D-Day for many of Scotland’s local authorities as they set their budgets amid protests

Yesterday was D-Day for many councils in terms of setting their budgets for the coming year (or should that be B-Day? No pun intended).

13 of Scotland’s 32 authorities passed their budgets, while another 13 have already set their spending.

The rest, including Glasgow, are due to finalise their plans later this month.

Many people are deeply concerned about the level of savings Scottish local authorities are being forced to make

Many people are deeply concerned about the level of savings Scottish local authorities are being forced to make, and protests were organised across the country.

To give you an idea of what needs to be saved, here’s a list of a few:

• City of Edinburgh Council - £67m over the next three years
• Aberdeenshire Council - £3.6m over the next year
• Moray Council - £14.9m over the following two years
• Falkirk Council - £46m over the next three years

While this makes bleak reading, some haven’t fared so badly.

For example, Aberdeen City Council’s budget includes no new cuts in services for the third financial year in succession. 

To give you an idea of the background, the Scottish Government has allocated almost £11bn to be shared between the 32 councils.

Almost all the remainder of their money comes from council tax, which has been frozen since 2007.

This freeze has been a source of chagrin among many local politicians, who feel their hands have been tied by the SNP Government.

Councils are free to reject this freeze but it wouldn’t be practical as they would then see a reduction in Government money they received.

Consequently this would mean local authorities who rejected the freeze would be forced to significantly raise council tax for it to make any difference.

And let’s be honest, can you imagine the outcry if any of them decided to go down this route?

Local government funding is a minefield at the moment and reforms are undoubtedly needed.

I’m going to be chatting with City of Edinburgh Council’s finance convener Cllr Alasdair Rankin and deputy convener Cllr Bill Cook later today so check back here over the next few days for those interviews.