Swinney stands firm on council tax cash

Published on Thursday 11 December 2008 21:05

A FREEZE in council tax looks set to go ahead next year, despite no extra money being offered to fund it by the Scottish Government.

John Swinney, the finance secretary, yesterday announced he would give Scotland's 32 councils 70 million to freeze the council tax, despite many authorities claiming this would not be enough.

However, The Scotsman understands that the councils, led by Glasgow, which had threatened not to freeze the tax, will climb down.

A senior local government source said: "It would be too damaging to not take the extra money and then have to raise the tax by even more."

However, there were still warnings that the lack of extra funds would lead to cuts in services.

A spokesman for Stephen Purcell, the leader of Glasgow City Council, said: "The money is not enough in the new economic climate. This means tough decisions will have to be made in the 2009-10 budget."

Meanwhile, during First Minister's Questions yesterday, Alex Salmond called for tougher drink-driving laws.

The SNP has previously backed plans for a reduction from the current 80mg of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood to 50mg per 100ml, but responsibility in this area is reserved to Westminster.