Inverclyde Council headquarters in Greenock Get the latest Scottish politics news sent straight to your inbox with our daily newsletter More Newsletters Subscribe Please enter a valid email Something went wrong, please try again later. More Newsletters We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and third parties based on our knowledge of you. More info Thank you for subscribing! We have more newsletters Show me See Our Privacy Notice See Our Privacy Notice × Group 28 Get the latest Scottish politics news sent straight to your inbox with our daily newsletter Invalid email Something went wrong, please try again later. Sign Up No thanks, close We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and third parties based on our knowledge of you. More info × Group 28 Thank you for subscribing! We have more newsletters Show Me No thanks, close See our Privacy Notice Councillors sick of making cuts to local services could "walk away" and allow the Scottish Government to do the "dirty work" instead, a senior council leader has warned. Stephen McCabe , who leads the
Labour administration on Inverclyde Council , said town halls across the country were facing a financial crisis caused by years of real-terms cuts to their budgets. He also attacked Humza Yousaf's decision to impose a council tax freeze this year despite public services already struggling for survival. But McCabe's prediction that councillors may ultimately refuse to pass on more cuts to their communities is likely to cause concern in Holyrood. Local authorities are legally obliged to balance their books each year and are not permitted to enter bankruptcy. But several English councils have in recent years have been forced to issue a Section 114 notice - an admission the town hall can no longer meet its financial commitments. Read More Related Articles Scottish Government can still meet poverty targets, says senior minister Read More Related Articles Stephen Flynn demands
UK vote for immediate
Gaza ceasefire at
United Nations Such a scenario can lead to government-appointed commissioners being drafted in to slash spending on all departments except those protected by law, such as schools. A high-profile example was when
Liverpool City Council under the leadership of left-winger Derek Hatton repeatedly clashed with Margaret Thatcher's Tory Government over spending cuts. Hatton attempted to resist a reduction in the city's grant from central government by setting an illegal budget. McCabe said: "While Scotland’s councils are under a legal duty to set a balanced budget, it is increasingly likely that in the years ahead many councillors will not have the appetite for making the level of cuts that will be required to achieve this. "We may just walk away and let the Scottish Government send in commissioners to do their dirty work. "The situation is that serious but unfortunately the Scottish Government is in denial. "Their sole focus is on the next UK
election and the need to deliver the First Minister’s regressive and irresponsible Council Tax freeze bribe. "A council tax freeze does not help those on low incomes as they are either exempt from Council Tax or they qualify for the Council Tax Reduction Scheme, which means they don’t pay any extra when council tax increases. "These are the households who rely most on council services and suffer most when services are cut." McCabe previously infuriated the Scottish Government when he last month urged a Tory Cabinet Minister to torpedo the SNP Government’s council tax freeze by funding local authorities directly. The town hall veteran made the plea to Michael Gove after SNP ministers tied funding from Westminster to accepting a freeze. A spokesman for the Scottish Government said it did not have the power to send in commissioners to councils, unlike the UK Government in
England. They added: "Scottish ministers are aware that many councils are under financial pressure, which is why the 2024-25 Scottish Budget provides record funding for local government of over £14 billion. "The Scottish Government has provided a real terms increase in revenue funding for local government in both 2022-23 and 2023-24, as confirmed by the Accounts Commission. "Decisions on local government budget allocations for future years are subject to the outcome of negotiations with COSLA, the results of which will be confirmed in future Scottish Budgets. "Any assumptions relating to possible future budget reductions are entirely speculative at this stage." To sign up to the Daily Record Politics newsletter, click here . Story Saved You can find this story in My Bookmarks. Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right. Follow Daily Record
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