Argyll and Bute Council, which faces £18m cuts in spending over the next two years, has ‘its fair share’ of funding, Scottish Finance Secretary John Swinney has said.
Giving written answers to Highlands & Islands Conservative MSP Jamie McGrigor, Mr Swinney also seemed to rule out using any of the Scottish Government’s underspend to help avoid hundreds of job cuts in Argyll and Bute.
Council leader Dick Walsh has written to Mr Swinney asking for extra funds to prevent the worst of the cuts being implemented.
And last week there was a note of optimism after an SNP delegation including MP Brendan O’Hara and MP Mike Russell met a senior team from the council, saying afterwards that they would help lobby the Scottish Government for extra funds.
But Mr McGrigor has described yesterday’s written responses to his questions as ‘a brush-off’.
Mr Swinney said underspends would be carried into the next financial year and not ‘a missed opportunity to spend more on public services’.
And he said Argyll and Bute’s total funding of £2,495 per head would be the highest of any mainland council in Scotland next year, adding: “The Scottish Government is already providing Argyll and Bute Council with its fair share of the total local government finance settlement which amounts to over £10.85 billion in 2015-16.”
Argyll and Bute contains 23 inhabited islands – more than any other local authority area in Scotland, including the three island council areas – and Mr McGrigor said afterwards that the Special Islands Needs Allowance (SINA) should be reviewed again.
“Many constituents will be disappointed that Mr Swinney does not seem to acknowledge the significant level of concern in Argyll and Bute at the impact on local services of the spending reductions planned by the council,” he said.
For full details of the proposed cuts click here; for details of the council’s consultation process click here.
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