Moray Conservatives: NEW FIGURES LAY BARE LEVEL OF SNP CUTS IN MORAY
Moray’s three most senior Conservatives have come together to protest against the unfair treatment Moray is receiving at the hands of the SNP Scottish Government.
Highlands and Islands MSP Jamie Halcro Johnston, Moray MP Douglas Ross, and Conservative council group leader Cllr Tim Eagle, say that new figures lay bare how SNP Government funding cuts have hit Moray Council’s budget in recent years.
They have spoken-out after figures from SPICe, the Scottish Parliament’s own independent briefing centre, showed that, over the last 5 years, the Scottish Government had cut Moray’s funding by £106 a year for every man, woman and child. Moray Council has endured over £5m worth of cuts, translating to a 3.1% cut in their budget over the last five years.
Jamie Halcro Johnston has also raised a motion in the Scottish Parliament on the impact of the cuts on the council.
Commenting, Jamie Halcro Johnston MSP said: “These are stark figures which lay bare the level of funding cuts the SNP has forced on Moray Council.
“The Scottish Government has chosen to cut Moray’s funding by the equivalent of £106 per head. That’s £106 for every single person in Moray which is now not available to provide vital frontline services like local schools, social care and roads.”
Cllr Eagle said: “These services are so important for the local community that I serve in Buckie and the other communities across Moray. The SNP has nowhere to hide on this; these figures come straight from the Scottish Parliament’s own information centre. We are still waiting for a response from the Scottish Government about how they propose to change the biased system which discriminates against Moray.”
Moray MP Douglas Ross added: “Local SNP representatives must come clean on why they remained silent as their SNP colleagues in Edinburgh slashed the funding which supports local public services so many of their constituents in Moray rely on. It is clear the SNP want to paint the picture of these cuts coming from Westminster but this independent report shows that the decision to reduce funding for local councils by more than 7% between 2013 and 2017 was the SNP’s decision, and theirs alone.”