Nicola Sturgeon breaking promises over council funding cuts - claims Labour
Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale has accused the First Minister of breaking promises to families with cuts to council funding on the day local authorities must decide whether to accept the Scottish Government's budget deal.
Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale has accused the First Minister of breaking promises to families with cuts to council funding on the day local authorities must decide whether to accept the Scottish Government's budget deal.
Cosla, which represents many of Scotland's 32 councils, has urged leaders to reject the settlement offer.
It says the deal - which includes a commitment to maintaining the council tax freeze for 2016/17, £250 million for integrating health and social care services, and maintaining the pupil/teacher ratio in schools - represents a £350 million funding cut which will hit local services.
Some councils have considered breaking the council-tax freeze but they would face the prospect of financial sanctions as a result.
On a visit to a nursery in Castlemilk, Glasgow, Ms Dugdale said the Finance Secretary's budget also includes a 57% cut to council budgets to build the new nurseries needed to meet the SNP's childcare pledge to provide 600 hours of free childcare for all three and four-year-olds.
She said: Nicola Sturgeon made a clear promise to families across Scotland - she would stand up against austerity and invest in the future.
Instead, today she will force councils across Scotland to sign up to hundreds of millions of pounds of cuts or face sanctions of hundreds of millions more.
Those cuts will be devastating to schools and children services across Scotland. Rather than delivering Nicola Sturgeon's promises on childcare, her budget will slash investment in our children's future.
The SNP's childcare plans require hundreds of new nurseries to be built across Scotland but the SNP budget slashes the funding to build those nurseries more than 50%.''
Ms Dugdale wants to use new powers to add 1p to income tax, with the proceeds to be invested in children and education.
But the SNP says her tax plan will hit low earners and has instead vowed to keep income tax at the same rate as the rest of the UK for 2016/17.
Finance Secretary John Swinney said that once the £250 million for integrating health and social care services is taken into account, the net reduction in the local authority budget is about £100 million, which equates to less than 1% of their overall budget.
A spokesman for Mr Swinney said: While the SNP has campaigned against Tory cuts at every turn, Kezia Dugdale's Labour colleagues at Westminster couldn't make up their mind whether or not to support George Osborne's austerity charter.
And now, with their proposed basic-rate income tax hike, Labour want to shift the burden of Tory austerity onto working people across Scotland.
While the SNP want to give low-paid workers a pay rise this year, Labour want to put up their taxes - that is the clear choice facing voters in May's election.
Despite continued cuts from Westminster, the Scottish Government has treated local government very fairly - this year's settlement, while challenging, equates to a reduction of only 2% of local government's total estimated expenditure in 2016/17.''