At Monday’s
Policy and Resources Committee I moved an amendment to an agenda item regarding
the council’s financial outlook 2018/19. The situation is dire. Based on current
projections £18.9 million will have to be cut from the council’s budget.
Dundee householders
have been hit with a double whammy of tax increases in the current financial year due
to a revision of the council tax multipliers for properties in Bands E to H and a general increase in council tax. There
is likely to be another double whammy next year with the potential for further increases
in council tax and an income tax increase. All this while getting less services
due to cuts that will have to be made to set a balanced budget.
I had hoped the
committee would support me in urging the Scottish Government not to impose
further cuts on local authority budgets. Since its own budget is not being cut
next year there is no justification for it to cut the local authority budget
either. The Chancellor of the Exchequer has increased the Scottish Block Grant
in real terms and therefore, any cuts to council budgets are solely a political
choice by the SNP Government. I felt it was important to emphasise this.
The SNP voted the
amendment down. Labour and Liberal Democrat councillors no voted.
The amendment
was as follows:
Note the report, but in addition also
note:
In last year’s Scottish budget the SNP
Scottish Government made an explicit political choice to cut local government
funding despite an increase in real terms in its own funding.
The 2018/19 block grant will again see a
further increase in real terms
Agree that there is no justification for
any further fiscal tightening of local government budgets
Instruct the Chief Executive to write to
the Cabinet Secretary for Finance to express concern about the financial
outlook for Dundee City Council and to call for a fair share of Scottish
Government funding.
