Extra cash from Holyrood not enough to warrant council tax rethink, says Scottish Borders Council leader

Both the authority’s Conservative-led administration and its Scottish National Party-fronted opposition presented proposed budgets to a full council meeting last week, and both advocated the maximum-allowed 4.84% rise in council tax.

Since then, though, the SNP Scottish Goverment has struck a deal with the Green Party resulting in an estimated extra £2.08m being handed over to the council.

That has prompted opposition councillors to call for a rethink on the administration’s spending plans, agreed by 21 votes to 11.

Read about that here: https://www.thesouthernreporter.co.uk/news/people/scottish-borders-councils-budget-plan-passed-21-votes-11-2001091

Opposition leader Stuart Bell said: “I specifically warned the council meeting that we might be premature taking budget decisions and look what has happened –the following day we hear of more money.

“When you examine the numbers, the full council tax rise is not needed this year.

“I call on the ruling Conservative administration to explore every avenue to use the extra Scottish Government money to limit the burden on Borders taxpayers.”

Opposition budget leader Heather Anderson claims the extra funding will be enough to limit the tax rise to 3%.

“Here in the Borders, in addition to £13m more specific capital funding, we are now anticipating £8.4m more revenue cash this year than last – that rise is well above inflation,” she said.

“There’s plenty money there to cover the librarians and climate change officer post we had proposed in our budget if the Tories want to employ them.

“Instead of blaming the generosity of the Scottish Government for their problems, they now need to ensure they actually spend the extra money wisely.”

However, council leader Shona Haslam says the extra cash now promised is just a drop in the ocean.

“What the opposition seem to have forgotten is that in addition to the 25% cut in our capital budget from the Scottish Government, we also had to make £8m worth of additional savings,” said the Tweeddale East councillor.

“The additional £2m from the Scottish Government is hardly generous when put in those terms.

“It amounts to less than 1% of our annual budget.

“When we are faced with increased costs for adult social care, education and roads and continued ring-fencing of our core budget, this additional £2m amounts to a drop in a very, very large ocean.

“I would love to reduce council tax in the Borders, but until the SNP start funding local government properly, that is simply not possible.

“The additional £2m will allow us not to cut some of the things that we were going to cut, vital services that people rely on.

“This should not be looked upon as a gift or any sort of largesse from the Scottish Government.

“We are still facing a 25% cut in capital and finding £6m in savings while having to build three new high Schools, two new care homes and fix roads that are suffering from 10 years of underinvestment from when the SNP were in the administration of the council.”

Kelso councillor Euan Robson, who alongside his Liberal Democrat colleagues, backed the opposition budget last week, said the extra cash “is modest but useful when set against needs.”

He added: “There are huge pressures on the council’s budget up ahead because of a necessary school building programme, a backlog of road repairs and our ageing population to name but three of them.

“This new money helps but the game played by the Scottish Government and the Greens in the Scottish Parliament over the former’s budget hasn’t helped proper planning and neither has the UK Government’s delayed budget scheduled to take place next week.”

“The increase in council tax in April is unwelcome but unavoidable given the scale of the upcoming savings that are required as a result of the Scottish Government’s decision over the last several years to reduce its contribution to local councils.

“Scottish Borders Council has lost out as have the other Scottish local authorities compared to other public services which results in the twin hit of an increase in the council tax and a reduction in what the council can do.”

The budget deal agreed at Holyrood also includes free bus travel for children, meaning around 17,100 Borderers could benefit once the scheme is introduced next January.

Borders MSP Christine Grahame welcomed the new concessionary scheme this week.

She said: “Free bus travel will be an enormous benefit to young people in the Borders – keeping money in their pockets and improving their opportunities to work, study and socialise.

“Alongside the £500m investment in bus infrastructure previously announced by the Scottish Government, this radical and innovative approach will help deliver a step change in the use of public transport.

“Encouraging the use of public transport is an essential part of our world-leading efforts to tackle the climate emergency.

“Concessionary travel has brought enormous benefits to those aged over 60 and I’m delighted that it will now be extended to young people.”