Council leaders and union chiefs have hit out at John Swinney’s budget, claiming the spending plans for 2016-17 will lead to job losses and service cuts.
David O’Neill, president of the local government body Cosla, said the package the Scottish Deputy First Minister had offered councils was “totally unacceptable”.
Grahame Smith, general secretary of the Scottish Trades Union Congress, claimed: “The scale of cuts being imposed on local government will mean significant pain for vulnerable people who rely most on local services, not to mention the hard-pressed staff who provide them.”
Local government will receive a total of £10.3 billion in 2016-17 – but Cosla said this left authorities facing a £350 million cut.
Mr O’Neill said: “This is a budget that hits the council workforce in terms of job losses, it hits the child in care, it hits the elderly struggling with dementia and the vulnerable adults, all of whom solely rely on the support that only a council can provide.
“Make no mistake this is a budget that has been made in Scotland and imposed on Scottish local government.
“The 3.5% cut (£350 million) coming to us next year cannot be laid at Westminster’s door this time around as we all know that the Scottish Government got a cash increase.”
The STUC said the Scottish Government’s spending package had “few surprises”, with Mr Smith saying it was a “hold-steady budget designed not to frighten the horses in advance of next year’s Scottish Parliament elections”.See Thursday’s Courier for full budget coverage, including a breakdown of how your council will be affectedHe backed the decision to keep income tax in Scotland on the same level as the rest of the UK but added the STUC was “very disappointed that serious reform of local taxation is avoided in favour of continuing the regressive council tax freeze”.
Alex McLuckie, regional officer for the GMB union in Scotland, said the “predictable” package would see “local government take the brunt of the cuts to budgets”.
He stated: “Yet again services to the less fortunate within society will be under real threat.
“Despite the statement from the Scottish Government about health, education and social work being protected, every area will be affected by this budget.
“Whether this is the loss of school support staff, the privatisation of homecare services, the closure of wards in the NHS, everyone in Scotland will feel the impact of the decision taken by the Scottish Government today.”
The decision to set the Scottish rate of income tax at 10p, meaning income tax rates will remain the same as the rest of the UK, was also welcomed by the Federation of Small Businesses.
Scottish policy convener Andy Willox said: “Member feedback suggests a majority of business owners will be pleased with the Scottish Government’s decision not to change income tax rates on this occasion.”
He said that, overall, the budget “shows that the Scottish Government has carefully taken the pulse of the business community at large”.
Meanwhile the housing sector welcomed the additional £90 million for affordable homes
Adam Lang, head of communications and policy at the charity Shelter Scotland, said: “This backs up the SNP’s promise to build 50,000 new affordable homes during the lifetime of the next parliament should they be returned to power in next May’s Holyrood elections.
“With independent research recently showing that 12,000 new affordable homes are needed each year for the next five years to bring real hope to the 150,000 families and individuals on waiting lists for a home across Scotland, this is a big step in the right direction.”
Ashley Campbell, of the Chartered Institute of Housing Scotland, said: “We welcome the Scottish Government’s commitment to increase the budget for affordable housing by £90 million in 2016-17.”
He added: “For the benefits of this increased investment to be fully realised, this will need to be matched with action to address issues around land supply, infrastructure and construction skills.”