Motherwell and Wishaw MSP John Pentland has highlighted that the Scottish Government is imposing much higher cuts on local authorities than the rest of the Scottish budget combined.

Speaking in a parliament debate on local democracy, he said that "the latest figures from the Scottish Parliament's information centre show that, within a shrinking Scottish Government pot, local government funding is shrinking faster than everything else.

"This year, 34.5 per cent of the Scottish Government budget will go to local government; next year, the figure drops to 33.9 per cent; and the year after it will fall again to 33.2 per cent.

"For the next two years, Scottish Government expects local government to shoulder nearly 10 times the level of cuts that will apply elsewhere. Local government funding will drop by a massive 5.9 per cent, while the rest of the Scottish Government budget drops by only 0.6 per cent.

"The cumulative impact of that squeeze on local government is that it will be £1 billion worse off than if its budget share had been maintained to 2015.

"For North Lanarkshire, that's over £57 million which won't be coming our way in next three years, because we are bearing the brunt of the SNP's cuts.

“The SNP government is very good at passing the buck and blaming others for the impact of their cuts, but we shouldn’t allow them to get away with it. This is their budget. They are not simply passing on cuts, they are hugely adding to them. North Lanarkshire Council stands to lose over £103m in real terms from its budget over the next three years. If the cuts to the overall Scottish budget were shared evenly, there would be a £46m reduction. The extra £57m is a direct result of SNP cuts in local government's share of the Scottish budget.”