By Bill Heaney
Trade unionists and a significant number of members of the public in West Dunbartonshire will take to the streets outside the Council headquarters in Church Street, Dumbarton, today (Wednesday) to demonstrate against swingeing budget cuts by the local Labour council and the Conservative government at Westminster.
West Dunbartonshire Council has appealed to Michael Gove to bypass the Scottish Government and hand Barnett Consequentials – money to compensate for exceptional spending by Westminster in England – straight to local authorities to allocate.
Martin Rooney, pictured right, the under siege leader of the Labour administration on West Dunbartonshire, said he was seeking an “urgent intervention” by the Secretary of State for Levelling Up.
His plea to the Tory minister follows a similar request from Stephen McCabe, the leader of Labour-run Inverclyde council.
It has become apparent in the past week that the Labour leaders have absolutely no chance of the Westminster Tories agreeing to this suggestion, and that their appeal is certain to fall on deaf ears.
The SNP said Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar needed to “urgently confirm whether he supports his councillors undermining Scottish local government and the Scottish Parliament.”
The row stems from First Minister Humza Yousaf’s promise to freeze council tax.
That announcement to the astonishment of others came during his speech to delegates at SNP conference. That it caught councillors by surprise is an understatement.
Deputy First Minister Shona Robison, who was accused of being “financially illiterate” in the chamber last week, initially promised £147 million to fund the council tax freeze, the equivalent of a 5 per cent hike.
However, councils said this would leave them short-changed yet again, especially when other money from the government has been ring-fenced.
Last week, Ms Robison, who has a reputation for being economical with the truth, promised to hand over an extra £62.7 million, with £45 million coming from Barnett Consequentials (these arise from money from Westminster to offset exceptional amounts allocated by government for major capital projects in England).
However, this money will only go to authorities who agree to freeze council tax and word is out that West Dunbartonshire won’t do this and will take the Robison money and run for cover.
In his letter, Cllr Rooney wrote: “You will be aware from press reports that the Scottish Government Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Finance Shona Robison MP [sic] has informed Scottish Councils that they will only receive a share of the estimated £45 million of Barnett consequentials from the UK Government if they agree to freeze Council Tax.
“This condition also being applied to the £147 million funding made available to ‘compensate’ for a council tax increase at a level determined by the Scottish Government rather than democratically elected councils.
(Which would be in line with with the undemocratic way Labour run West Dunbartonshire, crushing underfoot such matters as Freedom of Speech and imposing bans in an effort to gag the press).
“In total this means the Scottish Government are threatening to withhold £192 million of funding if Councils choose to exercise their delegated power to determine how best to fund and deliver local priorities.
“I am seeking your urgent intervention to ensure that all Councils I Scotland receive a share of this additional funding, should it be allocated by the Chancellor of the Exchequer.”
Cllr Rooney, who made the embarrassing mistake in his letter of calling Ms Robinson an MP instead of an MSP, also copied in Scottish Secretary Alister Jack and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt.
The text is similar to the letter sent by Cllr McCabe yesterday.
The SNP MSP Stuart McMillan said Mr Sarwar must “urgently confirm whether he supports his councillors undermining Scottish local government and the Scottish Parliament and, if not, what action he will take against them.”
He added: “Instead of working with the SNP to stand up to Westminster and ensure more funding comes to Scotland, Scottish Labour have decided to cosy up to the same Tories that have decimated funding for public services across the UK.
“Scottish Labour wanting to hand control of Scottish local government over to the Tories so they can hike council tax bills confirms that the SNP is the only party that will always stand up for hard working households in Scotland.”
Alba’s Secretary General, Chris McEleny said bypassing the Scottish Government would be “nothing less than direct rule of the finances of Scottish Councils by Westminster.”
He added: “Anas Sarwar remained silent yesterday hoping nobody would notice one Labour Council effectively calling for the devolution settlement to be ripped up but today we have more Labour Councils joining this call.
“This is now a full blown crisis for Scottish Labour. Anas Sarwar must urgently distance himself from these proposals and confirm that he believes it is for the Scottish Parliament to determine how Barnett Consequentials are allocated – not Michael Gove, not the UK Chancellor or anyone at Westminster.“
There is no possibility of West Dunbartonshire Council being made bankrupt since there is no legislation in place that would allow them to do that.
When Cllr David McBride, left, a senior Labour councillor who represents the deprived West End of Dumbarton, told protesters campaigning to keep Balloch Library open for the sake of £50,000 he was simply shroud waving.
What could happen however is that the council could be placed in special measures which would amount to the managers being replaced by officials whose strategy would be to close the £7 million black hole – it was £21 million at one point – in the council’s accounts and put West Dunbartonshire back on a sound financial footing.
People need to learn – you get what you vote for.