SNP ministers are facing pressure after five local authorities confirmed the biggest rises to council tax in a generation.

John Swinney is under fire for overseeing “years of brutal SNP cuts” after five local authorities confirmed they will usher in the biggest council tax increases in 20 years.

Council bosses in Edinburgh have approved an 8 per cent rise in council tax next year, as has Fife Council - while a 7.5 per cent increase has been agreed in Glasgow.

First Minister John Swinney and finance secretary Shona Robison | Andrew Milligan/PA Wire

Scottish Borders Council and North Lanarkshire agreed a 10 per cent increase.

The five local authorities that agreed increases on Thursday have a combined population of more than two million people.

East Lothian Council became the first Scottish local authority to bring in a double digit increase on Tuesday, while Midlothian Council and Moray Council have proposed a 10 per cent rise to be agreed next week.

Councillors in Edinburgh have backed an 8 per cent hike | Getty Images/iStockphoto

Labour leader of Edinburgh City Council, Jane Meagher, claimed that residents had been “loud and clear” that “they’d be willing to see council tax raised “ to fund investment in services and social care.

The First Minister has pointed to 14 years of austerity and stressed the Scottish Government has handed local authorities an extra £1 billion of funding for the next financial year.

Earlier this month, SNP Finance Secretary Shona Robison handed authorities a share of £144 million to partly mitigate the UK government’s National Insurance hike in a bid to “avoid inflation-busting increases” to council tax.

The First Minister has insisted that local government has been given enough funding in next year’s Budget to avoid huge rises to council tax.

But his government is facing criticism for what Cosla, the umbrella organisation for Scottish councils, has claimed is years of under-funding.

Scottish Labour local government spokesperson, Mark Griffin, said: “Years of brutal SNP cuts have left councils across the country making impossible choices.

“Scots are facing a double whammy of council tax hikes and service cuts as a result of the SNP’s chronic underfunding of local services.

“Scots cannot keep being forced to pay more for less as a result of SNP failure.”

Scottish Conservative shadow finance and local government secretary, Craig Hoy, stressed that “councils across Scotland have been put in an impossible position, thanks to years of SNP underfunding”.

He added: “As a result, hard-pressed Scots – already paying the highest taxes in the UK – will be hit by the cost of years of savage SNP cuts.

“With Labour’s NI jobs tax rise piling additional pressure on local authorities, Scots will continue to pay more while getting less.

“Only the Scottish Conservatives are standing up against the cosy left-wing consensus at Holyrood, and arguing for Scots to be given an income tax cut and an end to wasteful government spending.”

Scottish Liberal Democrat economy spokesperson, Willie Rennie, said: "Essential services can’t be provided on the cheap, but the SNP have demanded councils do more with less. However, the cost of living for people has increased whilst wages often have not kept pace.”

Last year, then first minister Humza Yousaf announced a controversial council tax freeze, angering local authorities.

Asked by reporters if his government was responsible for the the sharp rises many Scots are now facing following repeated council tax freezes, Mr Swinney said: “The government has increased the funding for local government in this Budget.

First Minister John Swinney | Jane Barlow/Press Association

“We’ve given a real-terms increase in core funding to local government. The overall package for local government is £1 billion extra.

“I accept that there will be increases in council tax. There will obviously be variation around the country because we’re seeing differential levels of that emerging from the data that’s already coming forward.”

He added: “What the government is doing is investing and supporting local authorities.

“But obviously we’ve had to deal with enormous financial pressures. We’ve all forgotten about the 14 years of austerity that we’ve had to live through from the United Kingdom government.

“What we’re doing now is investing in Scottish local government to strengthen the delivery of local public services.”

A charity has warned that the rises to council tax to be rolled out from April could exacerbate the cost of living crisis.

Citizen Advice Scotland financial health spokesperson, Myles Fitt, said: “We are very concerned at the impact these rises will have on people already struggling with the cost of living.

“Council tax debt is the single biggest debt the Scottish CAB network deals with each year and our fear is these rises could further increase numbers of people falling into debt or falling further into debt.”

He added: “We urge councils to do everything they can to raise awareness of the various council tax reductions that are available so that those that are eligible to pay less have that opportunity in the face of these rises.”

Meanwhile, the Institute for Fiscal Studies said bills will need to increase by almost a fifth if local authorities in Scotland are to keep pace with increases in local government funding in England.

'Brutal SNP cuts' blamed as five authorities confirm biggest council tax rise in 20 years

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