Council leader Willie Gibson has warned that North Ayrshire stands to lose over £5million in the 2015/16 round of funding distribution to Scottish local authorities and has called for a re-think by the key players.
Councillor Gibson has written to the local authority umbrella body COSLA (Convention of Scottish Local Authorities) asking that the 2015/16 distribution be re-considered at the April meeting of COSLA chiefs.
At the same time, he has asked the Cabinet Secretary for Finance, John Swinney, to 'set aside’ the decision taken by COSLA.
His appeal comes after the COSLA leaders failed to endorse a recommendation on needs-based indicators for those councils who deliver services to areas experiencing extreme hardship.
In his letter, Councillor Gibson states that a failure to apply this approach “will have a significant detrimental impact on some of the most vulnerable communities across Scotland, as well as diverting resources to the largest local authorities in the country”.
He added: “The results of the updated indicators have taken many local authorities by surprise. Given the significant impact on the majority of local authorities, I am asking that the cash distribution for 2015/16 be reconsidered.”
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