The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)

Councillor­s vote to hike council tax in defiance of government’s ‘freeze’

Councillor­s in Argyll and Bute have voted to increase council tax, in defiance of the Scottish Government’s attempt to enforce a freeze.

While First Minister Humza Yousaf had promised council tax would be frozen across Scotland this year, residents in Argyll and Bute are now facing a 10% increase in their bills.

Council leaders said the hike – which will see charges for an average Band D property rise to £1,627.12 – is necessary to help save local services.

The decision came hours after Deputy First Minister Shona Robison promised more than £60 million additional cash to councils as a “significan­t offer of compromise” in the row with local authority leaders over their funding.

That row was sparked when Mr Yousaf told the SNP conference in October that council tax bills would

be frozen across Scotland in 2024-25 – without first consulting council leaders.

At the time, the first minister vowed to “the people of Scotland that next year, your council tax will be frozen”.

Ms Robison had already pledged to give councils £147m in 2024-25 to compensate them for freezing council tax – making clear any authoritie­s which increase the levy will not receive their share of this cash.

On Wednesday, she announced councils will get an additional £62.7m – made up of £45m due to the Scottish Government as a result of spending in adult social care in England, with a further £17.7m increase in the general revenue grant.

In a letter to local government leaders, Ms Robison, who is also the finance secretary, said: “We will be allocating an additional £62.7m to councils in Scotland for them to use as they see fit.”

In what he said had been the “most difficult budget to set”, Argyll and Bute Council leader Robin Currie said the authority faces a “multi-millionpou­nd budget gap” that threatens “council services people use every day”.

Speaking about the 10% increase, he added: “It was a difficult decision to take but it is the responsibl­e one.