Scottish executive warned of shortfall

Local authority leaders have warned of a huge funding shortfall
between Scottish executive spending calculations and the cost of
funding local government services.

According to the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, core
services will be under-funded by £440m over the next three
years.

Cosla’s finance spokesperson, John Pentland, claimed that local
services would lose out to the executive’s own initiatives.

“It is absolutely essential that full discussion takes place with
local authorities – as equal partners delivering a service – prior
to making decisions on the allocation of resources,” Pentland
said.

“This would help local authorities both prepare budgets on a
strategic basis and assess the impact of the settlement.”

Cosla’s social work spokesperson Ronnie McColl said all services
would be at risk.

McColl, who is also social work spokesman for West Dunbartonshire
Council, said: “In this area we have a lot of deprivation and every
penny that goes into social work counts.

“Inevitably, we will end up having to put more into social work
than we should, at the same time depriving another service of its
entitlement.”

A Scottish executive spokesperson described the £8bn budget
for 2005-6 as “a challenging but achievable settlement”.