Struggling Scots tell local authorities to 'get their priorities right' after huge council tax hike

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Struggling Scots have told their local authorities it's time to "get their priorities right" after they were hit with the largest council tax increase in 20 years.John Swinney's plea for limited hikes fell on deaf ears as all of them increased rates by at least 7.5 per cent.

This meant that council tax rises were the highest they had been for two decades.A deal was struck by SNP and Green councillors in Glasgow to raise the tax by 7.5 per cent to plug a funding gap of £7.9million.

Labour-run Edinburgh, meanwhile, approved an increase of 8 per cent after the party reached an agreement with the Lib Dems.There were also bumper rises of 10 per cent signed-off by councillors in the Borders and North Lanarkshire, while an 8.2 per cent increase was confirmed in Fife.As the Record took to the streets, hard-up Scots from across the country said they were concerned about how this would affect them as they demanded more transparency.Christine McMillan, 69, a retired occupational therapist from Rutherglen, said: "My biggest concern is, where is all the money going?

We need to know where our money is being spent because at the moment it doesn't feel like it is being managed very well. "The big guys are getting too much money at the top.