THE SNP's flagship three-year council tax freeze is under threat because councils claim they do not have enough money to implement it, it emerged yesterday.
Ministers gave Scottish councils an extra £70 million last year to freeze council tax rates across the country. They also agreed a three-year funding package for Scotland's councils designed to keep council tax rates frozen for the next two years.
However, it emerged yesterday that councils want an extra £70 million for next year and they want to re-negotiate the funding settlement to secure that extra money. They have warned that the council tax freeze will not go ahead next year without the extra money.
Following a meeting of Cosla, the local government umbrella organisation, Steven Purcell, the Labour leader of Glasgow City Council, said: "The substantial decision Cosla has taken today is to seek a re-negotiation of the local government settlement with the Scottish Government."
Mr Purcell said councils were under far greater financial strain this year than last year, with inflation running at double last year's figure and local authorities also having to bear other unexpected costs.
He said: "The world has moved on significantly since the concordat was signed. Public services across the country are facing unprecedented pressure."
Mr Purcell referred to the pay dispute with local government, which was still ongoing, increasing fuel and energy costs and inflation of 5 per cent, rather than the 2.5 per cent it was at the time the concordat was signed.
A senior Scottish Government source yesterday refused to speculate on the negotiations, but said ministers believed they had already given enough money to councils to deliver the council tax freeze for another two years.
He added: "The budget is an annual process but we have set aside the resources we believe will continue the council tax freeze. We are confident and optimistic we will deliver the council tax freeze again."
There was also speculation last night that the whole of the "historic concordat" itself, signed between local and central government, was on the verge of collapse.
However, this was strongly denied by Pat Watters, the president of Cosla. He insisted that the concordat included a provision allowing councils to re-negotiate the financial settlement on an annual basis, depending on the financial pressures they were under.
This was exactly what was happening now, he said. Mr Watters also refused to say what was being discussed with John Swinney, the finance secretary.
He said: "It was a three-year financial settlement but, as part of the deal we had a clause that allowed us to go in on an annual basis to discuss the pressures on local authorities. We have started discussing the funding priorities."
But Andy Kerr, Labour's finance spokesman, was more direct.
He said: "The Scottish Government must recognise councils face exceptional funding pressures and now re-negotiate the local government settlement."
One issue which is still outstanding is free school meals, which the Scottish Government wants to see introduced across Scotland.
Mr Purcell said he would not be able to introduce free school meals in Glasgow without more money from the Scottish Government and without other changes to the plans, and he did not believe any "responsible authority" would be able to do so either.
WHAT NEXT A WINTER of strike action came a step closer last night when leaders at Unison, the main local government union, said they wanted to reject their latest pay offer.
Union members will now be balloted with a recommendation to reject the pay offer of 3 per cent followed by 2.5 per cent over the next two years, offered by Cosla, the local government employer organisation.
The Unison announcement follows a similar decision by GMB, another local government union. If, as expected, members of both unions accept the leadership recommendation, the industrial action which has already brought two days of strikes is likely to continue through the winter.
A senior local government source said the Unison decision "beggared belief".
He said: "These dinosaurs are living in the past if they think they can reject a 5.5 per cent deal like this in the present climate."
The full article contains 705 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
