Local services in South Lanarkshire have been “cut to the bone” as new figures show that £370 million was taken from South Lanarkshire Council budgets of the last ten years by the Scottish Government.
Analysis by Scottish Labour has revealed that between 2013/14 and 2022/23 a cumulative total of £370 million was taken from South Lanarkshire Council coffers by the Scottish Government’s budgets.
Across Scotland, £6 billion was cut from Local Government budgets in this time, which has been claimed to have piled pressure on essential local services and infrastructure by Scottish Labour candidate for Rutherglen and Hamilton West Michael Shanks.
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He said: “Rutherglen and Hamilton West is a fantastic place, but these brutal cuts by the SNP and the Greens have hit our community hard.
“Schools and social care buckling under pressure, and far too many people are finding their roads crumbling, their bins overflowing and their local library under threat.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer with Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar and Labour candidate for the possible Rutherglen and Hamilton West by-election Michael Shanks (right) during a visit to Rutherglen(Image: PA)
“The SNP and the Greens didn’t just pass on Tory austerity to our community – they have multiplied it.
“It adds insult to injury that the SNP-Green government is now consulting on massive Council Tax hikes to plug the gaps they created.
“I will always stand up for Rutherglen and Hamilton West and oppose damaging cuts to local government.”
A Scottish Government spokesperson responded: “Despite a decade of UK Government austerity measures, local government revenue funding is 2.6% higher in real terms than it was in 2013-14 – as confirmed by the Accounts Commission.
“The Scottish Government has increased the resources available to local government in 2023-24 by more than £793 million, a real terms increase of £376 million or 3percent, compared to the 2022-23 Budget figures.
“The annual local government finance settlement is distributed in full using the needs-based formula, which is discussed and agreed each year with COSLA on behalf of all their local authority members.
“In 2023-24, South Lanarkshire Council will receive £705.7 million to fund local services, which equates to an extra £21.9 million to support vital day to day services or an additional 3.2 percent compared to 2022-23.”
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