UK fund cuts 'catastrophic' for Scotland, warns Cosla president

A CUT in funding from the UK government would be "catastrophic" for council services in Scotland, a local authority chief warned yesterday.

Pat Watters, president of the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (Cosla), said a letter had been sent to all the political parties in Westminster, including the SNP, about funding concerns.

Mr Watters said: "We are partly into the financial year, in which it has been very difficult for local authorities to balance their budgets.

"We lost something like 180 million in our budgets this year and we had to manage that. It took a long time, a lot of consultation with our local communities, to get to the position where we can put a budget forward, where we can see services being delivered for the next year.

"Three months into that, four months into that, we have the government in Westminster telling us that what we are going to get is less money. It would be catastrophic for services in Scotland. Not just in Scotland but right across the public sector and all over the UK."

He said it was very difficult to plan for cuts as local authorities had no idea who would be in power after the general election.

Mr Watters continued: "Hence, we are writing to all the political parties in Westminster including the SNP. It's not a view of Cosla or a view of myself, it's a view of authorities right across Scotland."

The Scottish Labour councillor said councils were planning for a reduction in the next spending review and "actively discussing" with government how to manage for – and how services are delivered in – the austere times ahead.

Asked to what extent he expected the budget for local authorities to shrink in the coming years, Mr Watters said: "We reckon a year-on-year reduction of 4 per cent."

First Minister Alex Salmond will address Cosla's annual conference – "Change, Challenge and Opportunity" – when it opens in St Andrews on Wednesday.