COUNCILLORS clashed as Fife Council voted through the minority administration's budget proposals on Thursday.
There were bitter splits in the chamber over the scale of the financial problems facing the Kingdom, with SNP accusing Labour of "scaremongering", and which government was to blame for cutting funding.
Cllr David Ross said the Scottish Government would have withheld £9.3m of their settlement if they hadn't agreed to a council tax freeze, which he maintained was not being fully funded by Holyrood, and that their core grant was being cut by £2.8m.
READ MORE: The numbers that matter in Fife Council's budget
He continued: "We shouldn't underestimate the scale of the financial challenges we face as there is a projected funding gap of £24m rising to £42m in the coming years."
Cllr Ross said the council will need to find more money for the roads, to replace the ageing vehicle fleet, three high schools in Kirkcaldy and Glenrothes, swimming provision in West Fife, digital devices for all pupils and a "decent" pay rise for their staff.
And they would have to continue to support social care and ensure it's not treated as the "poor relation" of the NHS.
The council leader stated that democratically elected local councillors should decide the level of council tax rather than it be "imposed by the Scottish Government based on threats to our funding".
The SNP accused Labour of "immense hypocrisy" and reminded Cllr Ross that he had supported a council tax freeze in the past, as had the party's Fife MSP Alex Rowley and UK leader Sir Keir Starmer.
Leader of the opposition, Cllr David Alexander, said: "This is pure politics. If it was ok to freeze it during Covid then it is equally ok to freeze it during a cost of living crisis."
He said their problems were "Westminster inspired" and that the UK Government had left the Scottish Government short of cash by not taking rampant inflation into account when allocating money to Holyrood.
Cllr Alexander said it was the best revenue budget in Fife in a decade with £20m to invest, no cuts in services and jobs for the fourth year in a row, employee numbers up by almost 1,000 in six years and a council tax freeze meaning Fifers wouldn't pay one penny more.
He said: "This is worth celebrating and it couldn't be achieved if local government in Scotland was being treated the way Labour are trying to portray here.
"There is absolutely nothing negative about this budget so how on earth can Labour be negative about absolutely everything?
"Simple. The last thing Labour want is a positive story in Fife in a general election year, despite the fact this is a positive story."
Cllr Antany Craik slammed the "faux outrage" of the opposition to the five per cent increase in council fees and charges, claiming the SNP had previously proposed a 15 per cent hike.
And various Labour colleagues accused their opponents of a "cut and paste job", copying much of the administration's proposals and then adding a few of their own "to make it look different".
Cllr Jan Wincott added: "The SNP amendment is nothing more than a pick and mix attempt to try and persuade people that they have a grasp on Fife's finances.
"They picked elements they wish they had thought of and mixed in random items they think will win support from an ever decreasing pool of supporters."
However, Cllr Derek Glen responded: "Cllr Ross called our budget proposals lazy and inept when in fact what we've put forward is everything he's put in and more.
"More money for flood prevention, more money for recycling, more money for potholes and more money for high streets."
He added: "Inflation is through the roof, energy prices are through the roof and we have a cost of living crisis.
"For Scotland, this is one of the unavoidable costs of union. We're trapped in a room with no exit."
The SNP also hit out at Labour for mentioning the Scottish Government "19 times" in their proposals and claimed Cllr Ross was loath to criticise Westminster as they needed Tory votes to get their budget passed.
Cllr Craig Walker said: "Last year Cllr Ross said Fife would require 'significant cuts to services and rises in council tax that will leave little or nothing available to meet new emerging needs'.
"Today there is a budget where council tax is frozen and he's proposing £14.2m of investment out of a possible £20m that's available.
"The reality does not remotely match the rhetoric."
Labour councillor Linda Erskine said Holyrood couldn't escape criticism and stated: "We're still waiting, after 14 and a half years of failed promises, for new health centres in Lochgelly and Kincardine."
And Conservative councillor Kathleen Leslie welcomed the preparatory work to get one-to-one devices for all pupils but said it was a "disgrace" that the funding for this had been promised by the Scottish Government in 2021 and had still not been received.
Her Tory colleague Dave Dempsey said "roads matter" and called on Labour to find the extra money to spend £4m on filling potholes, as the SNP wanted, rather than the proposed £3.5m.
Leader of the Lib Dem group, Cllr James Calder, said he was pleased the administration had included some of their "key priorities" in the budget, such as £500,000 for educational psychologists to help combat violence in Fife schools.
He added that the SNP could have had their ideas incorporated too if they had fully participated in the budget discussions.
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