Scottish Budget 2019-2020

Chapter 6 - Communities and Local Government 

Portfolio Responsibilities

The portfolio’s focus is on our overarching aims to create a fairer Scotland, support regeneration and inclusive growth, ensure provision of accessible, affordable, energy-efficient housing, promote community empowerment and the participation of people in all aspects of Scottish life. Further to our Programme for Government, we continue to prioritise funding to support our major expansion of affordable housing; to tackle fuel poverty and support our targets on climate change; to review Scotland’s National Planning Framework and deliver a world class planning system; to regenerate, strengthen and empower our communities; to support the third sector and develop social enterprise; to continue our efforts to tackle poverty and inequality, and eradicate homelessness and rough sleeping.

The portfolio also incorporates the Scottish Government’s funding for local authorities in Scotland, allowing them to deliver the full range of services, from education and social care to transport and planning.

Portfolio Priorities

The priorities of the Communities and Local Government portfolio contribute to National Outcomes of Communities, Environment, Health, Fair Work and Business, Human Rights, Economy and Poverty. 

We will continue to tackle inequality and reduce poverty through taking forward the Fairer Scotland Action Plan and Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan, backed by the £50 million Tackling Child Poverty Fund, to deliver our ambitious targets in the Child Poverty (Scotland) Act 2017. 

We will do more to tackle the food insecurity experienced by families during the school holidays, and will expand access to free sanitary products.

We will continue our investment of over £3 billion to deliver 50,000 affordable homes over the five years of this Parliament – leveraging economic output of around £1.4 billion per year and supporting up to 12,000 full-time equivalent jobs.

We will continue to deliver on our commitment to make available £0.5 billion over four years for the Energy Efficienct Scotland programme, helping to transform Scotland’s homes to be more energy efficient and more affordable to heat through our Home Energy Efficiency Programmes for Scotland (HEEPS). 

We accepted in principle the 70 recommendations for action of the Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Action Group and we have published an action plan with COSLA, which includes steps to ensure a transition to a rapid rehousing approach over the next five years.

Across government we want to embed a greater focus on place and place-based approaches to policy delivery as a means of helping drive inclusive growth. Places are shaped by the way resources, services and assets are directed and used by the people who live in and invest in them. Prospects for inclusive growth can be improved if we can enable a fresh and genuinely collective focus on unlocking the potential of places and the people who live in them.

In 2019-20 we will continue to invest in regeneration activity to stimulate inclusive growth, and to empower and improve the wellbeing of people and communities. We want communities across Scotland to be able to participate in and make decisions on the priorities that matter most to them. The Empowering Communities Fund is a range of funds and partnerships which support the development of strong and resilient communities, providing investment to enable communities to develop local plans and proposals; prioritise budgets; and develop local assets, services and projects. We recognise the challenge for communities in navigating the current funds and so we are bringing forward work in 2019-20 to streamline the Empowering Communities Fund mechanism, which will seek to include multi-year funding, to enable communities to more readily access this support. The development of the streamlined fund has commenced and it is anticipated it will be launching in 2019-20. We will also ensure communities are inclusive, resilient and safe; where people feel connected, have a sense of belonging, and feel valued for their contribution to society.

Housing priorities

In 2019-20 we will:

• increase investment in the Affordable Housing Supply Programme to £826 million (including the Transfer of Management of Development Funding (TMDF) in the local government budget) and continue work with partners to increase the delivery of more affordable homes, the majority of which will be for social rent;
• continue to support home ownership through our Help to Buy and Open Market Shared Equity schemes;
• continue funding for the Rural and Islands Housing Funds;
• make further allocations from the £50 million Ending Homelessness Together fund to further drive innovations to prevent, tackle and end homelessness in line with the Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Action Group recommendations and subsequent action plan;
• help tackle infrastructure blockages through a flexible grant and loan fund, and a new Rental Income Guarantee Scheme to support Build to Rent; and
• continue to tackle fuel poverty and improve the energy efficiency of Scotland’s homes through our Home Energy Efficiency Programmes for Scotland (HEEPS). 

Social Justice and Regeneration priorities

In 2019-20 we will:

• help parents on low incomes gain employment and progress their careers with investment in an intensive parental employment support programme; 
• continue investment in the Innovation Fund to support new approaches to preventing and reducing child poverty;
• work with Children’s Neighbourhoods Scotland to build more successful and preventative neighbourhoods for children to grow up in;
• work with the public, third and private sectors to expand access to free sanitary products across a range of settings; 
• use additional investment of £2 million in our Fair Food Fund to build on work to promote dignity and develop sustainable solutions to food poverty, and to tackle food insecurity with a focus on the school holidays;
• continue to invest capital regeneration funds to deliver inclusive growth and create opportunities in disadvantaged communities;
• build on our Empowering Communities Fund to tackle poverty and inequality and promote inclusive growth; and
• stimulate activity under the Town Centre Action Plan and Business Improvement Districts in Scotland to support local economies.

Scottish Housing Regulator priorities

In 2019-20 the Scottish Housing Regulator will:

• regulate the housing services that social landlords deliver for tenants, homeless people and other service users; and
• regulate the standards of financial health and governance of registered social landlords. 

Third Sector priorities

In 2019-20 we will:

• maximise the impact of the sector in reducing inequality, working with communities to tackle tough social issues at source;
• provide support and investment to the social enterprise sector, credit union movement and the wider enterprising third sector; 
• support work to tackle poverty and inequality through European Social Fund programmes; and
• work to provide the third sector with greater stability of funding and the opportunity for longer-term planning and development, helping the sector contribute right across the National Outcomes. 

Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator priorities

In 2019-20, the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator will:

• ensure public confidence in charities through effective regulation and sharing of information; 
• support charity trustees to understand and comply with their legal duties;
• facilitate effective management via straightforward and proportionate reporting (increasing online services where appropriate); and
• investigate apparent misconduct in charities, taking remedial or protective action as appropriate.

Governance and Reform priorities

In 2019-20 we will:

• undertake a comprehensive review of local governance with local government and the community sector, ahead of introducing a Local Democracy Bill later this Parliament;
• continue our work to raise awareness and promote the new rights for community groups that are part of the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015; and
• continue our work to promote reform of public services around the needs of people and communities, including support for local reform through community planning and nurturing strong collective leadership.

Planning priorities

In 2019-20 we will:

• continue to implement planning reform and improvements to enhance the performance and simplify the system, support inclusive growth and provide confidence for investors and communities;
• review Scotland’s National Planning Framework and develop a spatial vision to transform Scotland as a place by 2050 bringing together strategic development proposals with inclusive growth, infrastructure investment and climate change objectives into a single consolidated plan;
• implement an ambitious programme of digital transformation of the planning system to support delivery of ‘a world-leading digital planning service’ which ensures guidance and advice is more accessible, makes better use of digital tools and data and encourages greater community participation; 
• work with communities across Scotland to develop a place-first approach, increasing the scope and impact of community-led design processes to improve the quality of places and help to tackle inequalities; 
• deliver a programme of planning and other appeals work, examination of local and strategic development plans and compulsory purchase orders, transport, energy and other infrastructure projects; and
• strengthen and enhance the Scottish Building Standards system to make our buildings as safe as they can be.

Connected Communities priorities

This budget recognises the cross-cutting nature of equalities and human rights and supports delivery of equalities objectives right across government; therefore funding to support this work comes from the Equalities line, and is contained within Table 14.03 in the Social Security and Older People portfolio chapter.

In 2019-20 we will:

• continue implementation of the New Scots strategy with partners which will continue to 2022;
• develop an anti-destitution strategy covering people with no recourse to public funds;
• continue to offer a place of safety to refugees arriving for resettlement;
• strengthen interfaith relations and dialogue, with a refocused approach to the Interfaith Summit;
• implement the Tackling Prejudice and Building Connected Communities Action Plan;
• consider the findings from the consultation on hate crime legislation to inform the detail of consolidated and modernised hate crime legislation in Scotland; and
• work with partners and stakeholders to deliver a balanced and proportionate approach to safeguarding vulnerable individuals who may be exploited by or drawn towards divisive ideologies.

Local Government funding and priorities

Local government continues to be a key partner in the Scottish Government’s transformative programme of public service reform. Our local authorities are integral and essential elements of the overall good governance of Scotland providing high quality front-line services and protecting the most vulnerable in our society. The overall funding package for 2019-20 builds on the priorities in the 2018 Programme for Government and continues to be focused on delivery of our joint priorities to deliver inclusive and sustainable economic growth while creating resilient and safe communities where everyone has the opportunity to flourish.

In 2019-20 we will make available to local government a total funding package amounting to £10.8 billion. This figure includes both general and specific revenue and capital grants as well as the 2019-20 distributable amount of non-domestic rate income. Local authorities collect and retain in full all of the non-domestic rate income collected within their area. The Scottish Fiscal Commission has responsibility for the independent forecasting of the non-domestic rate income used in the annual calculation of the distributable amount. Table 6.12 sets the Scottish Fiscal Commission forecasts for 2019-20 and Table 6.13 provides the details behind the calculation of the 2019-20 distributable amount.

In addition to this core local government finance settlement, the Scottish Government provides local authorities with various other funding streams for individual key government priorities (see the full explanation in the following Information Box). 

2019-20 Local Government funding

The funding available to local government through the core settlement consists of the general revenue and capital grants, the distributable amount of non-domestic rates and a number of ring-fenced specific grants, both revenue and capital. The Scottish Government guarantees each local authority’s formula share of the combined general revenue grant plus the distributable amount of non-domestic rates. This central government funding is supplemented locally by council tax income set by and collected by councils and the ability for councils to levy fees and charges for local services.

The Scottish Budget sets out a total funding package for local government amounting to £10.8 billion but this does not represent the total funding which will be provided by the Scottish Government to local government during the financial year 2019-20. This is because there are various other funding allocations linked to individual policy initiatives which are currently held within the relevant portfolios. These additional sums are summarised in Table 6.09 and the full details are set out in Tables 6.10, 6.14 and 6.15. 

Summary of Total 2019-20 Local Government Funding (see Table 6.09)

	£m
Budget Core Local Government Allocations (Table 6.10)	10,779.9*
Revenue Funding within other Portfolios (Table 6.14)	291.3
Total Local Government Finance Circular	11,071.2
Local Government funding outwith core settlement (Table 6.15)	448.7
Total Scottish Government Funding to Local Government	11,519.9

* Total excludes £3 million Staff and Operating costs included in Table 6.10

The additional funding streams set out in Table 6.14 are currently held within other portfolios within this Budget document and will be transferred during the course of 2019-20 to the local government settlement. These sums have been added to the Local Government Finance settlement and are included in the Local Government Finance Circular that will be issued for consultation on 17 December 2018.

Over and above the money which will be included within the Local Government Finance (Scotland) Order 2019 there are a number of funding streams attached to particular portfolio policy initiatives and these are set out in Table 6.15.

The Scottish Government believes that the physical and mental health of the people of Scotland is not just the job of the NHS. Our childhood experiences, education, environment and job prospects all have an effect on our health and wellbeing. Integration authorities are having a positive impact by caring for people close to home and helping to ensure the sustainability of health and social care services. Connected to this, £355 million will again be transferred from NHS Boards to our Integration Authorities to support social care. The overall local government finance settlement total of £10.8 billion takes into account a range of health and social care financial pressures facing local authorities in 2019-20. These include an additional £40 million of funding for social care, including support for the continued implementation of the Carers (Scotland) Act 2016 and extending free personal care to under 65s as set out in the Programme for Government. This funding will be supplemented by a further £120 million for social care that will be transferred to the local government settlement in-year and paid directly to local authorities for investment in integration. This includes £12 million for investment in school counselling services. We will look to local authorities to continue to prioritise their financial support for social care.

The Scottish Government has allocated an additional £0.7 million of additional support for Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) resulting from the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 together with an additional £210 million of revenue and £25 million of capital to local authorities in 2019-20 to support the expansion in funded ELC entitlement to 1,140 hours from August 2020. The ELC funding will create additional capacity in ELC settings, support the increase to the ELC workforce and provide additional training opportunities for existing staff, ensuring a high quality ELC service that provides every child with the best possible start in life. 

We will also continue to take forward our ambitious programme of educational reform that will deliver an education system led by communities, schools and teachers. The Scottish Government, in partnership with local authorities, will empower schools to make key decisions on areas such as the curriculum, budgets and staffing. In recognising that teachers are central to achieving our ambition of delivering excellence and equity in Scottish education we will continue to commit an overall funding package of £88 million in the local government finance settlement to support both maintaining the pupil teacher ratio at a national level and ensuring that places are provided for all probationers who require one under the teacher induction scheme. We recognise that discussions on teachers’ pay are on-going through the tri-partite Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers and any additional allocation to fund a negotiated agreement will require to be agreed.

Each local authority area will continue to benefit from Pupil Equity Funding (PEF) which forms part of the overall commitment from the Scottish Government to allocate £750 million through the Attainment Scotland Fund, over the term of the Parliament to tackle the attainment gap. £120 million in Pupil Equity Funding is going directly to headteachers to provide additional support to help close the attainment gap and overcome barriers to learning linked to poverty. This is additional to the £62 million Attainment Scotland funding, which is outwith the local government finance settlement. Money from the Attainment Scotland Fund will continue to provide authorities and schools with additional means to provide targeted literacy, numeracy and health and wellbeing support for children and young people in greatest need. 

The individual local authority fair shares of the total funding package will be issued for consultation with local government before being put to the Scottish Parliament for final approval early in 2019.

Scotland’s 32 local authorities will be expected to fulfil the joint priorities agreed between the Scottish Government and local government. The total funding package linked to these joint priorities include:

• the ongoing additional £355 million transfer from the NHS to Integration Authorities to ensure improved outcomes on health and social care;
• an additional £40 million of support for social care for the continued implementation of the Carers Act and extending free personal care for the under 65s;
• a further £120 million to be transferred in-year from health to local government to support health and social care, and mental health;
• the ongoing additional £88 million to maintain the pupil teacher ratio nationally and secure places for all probationers who require one under the teacher induction scheme;
• an additional £210 million (revenue) and £25 million (capital) to support the expansion in funded Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) entitlement to 1,140 hours by 2020;
• a new £50 million Town Centre Fund to enable local authorities to stimulate and support place-based economic improvements and inclusive growth through a wide range of investments which contribute to the regeneration and sustainability of town centres; and
• flexibility for local authorities to increase council tax levels by up to 3 per cent, worth an estimated £80 million.

Business Rates priorities 

The Scottish Government remains committed to a competitive non-domestic rates regime, underlined by the proposals outlined in this Scottish Budget. One of the key asks of the business community was to match the prevailing non-domestic rates poundage in England by using the Consumer Price Index. The poundage in Scotland has been capped below inflation at 49 pence, a 2.1 per cent increase, ensuring over 90 per cent of properties in Scotland pay a lower poundage than they would in other parts of the United Kingdom. 

The budget maintains the United Kingdom’s most generous Small Business Bonus Scheme thresholds and continues to deliver the manifesto commitment that over 100,000 properties are taken out of rates altogether. In October 2018, Ministers confirmed their intention to extend transitional relief for all but the largest hospitality providers across Scotland, and for offices in Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire until the next revaluation. We are introducing an extended relief of 100 per cent on all broadband fibre lit on or after 1 April 2019 for a ten-year period. This will help further our objective of delivering superfast broadband access to 100 per cent of premises in Scotland by 2021.

Taken together our decisions will continue to deliver the most generous package of reliefs in the United Kingdom, worth a record £750 million in 2019-20.

The Scottish Government responded swiftly to the recommendations of the Barclay Review of Non-Domestic Rates. The Business Growth Accelerator and Day Nursery Relief, introduced on 1 April 2018, respectively encourage new business investment by temporarily suspending rates liabilities for new builds and property improvements, and reduce the overheads to nursery providers who have such an important role to play in ensuring our children have the best start in life. Other reliefs continue to be available.

In early 2019 we will bring forward primary legislation to deliver other Barclay Review recommendations including measures to support growth, to improve administration of the system and to increase fairness, such as the shift to a three-yearly revaluation cycle and policies to address known tax avoidance tactics to around second homes, charities and empty properties. 

Council Tax priorities 

In the past two years, we have been able to secure the agreement of COSLA for locally determined Council Tax increases to be capped at three per cent. This has protected household incomes whilst increasing total council tax revenues in 2018-19 by £77 million. We recognise that households value being protected from unexpectedly high increases to the Council Tax they are required to pay and therefore locally determined council tax increases for 2019-20 will be restricted to three per cent, which would increase total council tax revenues to be spent on local services by a further £80 million. The Council Tax Reduction Scheme will continue to ensure that low income households are not required to meet Council Tax liabilities they cannot afford.

Local Taxation priorities

The Scottish Government is committed to making local taxation more progressive whilst improving the financial accountability of local government and we endorse the primary conclusion from the Commission on Local Tax Reform’s 2016 report that ‘the present council tax system must end’. At the same time, we recognise the importance placed by all taxpayers on our approach to tax policy formulation designed to be fit for the 21st century, but embedded in Adam Smith’s four key maxims of taxes being proportionate to ability to pay, providing certainty for the taxpayer, having convenience and ease of payment, and being efficient. 

In the past year, the Scottish Government has received representations both expressing strong support for and opposition to the creation of a power to allow local authorities to charge a Transient Visitor Levy, sometimes referred to as a tourist tax. The Scottish Government has no plans to implement such a tax, but in the light of the strength of opinions expressed, we have convened a series of national discussion events to allow all different views on a tourism tax to be heard, alongside objective, evidence-based research and analysis.

Spending Plans

Table 6.01: Spending Plans (Level 2)

Level 2	2017-18 Budget £m	2018-19 Budget £m	2019-20 Budget £m
Housing	739.0	893.6	967.2
Social Justice and Regeneration	59.2	76.1	66.9
Scottish Housing Regulator	4.0	4.7	4.5
Third Sector	24.5	24.5	24.9
Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator	3.0	3.0	3.3
Governance and Reform	1.2	1.2	5.6
Planning	4.1	7.6	9.5
Local Government	10,291.0	10,519.6	10,782.9
Total Communities and Local Government	11,126.0	11,530.3	11,864.8
Total Fiscal Resource	6,944.8	7,158.6	7,012.5
of which Operating costs*	–	–	35.8
Non-cash	0.3	0.3	0.3
Capital	1,255.6	1,479.1	1,737.5
Financial Transactions	259.5	256.3	261.5
AME	2,665.8	2,636.0	2,853.0

* In 2019-20, there is a change to the way that Scottish Government staffing budgets are presented and total operating costs are now included within portfolio budgets. This is set out in more detail in the Annex on operating costs.

Presentational Adjustments for Scottish Parliament Approval

Level 2	2017-18 Budget £m	2018-19 Budget £m	2019-20 Budget £m
Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator - shown separately	(3.0)	(3.0)	(3.3)
Scottish Housing Regulator - shown separately	(4.0)	(4.7)	(4.5)
Central Government Grants to Local Authorities returned to portfolios (Education and Skills; Justice; Transport, Infrastructure and Connectivity)	(238.5)	(439.6)	(740.7)
Total Communities and Local Government	10,880.5	11,083.0	11,116.3

Total Limit on Income (accruing resources)

80.0

What the Housing budget does 

The budget supports the delivery of more quality affordable warm homes (along with the Transfer of the Management of Development Funding in the local government settlement), and assistance to eligible households through the Warmer Homes Scotland scheme. It funds a range of other housing and regeneration activities, including action to end homelessness, funding for adaptations for older and disabled Registered Social Landlord (RSL) tenants and creating sustainable communities. This budget also supports the research and analytical programme which underpins our policy development and delivery work. It includes the Scottish Household Survey which provides data across a range of National Performance Framework indicators. 

Table 6.02: Housing Spending Plans (Level 3)

Level 3	2017-18 Budge t £m	2018-19 Budget £m	2019-20 Budget £m
More Homes	583.6	722.5	788.7
Fuel Poverty/Energy Efficiency	114.1	116.3	119.6
Housing Support	38.0	51.2	52.7
Communities Analysis	3.3	3.6	6.2
Total Housing	739.0	893.6	967.2
of which:
Fiscal Resource	45.5	65.7	77.9
Non-cash	0.0	0.0	0.0
Capital	439.0	576.6	627.8
Financial Transactions	254.5	251.3	261.5
AME	–	–	–

See footnote on operating costs in Table 6.01.

What the Social Justice and Regeneration budget does

The budget delivers a range of actions to reduce poverty and tackle inequality, including resource for the Tackling Child Poverty Fund. 

It enables us to continue to support regeneration initiatives which respond to local circumstances, involve local people in identifying issues and co-creating solutions, address market failure, and increase opportunities to attract investment and support job creation in disadvantaged areas.

Table 6.03: Social Justice and Regeneration Spending Plans (Level 3)

Level 3	2017-18 Budget  £m	2018-19 Budget  £m	2019-20 Budget £m
Fairer Scotland	6.9	27.8	24.6
Regeneration	52.3	48.3	42.3
Total Social Justice and Regeneration	59.2	76.1	66.9
of which:
Fiscal Resource	24.2	46.1	41.9
Non-cash	–	–	–
Capital	30.0	25.0	25.0
Financial Transactions	5.0	5.0	–
AME	–	–	–

See footnote on operating costs in Table 6.01.

What the Scottish Housing Regulator budget does

The Scottish Housing Regulator (SHR), the independent regulator of social landlords (i.e. local authority landlords and registered social landlords), has the statutory objective of safeguarding and promoting the interests of: 

• around 600,000 tenants who live in homes provided by social landlords;
• over 45,000 people and their families who may be homeless and seek help from local authorities;
• over 123,000 home owners who receive services from social landlords; and
• around 2,000 Gypsy/Traveller families who can use official sites provided by social landlords. 

Table 6.04: Scottish Housing Regulator Spending Plans (Level 3)

Level 3	2017-18 Budget £m	2018-19 Budget  £m	2019-20 Budget £m
Total Scottish Housing Regulator	4.0	4.7	4.5
of which:
Fiscal Resource	3.8	3.9	4.1
Non-cash	0.2	0.2	0.2
Capital	–	0.6	0.2
Financial Transactions	–	–	–
AME	–	–	–

What the Third Sector budget does

This budget supports the third sector in their work with individuals and communities, including the delivery of volunteering, the development of our approach to social enterprise, and support for the national and local third sector infrastructure (including the third sector interfaces). The third sector will also have access to resources through other programmes in the wider budget. 

Table 6.05: Third Sector Spending Plans (Level 3) 

Level 3	2017-18 Budget £m	2018-19 Budget £m	2019-20 Budget £m
Total Third Sector	24.5	24.5	24.9
of which:
Fiscal Resource	24.5	24.5	24.9
Non-cash	–	–	–
Capital	–	–	–
Financial Transactions	–	–	–
AME	–	–	–

See footnote on operating costs in Table 6.01.

What the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator budget does 

The Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) is responsible for the registration and regulation of more than 24,000 charities in Scotland. It has a statutory function to determine the charitable status of bodies, to keep the public register of charities, and to monitor and investigate apparent misconduct. 

Table 6.06: Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator Spending Plans (Level 3)

Level 3	2017-18 Budget £m	2018-19 Budget £m	2019-20 Budget £m
Total Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator	3.0	3.0	3.3
of which:
Fiscal Resource	2.9	2.9	3.2
Non-cash	0.1	0.1	0.1
Capital	–	–	–
Financial Transactions	–	–	–
AME	–	–	–

What the Governance and Reform budget does

This budget supports public service reform including partnership working with local government third sector organisations and communities around the empowerment of people and the importance of place. 

This budget also includes provision for activities in relation to local taxation which includes implementing the Barclay Review recommendations for non-domestic rates the Council Tax Reduction scheme and a range of analytical and statistical work.

Table 6.07: Governance and Reform Spending Plans (Level 3) 

Level 3	2017-18 Budget £m	2018-19 Budget £m	2019-20 Budget £m
Governance and Local Taxation	0.5	0.5	0.5
Public Service Reform and Community Empowerment	0.7	0.7	5.1
Total Governance and Reform	1.2	1.2	5.6
of which:
Fiscal Resource	1.2	1.2	5.6
Non-cash	–	–	–
Capital	–	–	–
Financial Transactions	–	–	–
AME	–	–	–

See footnote on operating costs in Table 6.01.

What the Planning budget does

The budget supports the operation of the planning system and the wider programme of planning reform to support inclusive growth and create great places for people and communities. It also delivers improvements to the quality and safety of the built environment including research on developments in technology, building design and architecture.

Table 6.08: Planning Spending Plans (Level 3)

Level 3	2017-18 Budget £m	2018-19 Budget £m	2019-20 Budge £m
Architecture and Place	1.3	1.4	1.4
Building Standards	0.3	0.3	0.9
Planning	1.8	5.2	6.5
Planning and Environmental Appeals	0.7	0.7	0.7
Total Planning	4.1	7.6	9.5
of which:
Fiscal Resource	4.0	7.1	9.0
Non-cash	–	–	–
Capital	0.1	0.5	0.5
Financial Transactions	–	–	–
AME	–	–	–

See footnote on operating costs in Table 6.01.

Table 6.09: Summary of Total 2019-20 Local Government Funding

	£m
Budget Core Local Government Allocations (Table 6.10)	10,779.9*
Revenue Funding within other Portfolios (Table 6.14)	291.3
Total Local Government Finance Circular	11,071.2
Local Government funding outwith core settlement (Table 6.15)	448.7
Total Scottish Government Funding to Local Government	11,519.9

* Total excludes £3 million staff and operating costs included in Table 6.10

Table 6.10: Local Government Spending Plans (Level 3)

Level 3	2017-18 Budget £m	2018-19 Budget £m	2019-20 Budget £m
General Revenue Grant1	6,627.8	6,733.5	6,359.3
Non-Domestic Rates1	2,665.8	2,636.0	2,853.0
Support for Capital	653.1	598.4	703.8
Specific Resource Grants	210.9	273.7	483.6
Specific Capital Grants	133.4	278.0	380.2
Local Government Advice and Policy	–	–	3.0
Total Local Government	10,291.0	10,519.6	10,782.9
of which:
Fiscal Resource	6,838.7	7,007.2	6,845.9
Non-cash	-	-	-
Capital2	786.5	876.4	1,084.0
Financial Transactions	-	-	-
AME	2,665.8	2,636.0	2,853.0
Other Sources of Support
Health and Social Care Integration	357.0	355.0	355.0

See footnote on operating costs in Table 6.01 

Notes
1. The Scottish Government guarantees the combined General Revenue Grant plus the distributable non-domestic rates (NDR) income figures.
2. £150 million of capital funding re-profiled from 2016-17 has been added back to the local government capital allocation in full in 2019-20.

Table 6.11: Specific Grant Funding and other Local Government Funding 2019-20

	Portfolio	2018-19 Budget £m	2019-20 Budget £m
Criminal Justice Social Work	Justice	86.5	86.5
Pupil Equity Fund	Education and Skills	120.0	120.0
Early Learning and Childcare Expansion	Education and Skills	52.2	262.2
Gaelic	Education and Skills	4.5	4.5
Transport, Scotland Inter-Island Ferries	Transport, Infrastructure and Connectivity	10.5	10.5
Total Specific Revenue Grants		273.7	483.6
Vacant and Derelict Land	Communities and Local Government	9.4	11.4
Transfer of Management of Development Funding (TMDF)	Communities and Local Government	92.2	111.8
Regional Transport Partnership	Transport, Infrastructure and Connectivity	19.0	23.1
Cycling Walking and Safer Routes	Justice	7.4	8.9
Early Learning and Childcare	Education and Skills	150.0	175.0
Town Centre Fund	Finance, Economy and Fair Work	–	50.0
Total Specific Capital Grants		278.0	380.2

May not add up due to roundings

We have taken the exceptional decision to allocate £100 million more than the currently forecast 2019-20 receipts in the NDR pool. This decision to bring forward some of the forecast growth in NDR receipts from 2020-21 and 2021-22 is intended to support continued investment in local government services and the stimulation that brings to the wider economy at a time of substantial economic uncertainty. Table 6.12 sets out our plans to bring the pool back into balance by the end of 2021-22, containing that change within the forecast growth in receipts to avoid any adverse impact on the wider budget in future years.

Table 6.12: Scottish Fiscal Commission (SFC) Non-Domestic Rate Income Forecast

	2018-19 £m	2019-20 £m	2020-21 £m	2021-22 £m	2022-23 £m
Non-Domestic Rates Estimates	2,827	2,785	2,887	3,087	3,295
Distributable Amount	2,636	2,853	2,837	3,037	3,295
Prior Year Adjustments	(82)	(56)	–	–	–
Yearly Balance	165	(124)	50	50	–
Cumulative Balance	24	(100.0)	(50)	–	–

The Scottish Fiscal Commission has provided the 2018-23 estimates.

Table 6.13: Calculation of the 2019-20 Non-Domestic Rate Distributable Amount 

	£m
2017-18 Non-Domestic Rate Account Closing Balance	(141.1)
2017-18 Prior Year adjustment	(81.7)
2018-19 Prior Year adjustment	190.8
Forecast Non-Domestic Rates Income	2,785.0
Estimated movement on the Account 2019-20	2,753.0
2019-20 Distributable Amount	2,853.0
Estimated Balance at 31 March 2020	(100.0)

In addition to the local government funding in Table 6.10, Table 6.14 consists of budgets that are currently held within other portfolios that will be added to the local government settlement during 2019-20 and will be included in the Local Government Finance Circular which will issue on 17 December 2018.

Table 6.14: Revenue Funding within other Portfolios

	2018-19 £m	2019-20 £m
Local Government Budget Settlement	10,519.6	10,779.9
Additional Revenue
Health and Social Care and Mental Health	–	120.0
Discretionary Housing Payments	62.1	63.2
Scottish Welfare Fund	37.9	37.9
ELC Expansion	–	24.1
Temporary Accommodation	23.5	23.5
Self-Directed Support	3.5	3.5
Children and Young People Act	1.0	1.0
Customer First	1.5	1.5
Community Justice Transitional Funding	1.6	1.6
Tobacco Related Issues	1.3	1.3
Former Housing Support Grant	1.0	1.0
Blue Badge Scheme	0.7	0.7
Sensory Impairment	0.3	0.3
Building Standards Fees	(1.5)	(1.5)
British Sign Language	0.4	0.2
1+2 Languages	3.0	3.0
School Clothing Grant	6.0	6.0
Child Burial and Crematoria Charges	0.2	0.3
Youth Justice – Whole System Approach	0.8	0.8
Free Sanitary Products in Public Places	1.2	2.8
Free Sanitary Products in Schools	1.9	t.b.c.
Total Revenue Funding within other Portfolios	146.5	291.3
Total Local Government Settlement in Local Government Finance Circular	10,666.1	11,071.2

May not add up due to roundings.

Over and above the money that will be included within the Local Government Finance (Scotland) Order 2019 there are a number of funding streams attached to particular portfolio policy initiatives and these are set out in Table 6.15.

Table 6.15: Local Government Funding outwith Core Settlement

	2018-19 £m	2019-20 £m
Total Local Government Finance Circular	10,666.1	11,071.2
Revenue
Attainment Scotland Fund	59.0	62.0
Schools for the Future Programme	52.9	60.9
Education Maintenance Allowance	25.0	25.0
Clyde Gateway Urban Regeneration Company	0.5	0.5
Supporting Post-16 Transitions Towards Employment	4.3	4.3
Travel Strategy and Innovation	4.1	4.1
Private Water Supply Grants	1.7	1.7
Business Gateway	1.7	1.7
Support for Bus Services	1.1	0.7
Early Learning and Childcare Realising Change Funding	3.5	0.5
Total Revenue	153.8	161.4
Capital
City Deals	121.9	187.8
Clyde Gateway Urban Regeneration Company	5.0	5.0
Support for Sustainable and Active Travel	7.0	7.0
Future Transport Fund	6.0	18.0
Home Energy Efficiency Programmes for Scotland (HEEPS)	49.0	49.0
Regeneration Capital Grant Fund	20.0	20.0
European Maritime and Fisheries Fund	1.1	0.5
Total Capital	210.0	287.3
Total Local Government Funding outwith Core Settlement	363.8	448.7
Overall Scottish Government Funding for Local Government	11,029.9	11,519.9

Local Government’s Spending Plans 2018-19

To illustrate how local government funding is used across different services, Scotland’s local authorities have budgeted to spend the total resources available to them from the Scottish Government’s funding and income raised locally through the council tax on services in 2018-19 as set out in Tables 6.16 and 6.17. It is the responsibility of individual local authorities to manage their own budgets and to allocate the total financial resources available to them on the basis of local needs and priorities.

Table 6.16: Local Government Revenue Expenditure Plans 2018-19

2018-19 Budget Estimate - Net Revenue Expenditure	2018-19 Budget £m
Education	5,159.0
Social Work	3,260.0
Roads and Transport	388.5
Environmental Services	679.0
Planning and Development Services	241.3
Culture and Related Services	537.5
Other Services*	716.8
Non-Service Expenditure	1,155.2
Total Budgeted 2018-19 Net Revenue Expenditure	12,137.3

*Other services includes non-housing revenue account housing and central services

A full breakdown of these budgeted amounts including individual local authority figures are available via the following link:
https://www.gov.scot/publications/provisional-outturn-budget-estimates-2018/

Table 6.17: Local Government Capital Expenditure Plans 2018-19

2018-19 Budget Estimate – Gross Capital Expenditure	2018-19 Budget £m
Non Housing Revenue Account Housing	30.8
Roads and Transport	555.6
Education	677.9
Social Work	82.5
Environmental Services	139.9
Culture and Related Services	190.2
Planning and Economic Development	390.3
Trading Services	25.3
Other Services	297.0
Total Estimated 2018-19 General Fund Capital Expenditure	2,389.4

www2.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Local-Government-Finance/Publications/CPOBE

These capital expenditure figures present the total budget allocated to projects in 2018-19. The final outturn figures are likely to be lower due to project slippage and expenditure being delayed into 2019-20.