Argyll and Bute Council has made a vow to stand up for a share of extra government funding - even if it becomes available only to local authorities sticking with a council tax freeze.
Last week the council was the first to reject the Scottish Government’s council tax freeze, deciding to raise its rates by 10 per cent despite an improved offer from Holyrood for local authorities opting to put any increases on ice for 2024/25.
The Scottish Government made an additional £62.7 million available to local authorities the day before the council met to consider its budget on Thursday February 22.
SNP finance minister Shona Robison, who said the multi-million funding package was explicitly tied to the freeze, was disappointed by Argyll and Bute Council’s decision. First Minister Humza Yousaf also went on record to say he thought councils such as Argyll and Bute who "unjustifiably" raised their council tax in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis would have to answer to their constituents.
Argyll and Bute Council’s deputy leader Councillor Gary Mulvaney likened the Scottish Government’s late offer of more funding as being “more akin to Dibley Parish Council” - the fictional body depicted in the BBC comedy The Vicar Of Dibley.
The policy lead for finance and commercial services said the conditions attached to that extra funding were not known when the 10 per cent decision was made.
He said the Scottish Government response had been to plug its ears and to ignore COSLA (Convention of Scottish Local Authorities) and council pleas, and run down the clock, carrying on regardless until the 11th hour, when £62 million was found "as if by magic."
He told the budget meeting: "We do not yet know what conditions are attached, so essentially, we cannot take it into account while setting the budget. It is more akin to Dibley Parish Council than it is to national partnership work."
In an official response explaining the council tax rise to Oban Times readers, a spokesperson for Argyll and Bute said: “People need council services to live well locally. Council services need funding The council took the difficult decision to increase council tax to save vital services for people who need them.
"With Argyll and Bute facing a £40 million gap in its budgets for services and crucial infrastructure, such as roads, bridges and buildings, the funding available from the Scottish Government (SG), based on freezing council tax, would have meant cuts to the services people use every day.
"The council budget is protecting services, preventing job cuts, funding capital builds and building some protection against budget gaps we know are coming in future years."
And added: "We’ve been advised by the Scottish Government that the additional funding, £62.7 million for councils, depends on the UK Government’s Spring Budget. Councils cannot therefore at this stage rely on it. If it becomes available it should mean £1.1 million for Argyll and Bute.
"The First Minister has been clear on no sanctions for councils and we set our budget in line with this. Only after the council’s budget did the Deputy First Minister confirm that this possible additional £1.1 million funding is conditional on a council tax freeze.
"If more funding becomes available, people in Argyll and Bute have a right to receive their share and, through COSLA, we will be standing up for Argyll and Bute’s communities to receive their share for their council services.”
The 10 per cent council tax increase was confirmed after the council’s ruling group’s budget motion prevailed by two votes, 18-16.
Authority officers had recommended an increase of just over six per cent as part of the budget-setting process for 2024/25, but the council’s ruling Argyll, Lomond and Islands Group (TALIG) – made up of Conservative, Liberal Democrat and some independent councillors – moved the 10 per cent hike following its warning last month.
An amendment by the Strategic Opposition Partnership – made up of SNP, Labour and some other independent councillors – would have seen council tax frozen, in line with the First Minister’s pledge at the SNP’s national conference in October.
In putting forward the TALIG budget motion, council leader Councillor Robin Currie, said it was the most difficult budget this council had ever faced and it had taken the "bold step" because without it, it would have no hope whatsoever of filling the massive hole in its capital investment programme – the budget that covers roads, bridges, re-generational projects and keeps schools going, as well as safeguarding jobs.
Councillor Mulvaney had also told the budget meeting that going along with the "ill-thought-out" freeze was "too risky for today and tomorrow", saying instead that services and jobs could be saved with "virtually no impact" on core services.
“Next year the council tax increase will have brought our deficit down by £3m. We must look after this year, but we must also take account of the longer term. The opposition budget has all the longevity of an SNP WhatsApp.”
The leader of the Strategic Opposition Partnership, Oban South and the Isles SNP councillor Jim Lynch, said the budget that it had presented had "entirely avoided the need to increase council tax" and that "the decision to place that burden on households across Argyll and Bute was "a wholly political and avoidable one".
Independent councillor for Mid Argyll, Kintyre and the Islands, Dougie Philand, said it was abundantly clear that the current administration was "tone deaf to the financial challenges faced by local people" adding: "These councillors now have to face the people of Argyll and Bute in their own communities and explain why they chose not to follow advice from either our senior officers or the Scottish Government, by hiking the council tax by this totally unacceptable level.”
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