Cosla joins SNP in £40m council tax benefit deal

But opposition parties accused the SNP of trying to buy votes ahead of the council elections next month.

An overhaul of the welfare system will see council tax benefit devolved to Scotland next year. The budget for this is being cut by 10 per cent.

First Minister Alex Salmond announced the Scottish Government and the local government body Cosla would provide £40 million to make up this shortfall for 2013-14 – meaning the 558,000 who receive the benefit will not suffer as a result.

“The council tax benefit is being devolved to Scotland and to English local authorities, but the sting in the tail is the 10 per cent cut in budget,” he said.

He went on: “There are over 500,000 low-income Scots who benefit from council tax benefit. I’m delighted to say that the Scottish Government and Cosla will jointly be funding the £40m shortfall, which means there will be no cuts in council tax benefit in Scotland in 2013 to 2014.”

But Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie said there were rules in place during election campaigns to stop governments “from manipulating the public finances” to win votes.

“People will be deeply suspicious about this announcement,” he said. “It’s a desperate attempt to win votes by throwing out the rule book.”

Labour’s Jackie Baillie said councils would be left with a £17m black hole – their share of the £40m announcement.

She added: “If the SNP were serious about supporting local councils, they would not have waited until two weeks before the council elections – flagrantly breaching purdah – to make this announcement.”

Both Citizens Advice Scotland and Age Scotland welcomed the funding.

Cosla president councillor Pat Watters said Scottish local government had a “long and proud history of standing up for and protecting the most vulnerable in society”.