Local politicians have responded with incredulity to the suggestion from Finance Secretary Kate Forbes that councils should use their reserves to pay for the fight against coronavirus.
Kate Forbes wrote to the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (Cosla) in response to calls for her government to pass on all £155 million in Barnett Consequentials intended for local authorities. But instead of promising to send the cash on, she advised councils to raid their own savings, despite Audit Scotland repeatedly warning that many local authorities were running on empty.
Shadow Finance Secretary Donald Cameron, a Highlands and Islands MSP, said: “This is an extraordinary statement from the Finance Secretary. She seems to be completely unaware of the dire financial situation confronting local authorities across the Highlands and Islands."
“Instead of simply passing on the funding provided by the UK Government directly to the councils, she is dithering and delaying. Councils like Argyll and Bute Council are in no position to provide extra cash at the drop of a hat.”
Cllr Gary Mulvaney, Depute Leader, Argyll and Bute Council added: “We are all focused on the doing the right thing to protect our residents communities and businesses, but without absolute clarity and certainty at this stage, there is a fear that when all expenditure is totted up at the end of this, there will be financial hole left to councils and social care partnerships to fill.”
HCUA Comment:
Yet again we see the SNP holding back money provided by the UK Government to support Councils and businesses as we try to minimise the damage done by the COVID-19 epidemic. Having wrecked local government finance through years of ludicrous policies and financial mismanagement, the SNP is once again punishing local authorities. It is not hard to guess why: the SNP is desperate to prop up its vote in marginal constituencies ahead of the 2021 elections, and you can bet that when the money is finally released - assuming it is all released - certain local authorities will get more than their fair share, and others will once again miss out.
In total so far the SNP has held on to hundreds of millions of UK Government crisis funding, and every day that Forbes continues to do that, she is destroying jobs and services across Scotland. That is a political choice and one that can only be seen for what it is: the SNP playing party politics during the greatest health and economic crisis the UK has faced in decades.