Holyrood Finance Committee convener slams Westminster ‘council tax swindle’

Westminster has been accused of a “council tax swindle” which could cost households £115 each after the Scottish Government confirmed it had not received £290 million of cash to help with the cost of living.

Finance Secretary Kate Forbes said £290 million the Scottish Government had hoped to receive as a result of funding announced to help people south of the border with rising council tax bills had not been provided.

In a letter to the Scottish Parliament’s Finance Committee, Ms Forbes said: “The £290 million of consequentials in relation to cost of living was not provided in addition to provisional allocations.”

The money could have provided every household in Scotland with £115 in financial support, the SNP calculated.

Finance Committee convener Kenneth Gibson hit out and said: “This has exposed the great Tory council tax swindle.

“It is scandalous they have tried to pull the wool over the eyes of people in Scotland by claiming they would be providing extra cash to deal with the cost of living crisis.”

While he said Chancellor Rishi Sunak had “made a huge fanfare about how Westminster was being generous to Scotland”, Mr Gibson insisted “the truth is that they have provided nothing extra at all”.

The SNP MSP continued: “This is real cash to deal with the cost of living crisis, not Tory smoke and mirrors.

“This trend is all too familiar to people in Scotland – when it comes to the Tories, all we get is cuts, not cash.”