Councils recorded £0.45bn revenue surplus for last year
Scottish councils recorded a revenue surplus of £0.45 billion last year, according to new figures.
Scottish councils recorded a revenue surplus of £0.45 billion last year, according to new figures.
An official report on local authority finances for 2015/16 shows an overall revenue surplus on the provision of services of £0.45 billion, up from £0.35 billion from 2014/15.
Councils held reserves of £1.34 billion, an increase of 5.8% compared with April 2015.
Spending on services increased by 0.7% to £10.1 billion in 2015-16, with the highest spend - £4.7 billion - going on education.
A further £3.2 billion was spent on social work services.
Finance Secretary Derek Mackay said the statistics show the Scottish Government had treated councils "very fairly" in their budget settlement.
A report for the Accounts Commission published towards the end of 2016 found local authorities were generally in good financial health in 2015/16.
However it warned rising demand for services and falling income could cause problems in the future.
Councils have been dissatisfied with their funding in recent years, with umbrella body Cosla stating the 2016/17 settlement is "totally unacceptable".
The organisation also said it could never endorse the cuts to its core settlement contained in the 2017/18 budget.
Mr Mackay said: "In the Budget Bill 2017-18, passed by Parliament only last week, the local government finance settlement plus the other sources of support available through the actual and potential increases in council tax income, and the support through the health and social care integration, amounts to an overall increase of potentially over £400 million, or 3.9% in cash terms or £250 million or 2.4% in real terms.
"This is a package that not only delivers the best deal for taxpayers and public services in the whole of the UK, but a fairer and stronger country."
Cosla president David O'Neill said: "It is extremely disappointing that the Cabinet Secretary is linking growth in reserves in 2015/16 with a 'fair' settlement for local government this year.
"Over 2016/17 and 2017/18, local government has seen a £550 million reduction in its settlement and that is the budget reality.
"On reserves, both Cosla and Audit Scotland have highlighted on numerous occasions that due to the fact councils have been provided with one-year spending reviews and gloomy financial forecast, councils have acted responsibly in 2015/16 to build reserves to both smooth saving plans and fund transformation programmes."