The Scottish Borders is to become the latest council to defy John Swinney’s call for council tax rises to be limited.
The Tory-led authority will meet later this month to confirm a 10 per cent hike, according to The Scotsman. The local authority has said this will bring in an extra £7 million.
Swinney said in a recent interview that his Government’s draft budget is positive for councils and means big rises are not needed. Asked if 10 per cent is too high, he said: “I think it is, yes.” He added: “I don’t think that’s necessary, to be honest.”
The Scottish Government has confirmed the Borders council will receive an extra £19m in funding for 2025/26. But the authority said most of this will be used to pay for Real Living Wage payments and free school meals
Council leader Euan Jardine said of the rise: “It’s an extremely difficult decision, but we didn’t get into politics to sit back and make easy decisions.
“Unfortunately, where we are at the moment fiscally, tough decisions have to be made. It is not about playing politics with communities. It is about doing the right thing so we can sustain services in communities.”
East Lothian council is considering a 10.6 per cent hike and it is understood Edinburgh is mulling over 8 per cent. Senior figures in Glasgow council have discussed a five per cent rise.
In a recent interview, Swinney talked up his funding deal for councils: “I think if you had a quiet conversation with council leaders where they were not being bound by certain things, they would say to you, ‘We got a better settlement than we thought we were going to get’.
“I think that’s the case. That’s what they say to me as well in private moments – possibly, they might think these were reckless conversations to have with me, but they’ve had them. And I think as a consequence, that means council tax increases don’t need to be as high.”
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