Urgent extra funding of more than £1 billion is needed for councils in the coming Scottish Budget for local authorities to “survive”, Cosla has warned.
The umbrella body for local authorities in Scotland said councils needed an increase of £720 million “just to stand still”, and warned mandatory pledges made by the Scottish Government would have to be abandoned if more money was not provided in December’s budget.
It also called for councils to have tax raising powers, such as local council tax, the workplace parking levy or a visitor tax in tourist areas, to provide more flexibility in their budgets following real-term cuts to the core budgets of Scotland’s 32 councils in recent years.
