Moray Conservatives challenge Mackay as Scottish Government ignore pleas for support
Moray’s most senior elected Conservatives have challenged Finance Secretary Derek Mackay over his failure to respond to all-party pleas for a better deal for Moray in the Scottish Government’s budget.
Moray MP Douglas Ross said: “It is now months since an all-party delegation went to Holyrood to meet Derek Mackay and put Moray’s case for a fairer deal. Everyone accepts that the financial settlement Moray Council receives from the Scottish Government is unfair and local people are suffering as a result from cuts in vital services. Yet, once again, we are totally ignored and the SNP continue to spend on their pet political projects while our services suffer and the Council faces an ongoing financial crisis as it attempts to make ends meet.”
Conservative Group Leader on Moray Council, Cllr Tim Eagle (Buckie) said: “The choices facing councillors are grim. The budget announcement last week that funding for local government has been cut by just over 2% at a minimum will have a devastating impact on Moray. Each 1% cut costs Moray £1.5M and the council have already saved well over £40M over the years. There are few options left for saving money without impacting essential services in our rural communities and that is not something that my group or I can support. We see little option now but to fight long and hard and make sure everyone in Moray fully understands the enormous pressures the Council are under because of this lack of funding from the Scottish Government.”
Highlands and Islands MSP Jamie Halcro Johnston said: “Derek Mackay’s budget has just made it even more difficult to attract people to work in Moray. We badly need qualified professionals to fill vacancies in health, education and the private sector. But middle earners such as senior teachers, nurses and police sergeants will end up paying thousands more in Scotland than they would in the rest of the UK. By making Scotland the highest taxed part of the UK – and this budget makes the gap even wider – the SNP is undermining efforts to attract working people to the North of Scotland in order to put our vital services on a sustainable footing.”
