise sustainable finance for council services.
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