Edinburgh is the worst-funded council in Scotland - new figures reveal

Edinburgh will receive £390.50 per head less in funding than the average local authority next year, making it the worst-funded council in Scotland.

Edinburgh is the worst-funded council in Scotland, according to new figures

New figures from the Scottish Parliament Information Centre on the 2019/20 local government settlement show the Capital will get £1422.40 per head compared with the average of £1812.90.

Glasgow gets £2013.30 per head and Dundee £2009.90. Aberdeen is the next lowest after Edinburgh, on £1468.20.

Edinburgh Western Liberal Democrat MSP Alex Cole-Hamilton said: “These figures are shocking and it’s shameful the SNP government are trying to pretend they have produced a good deal for councils. The government is forcing cuts to our local services, there’s less money for our schools, roads and other lifeline services.

“It’s no wonder people in Edinburgh feel let downt. We’ve already seen the negative effects of the cuts we’ve had in Edinburgh with much-loved local services and going to the wall, on top of problems with our roads and difficulties with waste collection. ”

Edinburgh Lib Dem councillor Kevin Lang said year after year the SNP government had short-changed the people of Edinburgh.

“After years of council tax freezes, Edinburgh council has been forced to make harder and harder sacrifices and deeper cuts. But this year’s budget was a farce – a deafening silence from SNP councillors running the council whilst their own party at Holyrood signed off less money for our frontline council services.”

Funding for the other three Lothian councils will also be below the Scottish average.

Midlothian will get £1806.30 per head, West Lothian £1763.50 and East Lothian £1666.80.

Edinburgh had to agree cuts of £39.3 million last month to balance the budget for 2019/20 and it estimates it will have to make savings totalling £100m by 2022/23.

A spokesperson for Public Finance Minister Kate Forbes said: “Each local authority receives their fair share of the total funding available from the distribution formula. Having increased their council tax by three per cent, Edinburgh will have £35.6m more funding than in 2018-19.” He said the Capital would also receive £110.6m capital funding, an increase of £20.1m.

“These figures also exclude a number of important, additional funding sources such as £355m for health and social care and £150m outwith the core settlement, which all benefit local government and some of the £300m the Scottish Government has committed to the Edinburgh and Southeast Scotland City Region Deal over the next 15 years.”