New funding package announced for councils

Dec 1 2009

A NEW financial agreement between the Scottish Government and the country’s local authorities has been welcomed by the leader of Perth and Kinross Council.

His praised comes after the Holyrood-based parliament announced councils are to receive nearly £12bn next year.

Finance Secretary John Swinney – who is also the MSP for North Tayside – said it was "a fair settlement"

He said the figure would have been £174m higher were it not for a funding cut of £500m "imposed on the Scottish budget by the UK government".

The settlement includes £70m for local authorities to freeze their council tax.

Councillor Ian Miller explained: “While we are currently considering the details, the settlement figures are as we expected and I am pleased to announce that this will allow us to freeze Council Tax for a further year.

"We also supported, through COSLA, the retention of the current local government funding formula.

“Perth and Kinross Council will continue working hard todeliver excellent and improving services for the region’s people, in 2010/11 and beyond,” he said.