Not as good as it was made out...

I attended a meeting of the COSLA Convention in Edinburgh today, where there was a growing recognition on the part of Councils - including some of those who enthusiastically endorsed the package only a few weeks ago - that the financial deal on the table from the Scottish Government is not as good as it was made out to be.

Officers of our Council are still working on the figures supplied by the Scottish Government and seeking further information, so it is too early to say if Inverclyde's cut is higher or lower than the 2.6% average.

The full Council will consider a report on the two-year budget position for 2011-13 on Tuesday and will decide whether or not we are prepared to sign up to the Government's offer. If we do agree to sign up there will be a number of conditions attached, outlining what we would require of the Scottish Government before we finalise our budget.

One thing that has angered many Council Leaders however is the severity of the sanction that would be imposed by the Government on those Councils that do not sign up, which in Inverclyde's case would amount to an additional cut of over £7.5m. We believe that what they are proposing is an affront to democracy and that the Cabinet should hang their heads in shame.