Councillor claims government 'criminally' siphoning grant money for councils
A MEMBER of Highland Council’s budget team has accused the Scottish Government of "criminally" siphoning off UK government grant money intended for local authorities – to promote independence.
Liberal Democrat councillor Carolyn Caddick claims the Holyrood administration has failed to pass on the full amount granted by Westminster.
Highland councillors are currently striving to identify £26 million of savings in 2018-19.
Councillor Caddick said: "The Scottish Government isn’t passing on all the central government funding available. They’re choosing to spend it on centralised projects such as pseudo-embassies in places like Berlin and Brussels to circumvent Brexit simply to promote independence.
"They’re equipping and manning offices outwith Scotland for the purposes of building relationships externally with money that should go to councils.
"I have it from a good source that they’re spending money flying people out from Scotland to fix lighting and kit out these ‘Scottish offices’ while we can’t afford to educate our children properly.
"This is criminal because education is hugely under pressure and we’re going to have to make some serious cuts this year that we’d rather not do."
The Scottish Government insists that it has continued to ensure councils receive a "fair funding settlement despite real terms cuts of £200 million to the Scottish budget from the UK government".
A spokesman said: "We’ve protected local government spending while increasing the capital budget. Local authorities will receive more than £10.5 billion through the local government finance settlement in 2018-19.
"Highland Council is receiving total central government funding – revenue and capital – of £474 million this year and will receive more than £472 million in 2018-19, plus its fair share of an extra £181 million which has still to be distributed."
An HM Treasury spokesman said: "We’ve boosted the Scottish Government’s budget by £2 billion. By 2020, the Scottish Government’s block grant will have grown to more than £31 billion, before adjustments for tax devolution – a real terms increase over the current spending review period.
"We’ve also backed City Deals in Scotland worth £1 billion. And public spending per head in Scotland is around £1500 per head higher than the UK average.
"We’ve also taken steps to make the Scottish Parliament one of the most powerful devolved parliaments in the world, giving the Scottish Government a full range of tax powers and allowing it to raise further funds if it so chooses."
Meanwhile, the budget gap facing the council is overwhelmingly of its own making, according to its leader of the opposition, with the SNP group claiming figures show that the bulk of the gap has come from decisions taken by the council in previous years.
Opposition leader Maxine Smith said: "The council’s administration needs to take responsibility for its failure to properly manage the budget.
"Rather than deflection tactics, constantly blaming the Scottish Government, it should look closer to home for the cause of the financial challenges the council now faces."
