Aberdeenshire leader warns of council tax rise as services ‘at danger’ of cuts

Taxpayers across Aberdeenshire are likely to see their council tax bill increase and have been warned services could be reduced, as councils across Scotland continue to grapple with financial pressures.

Mark Findlater, council leader, said the “expectation is that council tax will rise”.

He remained tight-lipped on the level of increase but said it is “up for discussion” at a meeting of all councillors on Thursday.

The Tory councillor admitted there is a “danger of our services being reduced” and said the SNP “must accept that local authorities are facing a funding crisis”.

He is the latest council leader to criticise the Scottish Government for the level of funding local authorities are receiving.

Mr Findlater said there is a challenge in terms of the delivery of services with councils “needing to do more with less”.

But when asked if the UK Government’s handling of the economy had led to rampant inflation, he said “a lot of different things” have caused that.

He added: “It’s costing more to build things and staffing costs.”

‘Very difficult decisions’

Aberdeen City Council leader Alex Nicoll did not give much away about what could be expected in the local authority’s budget on March 1.

But he said: “All the councils are going to be facing very difficult decisions and are going to have a variety of options to actually address the funding crisis.”

Meanwhile, residents in Moray have already been warned to prepare for an increase to their council tax bill and job losses as the local authority tries to balance the books.

Finance officers warned a further £13m of savings would need to be found for 2023-24 and £7m the year after.

Kathleen Robertson – who took on the sole leadership of the council in August after her co-leader stepped down – warned there are worse times to come, with some “difficult choices” to be made.

At a press conference on February 6, the first minister admitted local government chiefs face “difficult” choices due to high inflation, but insisted they would be helped by extra cash. 

Ms Sturgeon said: “Council budgets, the overall local government settlement, will go up by £570 million next year.

“Now we live in a time of high inflation, that means these decisions are difficult for local authorities, but I would expect all local authorities to take decisions that are in the interest of the local community.”