Ellie Gomersall: Scottish Greens must push for more in next Budget

Budgets since 2021 have been passed by the majority SNP/Green government, with concessions and deals struck between the two parties behind closed doors, while every Budget in the 2016-21 parliamentary session relied on year-by-year arrangements between the SNP and the Greens, and occasionally also the Liberal Democrats.

Some of the most significant achievements of the Scottish Greens were won through these Budget deals during the last parliament, including free bus travel for under 22s and key steps towards a more progressive income tax system.

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With Greens back in opposition this year, the opportunity for leverage will be high, with the SNP less certain they’ll be able to secure the votes they need than they have been since their first session in government between 2007-11.

Simply put, the Greens could be in a key position to strike an ambitious deal with the SNP – but they must hold clear red lines to ensure this leverage isn’t wasted on a deal which continues to embed the status quo and passes on Westminster austerity to the working people of Scotland.

While previous Scottish Budget deals have resulted in significant policy wins for the Greens – including funds for tackling the climate emergency, substantial uplifts to social security spending, and key schemes such as the (now scrapped by John Swinney’s SNP) trial to remove peak-time fares from Scotland’s railways – it’s also fair to say that one area of Scotland’s governance which has been consistently neglected in consecutive Budgets is our local authorities.

Year after year after year, Scotland’s councils have seen their budgets slashed in real terms, making it harder and harder each year for local councillors to deliver the balanced budgets they are legally required to pass without being forced to slash vital public services.

Through previous Scottish Budget deals and the Bute House Agreement, Greens secured some additional revenue-raising powers for local authorities, including the ability to charge double Council Tax on second homes, and the visitor levy which brings Scotland in line with many other European countries by allowing local authorities to charge a small tax on overnight stays.

Nonetheless, these positive steps forwards simply aren’t enough to tackle the scale of the crisis local government currently finds itself in.

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Research last year by the Local Government Information Unit (LGiU) surveyed senior councillors and officers across Scotland’s local authorities and found that every single one was having to cut local services due to the financial situation. This included crucial services such as education, transport, social care, libraries and waste collections.

Respondents from no less than eight local authorities said their financial situation was so dire it could leave them unable to fulfil their statutory duties, essentially going bankrupt.

This worst fear has already come true south of the Border, with Birmingham City Council declaring the equivalent of bankruptcy just over a year ago, stripping back vital services to the bare minimum and demonstrating the very real risk facing local authorities across the UK, including here in Scotland.

Despite the fact big, red warning lights have been flashing for quite some time now, last year then-first minister Humza Yousaf chose to exacerbate the problem rather than work towards solving it by unilaterally declaring a Council Tax freeze, bypassing local democracy and taking away one of the very few levers local councils have to raise their own additional revenue.

This decision disproportionately helped out Scots on middle to higher incomes, while resulting in the further slashing of local services predominantly relied on by the working classes.

The great irony of the entire palaver is that if the SNP had only fulfilled their promise to reform the regressive council tax system – a promise they first made 17 years ago in 2007 – then perhaps the situation our local authorities find themselves in would not be so severe.

Our current system of council tax, in which residents pay a rate set based on the value of the property from 1991, is outdated, not fit for purpose, and frankly bizarre.

Various progressive proposals have been made to replace it, such as a land value tax, a proportional property tax, and local wealth taxes, all of which the Scottish Government would be able to empower local authorities to implement within its existing devolved powers.

In fact, the Scottish Government has had the ability to substantially reform and replace douncil tax since the start of devolution in 1999. Last year the Poverty Alliance charity said that the failure to do so was “perhaps one of the biggest failures of political leadership in the context of devolution”.

The SNP’s future in government after the 2026 Holyrood elections is looking more uncertain than throughout the entire rest of their reign, and what a damning indictment that they will have failed to deliver on a promise made all the way back in 2007.

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I’m sick and tired of seeing commitments to “explore” and “consider” various reforms to a tax that they’ve known is unfit for purpose throughout their entire time in government – it’s long past the time to finally commit to action and meaningful reform.

As a bare minimum, this year’s Scottish Budget must contain no further cuts to local authority budgets – and this must be a condition of the Scottish Greens’ support for it.

The fact is, the services provided by local authorities, while often overlooked, are typically the most vital to a functioning society, and have the most impact on people’s day-to-day lives.

Bin collections, the running of schools, keeping the roads and pavements clean and safe – these are all absolutely essential, and yet the local authorities who deliver them are consistently neglected by Holyrood.

If MSPs think the constraints of Holyrood’s finances and devolved powers are a barrier to effective government, they should speak to councillors across the country who have both hands tied behind their backs while their pockets are being perpetually emptied.

Such is the unique nature of this year’s Scottish Budget that the SNP are already beginning discussions on it with other parties – particularly the Greens.

With the Bute House Agreement over and the SNP in a more vulnerable position than ever before, the opportunity for Greens to push them to use this Budget to deliver meaningful change could be great – and our local councils must be at the top of the priority list.