War of words intensifies over Comhairle funding​

Meanwhile, Alasdair Allan MSP declined to comment on claims by his leader, John Swinney, that distribution of funding to local authorities – which has given the Western Isles by far the worst deal in Scotland – is “out of the hands of the (Scottish) government”.

Over a decade, Comhairle nan Eilean Siar’s real terms funding has declined by 18 per cent, costing the council an astonishing £250 million. The funding formula punishes depopulation and falling school rolls, thereby making the problems worse.

Mr Swinney’s claim, during a visit to Lewis, was described as “scandalous” by prospective Labour candidate, Donald Mackinnon. It is also contradicted by COSLA, which represents local authorities, and the Scottish Government’s Public Funding Manual, which makes clear that distribution is a matter for negotiation between Ministers and COSLA.

In response, the SNP group leader, Frances Murray, issued a statement which said: “It is understood by the SNP Council group that the Comhairle’s representatives have never requested changes be made to the funding formula agreed by COSLA annually and have always voted in its favour.”

She claimed the SNP government would “not be opposed to a full review of the funding distribution formula”.

On Wednesday, in a furious response, Councillor Steele rejected the claim that the Comhairle never questioned the formula He had repeatedly made clear to Ministers that “the continuous decline in investment of public services in the Western Isles is unsustainable”.

He said: “There seems to be a suggestion that tabling an amendment to a report at a COSLA meeting would resolve the distribution formula in our favour and to the disadvantage of others.That is simply not the reality because, as most people know, in order for an amendment to be successful you need a majority to support it.

“To bring about positive change all Scottish councils need more funding and Comhairle nan Eilean Siar needs a fairer share of that increased funding. This change must be driven by Scottish Government.

“To point blame at COSLA or the Comhairle itself for this situation is unhelpful and irrelevant, and detracts from the primary issue. Comhairle nan Eilean Siar will continue to make the case for fairer funding settlements, and I would encourage all others, regardless of political party, to do the same.”

Mr Mackinnon described the SNP’s charge as “unbelievable” and added: “First we had John Swinney telling us that his Scottish Government has no responsibility for local authority funding allocations - now the SNP Group on the Comhairle are claiming that our local authority is responsible for its own budget being slashed.”

The Gazette asked Mr Allan for a response to Mr Mackinnon’s challenge to disown Mr Swinney’s remarks but his office referred us to the statement issued by the SNP council group which made no reference to these remarks. A further request, pointing this out, was not responded to.