Highland Council to get an additional £13.3 million funding from the Scottish Government for the coming financial year to support ongoing coronavirus pressures Dingwall MSP Kate Forbes has confirmed
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Highland Council is set to get more funding from the Scottish Government it has been confirmed.
Finance secretary Kate Forbes confirmed the move, which means that an additional £335.6 million will be given to local authorities across Scotland, which covers the next financial year.
According to the funding settlement Highland Council will get £506.3 million for 2021-22, compared with £493 million for 2020-21, and represents an additional 2.7 per cent in funding.
It is part of a total of £11.6 billion in funding for councils across Scotland – on top of the extra £335.6 million the Scottish Government is giving a further £259 million in one-off funding to support ongoing Covid-19 pressures.
In total, councils will receive additional revenue funding of almost £600 million to support vital local government services in 2021-22.
The Scottish Government will also increase a scheme which compensates councils for the loss of income from sales, fees and charges due to the pandemic from £90 million to £200 million in 2020-21.
Finance Secretary Kate Forbes said: “This budget is being delivered in exceptional circumstances as we continue to battle a pandemic that has shaken our society and economy to the core.
“The local government settlement will help to fund those vital public services that are much valued and needed.
“It includes additional funding of £59 million to complete the expansion of early learning and childcare to 1140 hours a year, £72.6 million for investment in health and social care and £7.7 million to support the inter-island ferries in Shetland, Orkney and Argyll and Bute.
“Just as we have chosen not to increase tax rates, ensuring people pay no more than last year, I have taken the significant step of offering funding equivalent to a council tax increase of around three per cent to councils who choose to freeze council tax. I look to local government to join with me in providing the much needed financial reassurance to those who are struggling.
“We need to focus on how we rebuild and renew our country, and the funding I am providing to local authorities reflects the key role that they will continue to play in that journey.”
