This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Parliament debates local authority funding
03/02/2005
The Parliament today debated the order which approves funding for local authorities in 2005-06. It will distribute £8.087 billion in grant support to our 32 councils for revenue expenditure - an increase of £419 million or 5.5 per cent.
In the five years since Devolution, revenue funding will have increased by £2.1 billion, an increase of 40 per cent since 1999.
Minister for Finance and Public Service Reform Tom McCabe said:
"The Executive is determined to deliver the improvement in the delivery of public services that the people of Scotland expect and deserve. Local government has an absolutely vital role to play in ensuring we meet that shared priority.
"That is why we are delivering record levels of investment to councils to allow them to deliver better public services across the range of core services that local authorities provide and on which people across Scotland rely.
"The settlement for 2005-06 will distribute £8.087 billion in grant support for revenue expenditure - an increase of £419 million or 5.5 per cent over the equivalent figure for 2004-05. This has to be viewed against the big increases in funding local government has received since Devolution.
"I firmly believe this settlement - and the potential gains to be had from Efficient Government - allows our local authorities to deliver excellent public services to the people of Scotland. And I also believe that, with average grant increases of 5.5 per cent and low inflation, currently at 1.6 per cent, the case is clear for asking councils to exercise restraint in setting council tax levels."
The Local Government Finance (Scotland) Order 2005 provides the statutory authority for the payment of Revenue Support Grant (RSG) to local authorities in 2005-06 and confirms changes since the last Order to the amounts payable to each authority for 2004-05. Full details of the settlement for each council are available on the Scottish Executive website at:
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2004/12/08150757