The Scottish Government

This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007

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Government funding for local authoritities

08/12/2004

Details of the funding individual local authorities will receive in the next three years were announced today.

Central government funding for local council core revenue expenditure will increase to over £8.5 billion in 2007-08, representing a total percentage increase of 10.4 per cent over the three year period, Finance and Public Service Reform Minister Tom McCabe said.

Within the settlement, priority has again been given to education, health and community care and police - but additional resources have also been provided for roads maintenance and environmental issues.

In addition to the core funding, councils will also receive more than £1 billion in each of the next three years in revenue grants to support specific initiatives.

Councils will receive record levels of support for capital investments. Direct capital grants will increase by more than 35.2 per cent over the period and they will receive support for borrowing to undertake a total of over £900 million of new capital investment over the three year period.

Taken together with the total revenue support, overall funding from the Scottish Executive to local authorities will stand at £10.4 billion by 2007-08 - an increase of 11.3 per cent over the period.

This means that the Executive will be providing local councils in Scotland with total funding of over £30 billion over the next three years.

Included in this funding will be an extra £41 million for 2006-07 and £42.025 million for 2007-08 from the Cities Growth Fund for Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness and Stirling.

Mr McCabe told the Parliament:

"The Executive is determined to deliver the improvement in the delivery of public services that the people of Scotland expect and deserve. Local government has an absolutely vital role to play in ensuring we meet that shared priority.

"That is why we have given councils greater freedom and flexibility. That is why I am determined to ensure the Executive and councils are pulling in the same direction. And, above all, that is why we are delivering record levels of investment in frontline public services.

"We will invest in local government to allow it to deliver across all our shared priorities - delivering excellent public services, supporting stronger and safer communities, developing a confident, democratic Scotland, and above all, growing Scotland's economy.

"The settlement is tight but realistic, but I believe local government is up to the challenge of delivering the services people expect and deserve on this level of investment.

"Efficient Government will also allow significant sums of money to be ploughed back into local services. Councils have expressed concern the settlement for 2007-08 and I will consider their representations in the context of the overall Scottish Budget and local government's progress on Efficient Government.

"The Executive is also determined to ensure the people of Scotland know where their money is being spent. I believe we have made great strides in ensuring our financial information is as transparent and understandable to the people of Scotland.

"But I believe - as these figures highlight - that there is room for improvement. I therefore plan to work with COSLA and others to make our local government financial figures and terminology as clear as possible."

LOCAL GOVERMENT FINANCE SETTLEMENT 2005-06, 2006-07 and 2007-08

The Cities Growth Fund provides a dedicated source of infrastructure investment for Scotland's six cities.

Provisional allocations from Cities Growth Fund for 2006-08 are:

• Aberdeen - 2006-07 - £5.292m; 2007-08 - £5.467m; total for 2006-08 - £10.759m.
• Dundee - 2006-07 - £4.208m; 2007-08 - £4.315m; total for 2006-08 - £8.523m.
• Edinburgh - 2006-07 - £11.195m; 2007-08 - £11.506m; total for 2006-08 - £22.701m.
• Glasgow - 2006-07 - £18.030m; 2007-08 - £18.405m; total for 2006-08 - £36.435m.
• Inverness - 2006-07 - £1.407m; 2007-08 - £1.442m; total for 2006-08 - £2.849m.
• Stirling - 2006-07 - £0.868m; 2007-08 - £0.890m; total for 2006-08 - £1.758m.