Where does all the money go?

[Knifeandforkwhocares]

Its really sad to see the swimming pools and libraries shutting down in N Lanarkshire. I know Local Authorities have had their funding slashed year upon year for the past decade while at the same time as having to grapple with ever increasing social care bills. But could someone please tell me what the SNP does with the central budget? They get approx £2k more than that raise in taxes for every person who lives in Scotland thanks to the Barnett formula, we have taxes that are far far higher than the rest of the UK. Why do we find ourselves in a situation where we cannot afford to keep vital community resources open? The rUK flushes money down the loo on HS2 but we get Barnett conseqentials for this. Where are the SNP flushing large chunks of money down the loo that rUK isn’t? I just don’t get it!

Something we'd all like to know...

SNP are being very vocal about labour and Tories voting for the closures, a situation entirely brought about by their own SNP policies and mismanagement.

I don't think it's possible for to hate them and the greens any more. Either they are thick or the presume the general public are thick or probably both.

It’s councils who run the budget for things like pools/ libraries. Their funding hasn’t increased in line with the increase in expenses, energy , fuel, cost of waste disposal and recycling and the wages bill.

I work for my LA and hard choices are being made. Public toilets are being closed, hours cut at recycling centres etc. However they just spent 2.3million on additional new bins so priorities.

At a government level there are a lot of national programmes that they don’t have south of the border. As I have children the ones that come to mind are directed at them. For example free school meals for all children from nursery to P.5, free music lessons from p.4 ( music teachers come to school and give individual/ small group lessons DS does a lesson with one other boy), Scottish child payment if you claim UC then you get an additional £25 per child per week.

These are things I benefit from but am sure there are lots of others. A massive cost is elderly care.

I do think there are lots of hard decisions to be made at a government level as well.

The fee personal care for elderly costs councils an absolute fortune to provide with an increasing aged population.
This is means tested in other parts of uk

Does the free personal care come from local authority budgets? Is that not why local authorities are stretched?

personally I want things like leisure centres, public loos and libraries. It’s the basics of a civilised society. I think free school meals should be available for those that need them - absolutely - but not every child. The majority can well afford to pays. My kids refused school dinners as they were so disgusting.

things like the bedroom tax and 2 child benefit cap make sense to me. If someone in work is paying £1k+ a month for childcare in Oder to go to work having extra kids is a big expense and a big financial decision. It seems odd that for others it is less of a financial cost. And the bedroom tax - why should people be able to stay in houses that are too large for their needs when others live in overcrowded conditions due to lack of large enough housing? It makes no sense.

And the £25 per child, is that in excess of child benefit?

Prescriptions, dentistry, university these should all be paid for, with money kept for helping those in poverty.

Goodness I sound like such a Tory, but when we pay higher taxes than ever before but cannot afford to keep a library or public loo open it’s ludicrous!

From what I understand in my Council area is the budgets for social care (children and adults) and education can't get cut so with rising costs in these areas and the same pot of money, cuts have to be made elsewhere - eg leisure centres, grass cutting and pot hole repair.

With one Council making the decision to close leisure centres and libraries, I think others will follow....

Isn't it part and parcel of their drive to achieve independence? Hoodwink the population into believing that all the cuts are the fault of Westminster parties and poison any residual support for the Union.

Cutting public loos affects quite a lot of older peoples ability to get out and about. It’s sad.

From what I understand in my Council area is the budgets for social care (children and adults) and education can't get cut so with rising costs in these areas and the same pot of money, cuts have to be made elsewhere -

I think you're right @JamMakingWannaBe
These are statutory provisions which councils MUST provide. There are others which are great to have but councils don't legally have to provide such as leisure centres, grass cutting etc

Pensions! Not sure the amount per council but probably 20% of the budget and increasing.

@Knifeandforkwhocares

Twenty five a week is on top of child benefit. Can’t speak for everyone but for me it’s been a lifesaver. I work 48 hours a week (2 jobs) I’ve maximised my earnings, cut outgoings and it’s still tight.

I actually earn £7k more than I did two years ago but mortgage increase/ energy prices/ food prices mean I am worse off now than I used to be. That extra £25 is supposed to alleviate child poverty. There is a lot of funding for arts/music/sports/ science programmes for children. These are delivered free/ at nominal cost.

The idea being that you invest in children and their social and cultural capital which leads to better long term outcomes.

Yes, it’s about 26.5% employer contribution or equivalent. Council uses agency for a lot of staff seasonal general maintenance for example. this saves a lot in future pensions but pay a higher hourly rate. Council will recruit from this pool of agency workers so it often leads to permanent full time contract/ pension.

North Lanarkshire councils EMT are the highest paid council workers in the UK you'll probably find that's where the money is going!

I'm so shocked they've closed so many places. Dependant on where you live, your nearest library or leisure centre could now be many miles away. Very sad times.

Some of the snp policies have been done to get headlines and vote winners. Like the free school meals. I'd much rather have a local library or leisure centre. Free school meals should be in place for those that need it. I can afford to pay but it's free and there will be many more parents like me that could pay.

Bad enough we pay higher taxes than England. How likely is it now that Scotland will catch up with England and offer 30hrs free childcare from 9months old. (I know this isn't introduced until 2025 at the moment).

It makes u wonder what services are next! Council tax bills keep going up and services withdrawn, makes ur blood boil.

Look up what NL spend their budget on.

We moved away as had terrible access to libraries / swimming pools etc. Now we have brilliant access in another council. Their priorities have been all wrong for years.

Exactly. It's shocking.

Showing my age here, but I think there’s an argument for all the greater Glasgow LAs being scrapped and reverting to Strathclyde region for economies of scale. Glasgow must be pretty fucked - fewer and fewer residents as the non-council tax paying student residences increase.

Council swimming pools/leisure centres and library services have always been affordable ways for children in particular to have enriching activities. Snp would rather give free meals to children who don't need them than have facilities available, all headline grabbing nonsense.

Add in that resources are ring fenced for cycle lanes when greater local priorities exist.

Where are the SNP flushing large chunks of money down the loo that rUK isn’t?

Holyrood and independence.

Also £140 million on the Scottish census , just to be different from the rest of the UK. It backfired because of poor response rates and cost more money per head than the UK one. And don’t get me started on the cost of the ferries as yet undelivered.

www.scottishdailyexpress.co.uk/news/politics/snp-politicians-make-three-misleading-31055789

The there is this...

With rising obesity and drug deaths, I don’t think it’s a good idea to close down facilities that provide a place for young people to go to.

Kids with no place to go to will find something to do and usually that’s not a good thing.

The SNP just don't care about doing a good job. And why would they? They can blame everything on Westminster and people will keep voting for them.

Lots of free stuff they don't have in England.
Prescriptions
Baby boxes
Extra child payment
Mitigating bedroom tax.
England only gives 30 hours child if parents are working. Scotland made it universal.
Elderly care.

Lots of money wasted on ferries.
Lots of money seems to be getting wasted on preparing for independence stuff, overseas offices, National Bank

God only knows why but the John Smith pool has been closed in the afternoons for ages. Its hours are something like 9-12 then 4-8 including over school holidays and weekends.
Then they wonder why it's not being used.

How does that help really. If North Lanarkshire can't afford to fund its own pools & libraries what chance have they got to be able to contribute towards Glasgow facilities?

Lanarkshire people aren't likely to head into Glasgow to use pools or sports facilities.

Really the only thing Lanarkshire people benefit from in Glasgow are the free museums. There might be an argument to actually charge an entrance fee to non-Glasgow residents.

But for somewhere like Kelvingrove that involves the cost of changing the entrance areas to both doors and having someone on Reception on both doors checking where people are from.

Will it be worth the expense? How much do they raise in donations vs how much would they raise via tickets?

I know where it doesn't go - in healthcare. Life expectancy in Scotland has dropped by 10 YEARS! Blame covid, fentanyl , poverty, alcohol, cigarettes and poor diet. SNP done fuck all to address that.

Still, as long as they're Independant .