For the third year in a row, as the largest party returned at the 2022 South Lanarkshire Council elections, the SNP Group today presented an Alternative Budget to that of the coalition Administration. Also for the third year in a row, Labour teamed-up with the Tories, Lib Dems, and independents to vote against the expressed wishes of the electorate. Our Alternative Budget focused on keeping council tax as low as possible, avoiding cuts to services and providing additional investment in key areas.
We were able to work constructively with Cllr Robb of the Scottish Greens and we’ve incorporated many of her thoughts in our SNP Alternative Budget around a Local Heat and Energy Efficiency Strategy, weeding in play parks, support for parent councils, and other matters. We thank her for her collegiate approach.
Below is some detail of the initiatives in our Alternative Budget, so you know what the Tories, Labour, Lib Dems, and independents decided against.
Top Summary
Labour somhow manage to increase tax, cut services, AND borrow more. An unlikely trifecta.
While we recognise, due to the actions of Labour in the UK Government, a council tax rise WAS necessary but we do not think a rise of over 5% is reasonable. Their rise would see some South Lanarkshire households pay up to £3,378 per year, or £338 per monthly Direct Debit.
When councils across the UK are going bankrupt through poor borrowing decisions, South Lanarkshire Labour decided now is the time to borrow even more. They’ve saddled us with PFI, they’ve saddled us with eNICs, now they’re going for more good, old-fashioned debt. In last year’s budget, they borrowed £7million and are going to pay £12million of interest on that. They’re doing the same this year. It is totally financially imprudent.
Policy Area Breakdown
A balanced budget with no Council Tax increase may have been feasible this year.
Unfortunately, as a result of increased Employers’ National Insurance Contributions in the recent UK Labour Government budget, we are left to make the difficult and unwanted decision to either increase council tax or cut back on services.
Our Alternative Budget proposed a 4.75% rise to balance the books, protect services, and invest in our future.
The SNP Alternative Budget included a £2.35m Place and Planet Fund to do the following:
🌎 Invest an extra £1m to tackle climate change and nature loss
🗑️ Invest an extra £500k in litter picking, bin emptying and mechanical sweeping to focus on cleaning up our town centres.
We recognised how damaging previous waste cuts have been. The fund would also have:
🪴 Reversed Labour’s policy of charging £45 for garden waste uplifts
♻️ Reintroduced one free bulk uplift per year for every household
The SNP Alternative Budget rejected any cuts to education and instead proposed a £2m Enhancing Education fund to:
📚 Increase devolved school budgets by 10.3%
🥣 Invest £625k in healthy and high quality school meals and to counter rising costs
✏️ Invest £1m in Community Learning and Development
The SNP Alternative Budget included over £2m to help drive down homelessness in South Lanarkshire.
🏡 £1.9m Rapid Rehousing Accelerator Fund in addition to Scottish Government funding for Rapid Rehousing Transition.
🧑💼£180k to recruit 3 additional Homelessness Support Officers.
As well as being forced to raise Council Tax due to Labour’s tax on jobs, £650k of the SNP Alternative Budget would have to be set aside to offset the rise in Employers’ National Insurance Contributions for South Lanarkshire Leisure and Culture employees. This would minimise the impact on SLLC facility and sports pricing.
The SNP Alternative Budget included a Galas and Festivals Fund of over £300k to support our communities in organising galas, festivals and other community events.
This fund would provide an opportunity to recognise the importance of these events and ensure a more equitable funding model for our diverse communities.
We believe in supporting our vital third sector organisations and that’s why The SNP Alternative Budget included the reinstatement of previous funding for some key local organisations such as local Citizens Advice Bureaux, with an additional 6% uplift.
It is vital that Larkhall receives a replacement leisure centre that is fit for the future and meets the needs of the community and surrounding areas.
The SNP Alternative Budget therefore proposed an additional £4m towards the project, bringing the total project budget to £27.9m.
The SNP Alternative Budget also includes funding towards community engagement for plans regarding a new leisure centre for Blantyre and a refurbishment of the John Wright Sports Centre in East Kilbride.
It also requested an assessment of the condition of Hamilton Water Palace
The SNP Alternative Budget included an investment of £2.850m for the improvement of our pavements, paths and parks.
This would be subject to an online Participatory Budgeting exercise, enabling communities to prioritise where the additional expenditure in their area is targeted.
We recognised that potholes are a persistent concern of South Lanarkshire residents.
The SNP Alternative Budget would therefore have established a £2m ‘Pothole Pot’ to invest in fixing our roads including new pothole repair technologies.
The SNP Alternative Budget included a £2.285m investment in Social Care.
£2m would have gone towards increasing capacity thus easing pressure on our NHS.
£285k would have enabled extensive community engagement towards ideas for a hub and spoke model for formal and informal care in Clydesdale.
The SNP Alternative Budget included a £500k investment to develop a culture strategy working closely with communities and stakeholders to ensure all voices are heard and recognised.
The strategy would include a plan for transforming and enhancing the role of our libraries in each community.
The associated responsibilities for a community organisation that come with managing and maintaining a facility can be overwhelming.
To help ensure success, The SNP Alternative Budget proposed
£200k funding to employ two dedicated post-CAT Support Officers, to provide ongoing support as required.
The SNP Alternative Budget would have provided £90k towards the upcoming Rutherglen 900 Celebrations.
This would enable the council, working with the Rutherglen 900 Committee, to ensure Ruglonians could both celebrate the rich 900-year history of their town and enjoy the lasting legacy of such a high-profile event
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