Stirling’s Labour led administration is proposing a budget for 2017/18 that would see an extra £400,000 for Stirling’s schools and £1.8 million pounds for social care. In addition, Stirling’s Labour councillors have worked hard to ensure that all local community groups or charities that rely on council funding will continue to receive support.
Labour Group Finance Spokesperson John Hendry says,
“The Labour-led Administration has made some tough budget choices over the last few years. We’ve managed the SNP Government imposed cuts as best we can and we go into the next year in a stable but poorer condition than we would like. Through prudent financial management, we’ve found an additional £1.8 million for social care, £400,000 to help schools employ more Classroom Assistants and more money to spend on badly needed repairs to roads and footpaths. We’ve shown that Labour are the party that care about local priorities and the best way to ensure that continues in the coming years is to vote Labour in May.”
The SNP Government are imposing massive increases on some families by increasing the council tax and don’t really care what they, or their local elected councillors, think about the rise. That’s the feeling of the Labour Group on Stirling Council who have proposed a budget that doesn’t compound the 7.5%-22.5% increase being imposed by SNP Government ministers in Holyrood.
Council leader Johanna Boyd says,
Thousands of letters dropped through council taxpayers’ doors last week from Stirling Council with details of a SNP Government imposed tax increase. Band E-H properties will see their bills increase by 7.5%, 12.5%, 17.5% and 22.5% respectively. We’ve said for nine years we need a grown up conversation about scrapping council tax. This isn’t a conversation; this is an SNP decree that will hit families hard. The Labour Group can’t in all good conscience compound the SNP rises further which is why this budget contains no additional increases to next year’s council tax.”
Householders who live in Band E properties will see their council tax bills increase by £110 next year. For band F householders, the rise is £216. In band G it is £349 and in band H it is £539.
Stirling Councillor Corrie McChord added,
“Across the country there are SNP and Labour led Administrations being dictated to by SNP Ministers at Holyrood. How dare these SNP MSPs claim to know more about local priorities than the councillors – including the ones from their own party – who live in Scotland’s towns and cities and work every day in Local Government. For a decade the SNP have been calling it the unfair council tax and for a decade the SNP have done nothing about replacing it, while at the same time dictating to councillors what to do with it. After ten years it’s time to scrap the council tax and leave Scotland’s communities to run themselves according to local, not national, priorities.”
Stirling Council’s administration is obliged to publish their draft budget seven days before the council meet to debate it. The SNP opposition are allowed to wait until twenty-four hours before the budget meeting. This year’s budget meeting is set for Thursday 23 February. You can read the Administration’s budget proposals as part of the council meeting agenda.