Council leaders have said the budget leaves local authorities with a spending shortfall of more than £250million.

Cosla, the umbrella body for Scotland’s 32 councils, is meeting on Thursday to discuss the settlement from the Scottish Government.

Shona Robison, Finance Secretary and Deputy First Minister, revealed her budget on Tuesday including a council tax freeze with councils funded had they raised it by 5%.

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In a ‘budget reality’ document Cosla said the cash on offer is well short of what is needed.

It states councils needed £13,355m to stand still but the settlement is £95m short of that.

Cosla also said it needed £300m to fund a council tax freeze but 5% only provides £144m, leaving a gap of £156m.

In total the organisation said the spending shortfall for 2024/25 is £251m.

A Cosla spokesperson said: “Given the significance of the Scottish Budget to councils and communities across Scotland, COSLA officers are currently working through the detail of the figures in order that a briefing can be prepared for leaders who will give it full consideration on Thursday morning at a special meeting.”

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Finance officers in Glasgow City Council are awaiting the full details of what the settlement means for the city before working out the spending gap it faces.

Previously, it was said the council faces a shortfall of £150m over the next three years.

The government budget document states it is providing: “Record funding of more than £14 billion for local government including £144 million to enable local authorities to freeze Council Tax rates at their current levels.”

The budget also revealed a cut in the amount of cash provided for new homes.

The budget for building social homes was cut by almost £200million, a 26% reduction. 

Housing and Building Standards cash is reduced from £738.3m to £533.2m.

Within that, the More Homes budget is to be cut from £564.6m to £375.8m. 

Sally Thomas, Scottish Federation of Housing Associations, chief executive, said the budget is an “absolute hammer blow for tackling homelessness and poverty”.

She said: “More social homes quite simply mean fewer children growing up in poverty.” 

Jane Wood, Chief Executive of Homes for Scotland, which represents housebuilders said: “We were prepared for a tough budget but, in the context of three local authorities having declared housing emergencies this year, the level of cuts we have seen across both the Affordable Housing Supply Programme and the planning system is quite shocking.”

The budget document states: “We will work with local government to reduce homelessness and continue to promote housing first.

“To make housing available to those who need it most, we will continue progress towards delivery of 110,000 affordable homes by 2032, of which at least 70 per cent will be for social rent.”