The Scottish Government has announced that all Scottish councils will share a “record funding settlement of more than £15 billion subject to passing of the 2025-26 Budget”.
The government says that the 2025-26 Local Government Settlement includes a £289 million increase in funding to be used by councils to meet local needs and £120.5 million additional funding for pay deals. This represents a 4.7% increase to the local government budget.
The Budget has a provision for a one-off payment of £40 million to help councils respond to the climate emergency, and additional funding to support free personal care, teacher numbers and island communities.
Finance Secretary Shona Robison said: “Our Budget is laying the foundations for Scotland’s future success, with investment to help improve the public services that people rely on.
“Local authorities provide some of the most important services to our communities – from schools to social care – which is why we’ve increased their funding by more than £1 billion compared with last year’s Budget.
“The settlement is the result of meaningful budget engagement with COSLA and Councils. While council tax decisions are a matter for individual local authorities, with record funding of over £15 billion there is no reason for big increases in Council Tax next year.
“This is a Budget that will deliver increased funding for schools, social care and other vital council services. But this funding will only reach communities if the Budget passes, so I am asking Parliament to unite behind it.”
The Scottish Parliament will debate the terms of the Scottish Budget announced by the Finance Secretary after the New Year. The government is an SNP minority administration so will need support from one or other of the other parties to get the budget terms passed. Those are likely to be the LibDems with their four MSPs, the Greens or Alba. There may have to be some changes to allow that to happen, but the three parties are not all pro-independence so it may take a bit of horse trading.
The details of the Scottish Budget are here.
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