Seòmar agus comataidhean

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government’s response is to reports that police stations across Lanarkshire, including in Bellshill, will be closed permanently to the public or have their hours reduced from 1 April. (S6F-04667)

Bellshill police station, along with other stations across Lanarkshire, will close to members of the public on 1 April, in order, Police Scotland says, to free up officers from being behind a desk. However, they are behind a desk only because the Scottish National Party Government slashed Police Scotland’s budget and forced the redundancies of thousands of support staff, who did an excellent job at lower cost.

What does the First Minister say to the people of Bellshill who need physical access to a police station to safely report a crime, particularly women who are at risk of domestic abuse, who cannot afford to leave an electronic trail behind them?

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government’s response is to reports that police stations across Lanarkshire, including in Bellshill, will be closed permanently to the public or have their hours reduced from 1 April. (S6F-04667)

Bellshill police station, along with other stations across Lanarkshire, will close to members of the public on 1 April, in order, Police Scotland says, to free up officers from being behind a desk. However, they are behind a desk only because the Scottish National Party Government slashed Police Scotland’s budget and forced the redundancies of thousands of support staff, who did an excellent job at lower cost.

What does the First Minister say to the people of Bellshill who need physical access to a police station to safely report a crime, particularly women who are at risk of domestic abuse, who cannot afford to leave an electronic trail behind them?

The debate has highlighted that Scotland’s councils are under pressures created not by a single year’s decisions but by nearly two decades of sustained underfunding and centralisation by this Government. Scottish Labour’s amendment reflects that reality. Local services are at risk because of political choices that have weakened local democracy and stripped councils of the resources and flexibility that they need. Councils have faced year-on-year real-terms cuts, rising responsibilities without rising match funding and a steady erosion of their ability to respond to local needs and priorities.

The Scottish Government speaks of empowerment, but the lived experience for councils has been less autonomy, more directed spending and an ever-tightening grip from the centre, and the Accounts Commission’s latest bulletin reinforces that. Ring-fenced funding is now at 24 per cent, council debt has risen sharply and usable reserves have fallen.

Sixteen councils relied on unplanned reserves last year and, despite delivering around 90 per cent of planned savings, a third of councils still overspent their revenue budgets.

Those are the direct consequences of long-term underfunding, and they are being felt in every community, high street, town, village and city in Scotland. Against that backdrop, the Government has brought forward council tax proposals that are unclear and low impact, and are years away.

As Michael Marra said, we support those proposals in principle, but we asked very basic questions about the plans—how many households would be affected, how much revenue would be raised and how the revaluation would work—and the Government could not answer.

SPICe confirmed that fewer than 1 per cent of homes would be affected; the plan would raise only £12 million to £16 million a year, which is around 2 per cent of last year’s funding gap; and the revaluation needed to deliver it would cost roughly £10 million.

Legislation will not even be introduced until 2027, with implementation in 2028. That is not reform—it is delay, disguised as action. When it comes to funding local services, what Scotland needs is leadership, which has been lacking over the past almost 20 years. Even with majority and near-majority Governments, the answer is consultation after consultation, commission after commission and no real leadership on the reform of council tax.

A Scottish Labour Government will deliver a credible, progressive council tax reform; provide a sustainable, long-term financial settlement; and rebuild a genuine partnership with local authorities that is based on respect and shared purpose. Scottish councils are the backbone of our communities, and they deserve better than sustained cuts and consultations. The Conservative Party motion identifies the symptoms, but the amendment in the name of Michael Marra identifies the cause and the way forward.

16:57

It was not an independent commentator but COSLA’s resource spokesperson—Scottish National Party councillor Ricky Bell—who said that

“Leaders agreed that this year’s settlement is a very poor settlement for local government”.

If the Scottish Government cannot convince SNP leaders and councillors that the budget is good for councils and communities, why should the public believe it?

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the statement by the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities that the draft budget 2026-27 “represents a very poor settlement for local government which fails to address the financial situation being faced by councils across Scotland”. (S6O-05459)

The bill has always had a simple and widely supported purpose: to incorporate the European Charter of Local Self-Government into Scots law. In practice, that means giving local authorities clear legal rights, requiring the Scottish ministers to act in line with the charter and ensuring that Scotland meets the democratic standards that are expected across Europe. It will strengthen local autonomy, improve transparency and allow councils to challenge actions that undermine their role. This was never a constitutional provocation; it was a practical measure to protect and empower local democracy. The Supreme Court did not strike down that purpose; it struck down the drafting.

The then Deputy First Minister promised in May 2022 to work at pace to lodge amendments. He promised engagement with COSLA and with Parliament, but, since that statement, nothing of substance has happened—no amendments, no timetable and, seemingly, no progress.

COSLA’s briefing to its own convention in March 2023 highlighted the lack of apparent progress and urged early ministerial engagement. COSLA seemed to be doing everything that it could. The only thing missing was meaningful action from the Scottish Government, which seems to be a pattern.

Local government has become an afterthought for this Administration—not a partner, but the body that is expected to administer cuts, absorb blame and take the flak when services are hollowed out.

The much-lauded Verity house agreement, once heralded as bringing in a new era of respect, lies in complete tatters, abandoned the moment its political usefulness expired. Over the past decade and more, councils have faced cuts of around £7 billion, and they are left carrying an unsustainable financial burden. That is not just my view or that of my Scottish Labour colleagues—Scottish National Party councillor Ricky Bell, who is COSLA’s spokesperson for resources, has warned that

“local government finances are under severe and growing strain.”

He went on to say that councils have already delivered

“significant savings year on year”

and that

“there is a clear limit to what can be achieved without impacting the services communities rely on.”

He said that reliance on reserves and borrowing is

“not a sustainable long-term solution”,

and that the medium-term outlook is for

“continued de-prioritisation and the prospect of significant real-terms cuts.”

The SNP councillor’s conclusion is that

“Urgent action is needed”.

The bill was universally supported. Passing it promptly should have been the easy part, yet the Government managed to turn that consensus from years ago into delay—six years of it. Local government deserves better, and Scotland deserves better. Today, at long last, we have the chance to put that right, without excuses or constitutional theatre and with the respect that our councils and communities are owed.

17:26

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the statement by the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities that the draft budget 2026-27 “represents a very poor settlement for local government which fails to address the financial situation being faced by councils across Scotland”. (S6O-05459)

It was not an independent commentator but COSLA’s resource spokesperson—Scottish National Party councillor Ricky Bell—who said that

“Leaders agreed that this year’s settlement is a very poor settlement for local government”.

If the Scottish Government cannot convince SNP leaders and councillors that the budget is good for councils and communities, why should the public believe it?