Report Summary
This report provides members of the Policing Performance Committee with an overview of key areas of COSLA’s work of interest to the Committee. The update focuses on strategic developments and cross-COSLA activity that links to policing.
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Meeting
The publication discussed was referenced in the meeting below
Policing Performance Committee - 19 March 2025
Date : 19 March 2025
Location : online
COSLA Budget
Scotland is facing a series of national challenges such as growing health inequalities, an aging population, a housing emergency, poverty and climate change and biodiversity loss. These challenges require a national joint approach, close engagement with the whole range of public sector partner organisations, and a clear recognition we cannot meet shared national challenges without funding that is fair and flexible, and which meets the real terms increases in costs required to run key services.
The Local Government ask for 2025/26 sought a fair share of additional UK Government funding; fair and flexible funding to enable councils to balance budgets; a commitment for no Council Tax freeze; fair funding to support social care services; additional capital investment; and a commitment to good quality affordable housing.
The 2025/26 Scottish Budget sees Local Government receiving an overall settlement of £15.035bn, including £14,258.1bn in core revenue funding and £777.1m in capital funding. Whilst this was presented as an increase of “over 1bn,” the reality is that this is only an increase of £337.4m (revenue and capital) in uncommitted funding to address all pressures such as inflation, pay and increased demand particularly with regards to adult social care and additional support for learning.
There is an estimated direct cost of £240m to Local Government due to changes to employer National Insurance Contributions in 2025/26 – without being fully funded (at £144m), this additional cost will wipe out a significant proportion of the increase in uncommitted revenue funding. Additionally, there is an estimated £140m eNIC pressure in commissioned services, in particular adult social care.
Whilst this settlement goes some way to meeting Local Government asks, it falls short of the £700m revenue and £160m capital we sought in our budget lobbying. The budget will therefore not resolve the workforce capacity and recruitment crisis; it won’t provide adequate funding to cover the additional costs from the changes to employer National Insurance contributions; it won’t solve long-standing issues in social care associated; and it won’t reverse the impacts felt from long-standing cuts to non-statutory service areas.
