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I was really pleased that Dundee City Council spoke with one voice and described the local government settlement as 'unacceptable'. It is important that we recognise that cuts on this scale impact on real people in Dundee and impact on their lives, this is not a political debating point this is about the impact on the lives of people in our communities.
Prior to Christmas it was good to see council leaders from across Scotland and across all parties agree to a statement at COSLA which described the local government settlement as unacceptable.
The report before us on Monday was sobering reading and demonstrates the problems that the council faces. The report set out savings, also known as cuts, of £12.2 million are required to achieve a balanced budget for 2022/23.' (See Item 4 Paragraph 3.1)
We can have a debate about whether this is the fault of Holyrood or Westminster or actually both or we can face the facts that these ‘savings’ or ‘cuts’ impact on services here in Dundee and impact on real people here in Dundee.
I welcome the council adopting a Community Wealth Building approach which it did recently and that was about keeping investment and jobs local. Something that the council agreed to. The cuts to the budget set out in the report will have an impact on local jobs and the local economy. They will have an impact on the life chances and quality of life of Dundonians. It is the opposite of the Community Wealth Building approach.
The report states that the Council’s Provisional Revenue Budget includes an allowance of 2% for pay awards. (See Item 4 Paragraph 5.6) I note that some money will be held to help achieve the Scottish Government’s welcome public sector pay policy. The reality however is that there is a cost-of-living crisis in this country and that inflation in November was 5.1% which means that a pay rise of 2% is a real terms pay cut. Those of us who clapped for key workers really need to start paying for key workers.
Dundee needs a settlement which takes account of inflation and increased demand for services. I welcome recent work by COSLA and I think that it was important that Dundee City Council followed that lead and highlights our concerns.
My amendment will strengthen the Council Leader's case when he is calling on the Scottish Government to make a fair settlement for local government across Scotland and for Dundee in particular.
Our city needs investment, it needs hard-working council workers delivering good services to the people of Dundee, in order to do that we need a local government settlement which is fair, and which reflects the reality of the economic situation we face.
I was pleased that colleagues supported my amendment and spoke out with one voice to call for fair funding for local government. my hope is that the Scottish Government listen.