Gap between what councils want and budget funds is ‘particularly wide’ – study

The gap between what councils want and what the Scottish Government have provided in their budget is particularly high this year, analysis has found.

The independent Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Spice) examined the 2023/24 Budget published at the end of the year and its associated allocations for councils.

Ministers say they are increasing the resources available to local councils by more than £550 million.

Cosla argue they will receive real-terms cuts to their core budgets and they will face difficult choices over public services.

They say the actual cash increase is a much smaller £38 million once policy commitments like free school meals are accounted for.

A briefing from Spice said the latest provisional allocations indicated a real-terms revenue increase of 1.3% compared to the previous budget.

Cosla contends that any increase has been “heavily ring-fenced”.

The Spice researcher wrote: “The difference between what local government say they need and what the Scottish Government is offering at this point in the budget process is particularly wide this year.”

The researcher continued: “Cosla expressed disappointment with the budget, believing that local government has not been prioritised.

“Noting the Government’s claim of a cash increase for local government, Cosla calculates that, in their view, the actual cash increase will be a much smaller £38 million once the costs of previous policy commitments are accounted for.

“Arguing that real-terms cuts to councils’ budgets will impact the most vulnerable in society and damage the local government workforce, the potential implications are set out in Cosla’s Save Our Services campaign.”

The briefing paper noted it is difficult to compare local authority funding based on yearly budgets, as councils also receive in-year funding from the Government which is not included.

In December, the Institute for Fiscal Studies noted that comparing budget to budget tends to overstate yearly increases.