Perth and Kinross Council is hopeful that a legal ruling could pave the way to recovering the £1 million it invested with an Icelandic bank.
Working in co-ordination with other local authorities, councils have won a court case that made them priority creditors putting them high on the list to get their money back.
Perth and Kinross Council leader Ian Miller said, “It is excellent news that the judges in Iceland have heard the arguments on both sides and found in favour of local authorities and other wholesale depositors.
“This judgment means that the local authorities’ claims have been recognised as deposits with priority status over other creditors’ claims and will be at the front of the queue when it comes to getting their money back following the collapse of the failed Icelandic banks.
“We hope that our opponents will accept this clear verdict.
“Securing priority status in the administration of Glitnir could see Perth and Kinross Council recover its full £1 million deposit.
“This money is particularly important at a time when councils need to maximise resources to help fund the reduction in their funding.
“The way in which we have co-ordinated the legal action in this matter through CoSLA, the LGA, other local authorities and other wholesale depositors has minimised legal costs for all the parties involved and provided value for money for taxpayers.
“The cost of the litigation to date amounts to less than 1% of the money we expect to recover.
“If there is any further legal challenge we will continue to co-ordinate our response with the other councils.”
Although pursuing £1 million, Perth and Kinross Council is far from the worst affected local authority in Scotland. North Ayrshire Council is owed around £15 million, South Ayrshire Council is out of pocket £5 million and Moray Council is seeking £2 million.
Emerging news concerning another aspect of the Icelandic banks saga was not so rosy, with the government set to take legal action against Iceland to try to recoup sums paid out by them to recompense small savers.
Treasury chief secretary Danny Alexander said he is “disappointed” that Icelanders had voted against a deal to pay back £2.3 billion spent by the UK Government compensating savers.
“It looks like this process will now end up in the courts,” he said. “There is a legal process going on and we will carry on through these processes to try and make sure we do get back the money that the British Government paid out in past years.”