Highlands and Islands MSP Jamie Halcro Johnston has backed calls for a fair funding settlement for Scotland’s councils to protect services for the most vulnerable.
Mr Halcro Johnston’s comments came after a warning from the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) that council services across Scotland are under severe pressure from the impact of Covid-19, worsening an existing funding crisis brought on by years of insufficient Scottish Government settlements.
Mr Halcro Johnston said “Cosla is absolutely right to be raising these concerns as, while councils across the Highlands and Islands have stepped up to provide support to individuals and businesses, this has put a real strain on their resources.
“But those same councils were already creaking at the seams as a result of years of unfair financial settlements from the SNP Government in Edinburgh, with vital local services threated, cut back or lost entirely”.
Mr Halcro Johnston, the Scottish Conservative Shadow Cabinet Secretary for the Rural Economy and Tourism, added: “Given the amount of financial support that the UK Government has provided to the Scottish Government, it is simply unacceptable that further cuts, with the risk of loss of vital local services and jobs, are having to be considered.
“Our council workers have been at the forefront of supporting local people and local communities through the pandemic, and it’s vital that that the Scottish Government delivers the support they need.
“As the SNP’s Finance Secretary, and as an MSP from the Highlands and Islands, Kate Forbes must provide reassurances that money will not be hoarded in Scottish Government coffers in Edinburgh but made available to our councils to support the vital public services they deliver in communities across my region”.
