Minister confirms Aberdeen City and Shire are bottom of the pack for local funding

Posted by Jamie Mackie | Updated 2018-04-26

In response to a Parliamentary Question tabled by North East MSP Mike Rumbles, the Scottish Government’s finance secretary has confirmed that Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire are two of the three worst funded local authorities in Scotland.

Per head of population, Aberdeen gets £350 less from its block grant than the average council in Scotland. With only Edinburgh receiving less.

Aberdeen drops to bottom, however, once the total funding is calculated, nearing £400 less than the average local authority, per person. While Aberdeenshire receives almost £200 less than the average, making it the third worst funded council in Scotland.

Mr Rumbles said: “It is clear from these figures that the Scottish Government sees the North East as nothing more than a cash cow. That means less money for our local schools, less for our roads, and less for our local services.

“The disparity between councils of a similar size, with similar needs and geography, is appalling. It’s no wonder people feel let-down by this government and the fact that the SNP have done nothing to correct years of underfunding of our local services is disgraceful.

“The North East should not have to bear the burden of damaging SNP cuts and it is time the minister took action to put our local councils back on an even footing.”

Leader of the Liberal Democrat group for Aberdeen and councillor for Airyhall, Broomhill and Garthdee, Ian Yuill said:

"The SNP Scottish Government has repeatedly failed Aberdeen. Year-after-year the Scottish Government gives Aberdeen less funding per resident than any other Scottish council.

“That means less money for educating our children, less money for providing social care for our elderly and less money for repairing Aberdeen's crumbling roads."

ENDS

Notes for editors:

Written Question (25/04/18) - Mike Rumbles (North East Scotland) (Scottish Liberal Democrats): To ask the Scottish Government what the average annual local authority (a) block grant and (b) total funding is, broken down by per head of population, and how this compares with how much each receives. S5W-15961

Derek Mackay: Please find the 2018-19 Block Grant per head and the 2018/19 total funding per head in the following table.

Local Authority	Population	2018-19 Block Grant £m	Block Grant Per Head £	2018-19 Total Funding £m	Total Funding Per Head £
Aberdeen City	229,840	320.6	1395	352.9	1536
Aberdeenshire	262,190	408.1	1557	453.0	1728
Angus	116,520	196.2	1684	213.4	1832
Argyll & Bute	87,130	191.7	2200	208.0	2388
Clackmannanshire	51,350	92.2	1795	100.8	1963
Dumfries & Galloway	149,520	278.7	1864	307.2	2055
Dundee City	148,270	286.6	1933	317.4	2141
East Ayrshire	122,200	220.0	1801	240.0	1964
East Dunbartonshire	107,540	180.5	1678	193.2	1796
East Lothian	104,090	167.9	1613	183.5	1762
East Renfrewshire	93,810	174.8	1863	184.6	1968
City of Edinburgh	507,170	701.3	1383	798.7	1575
Eilean Siar	26,900	93.9	3491	103.8	3860
Falkirk	159,380	271.1	1701	293.3	1840
Fife	370,330	617.7	1668	671.7	1814
Glasgow City	615,070	1205.6	1960	1384.3	2251
Highland	234,770	434.8	1852	485.9	2070
Inverclyde	79,160	160.0	2022	173.0	2185
Midlothian	88,610	153.6	1734	167.7	1893
Moray	96,070	154.9	1613	169.0	1759
North Ayrshire	135,890	265.4	1953	276.2	2033
North Lanarkshire	339,390	596.0	1756	646.8	1906
Orkney Islands	21,850	68.4	3132	81.0	3709
Perth & Kinross	150,680	242.4	1609	263.9	1751
Renfrewshire	175,930	301.4	1713	326.7	1857
Scottish Borders	114,350	201.1	1756	231.2	2019
Shetland Islands	23,200	80.3	3462	92.7	3996
South Ayrshire	112,470	195.9	1742	212.2	1886
South Lanarkshire	317,100	544.2	1716	587.9	1854
Stirling	93,750	162.9	1738	177.4	1893
West Dunbartonshire	89,860	182.5	2031	203.3	2262
West Lothian	180,130	306.1	1699	330.8	1837
Scotland Total	5,404,700	9456.7	1750	10431.6	1930