PAY will remain a major headache for councils unless the Scottish Government puts more cash in the pot in future budgets, Cosla says.
The local authority body wants a commitment to extra funding to help its members deliver wage increases without cutting services.
A one per cent cap on pay rises was introduced in 2013 after a two year freeze, but will be lifted as part of this year’s budget.
In December Finance Secretary Derek Mackay guaranteed a minimum uplift of three per cent for those earning £30,000 or less, with a smaller two per cent increment for workers on more than this. Higher earners on £80,000 or more will have their raise limited to £1600.
The Scottish Greens secured an additional £170 million for councils to help them to pay for the change this year.
However, Cosla says additional support will be required each year to avoid the issue becoming a problem for its members.
Resources spokesperson Councillor Gail Macgregor said: “This additional resource has to become built into the core of our budgets for future years.
“It should not be a one off payment and if it is not built into core budgets essential services cannot be sustained going forward.
“To deliver essential services to communities we need to make sure that the additional resources secured this year are not given to us on a one off basis.”
Macgregor, who serves on Dumfries and Galloway Council, went on: “This year’s deal means Scotland’s councils are far from out of the woods and not cementing this funding into core budgets would be an extremely bad result for the delivery of essential services.
“In addition, our local government workforce deserve to be treated fairly. Without recurring funding this becomes all the more challenging.
“Because quite simply with no money in the settlement from Scottish Government for pay, any pay rises for council workers can only come from cuts to services or council tax rises.”
Responding, Mackay, the former head of Renfrewshire Council, said provision to local authorities is “very fair”. He said: “In spite of continued UK Government real terms cuts to Scotland’s resource budget, we have treated local government very fairly. In 2018-19 councils will receive funding through the local government finance settlement of £10.7 billion.
“This will provide cash terms increase in funding for local revenue services of over £174m – a 1.8 per cent rise – and capital spending of £89.9m, an increase of 11.4 per cent. This delivers a real terms boost in both revenue and capital funding.
“As well as this increased funding, councils have the flexibility to increase council tax by up to three per cent. Taken together, this will mean that councils have access to an additional £251m that can be spent at their discretion, including on pay increases for their staff.”
Labour finance spokesperson James Kelly MSP said: “Cosla is absolutely right to raise these concerns.
“Hard working people in the public sector deserve a pay rise after years of Tory and SNP austerity and declining living standards but Derek Mackay hasn’t provided councils with the money to deliver it. That is unacceptable.
“Scottish Labour’s alternative budget would ask the richest to pay their fair share and properly fund a real terms pay rise for public sector workers,” he added.
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