As Councils across Scotland finalise their budgets for 2015/16 it is clear that the pressures are increasing whilst the year on year funding from the Scottish Government is decreasing, resulting in significant cuts in front line services and jobs. The Council Tax freeze, now in its 7th year, means that local authorities have very little room for manoeuvre.
The Scottish Government is in the process of setting up an all-party commission to examine the options for funding what is currently the council tax element of local government finance; around 18% of council’s budget. Below is a paper written by Unison Scotland which outlines their views on how local government should be funded and is a good document to begin a conversation that I believe needs to take place across Scotland.
You can read UNISON’s discussion paper below:
