Jamie Greene, Scottish Conservative candidate for Cunninghame North has blasted proposed council cuts being forced upon North Ayrshire council, including the recently announced closure of fourteen public toilets across the area.
Speaking to local press, Jamie said "The SNP administration in Holyrood is dead set on an ideological council tax freeze which is simply not fair on councils across Scotland who want the right and ability to manage their budgets and finances.
At a recent community council meeting in Fairlie I was quite taken aback to hear from some of the local councillors about how little revenue they are able to generate as a council and how helpless they feel. Consistent and devastating centralisation and control of local authorities, the council tax freeze and year after year of Holyrood budget cuts has left our councils starved of power and cash. When one Scottish local authority suggested they might try to raise funds from council tax they were threatened with imposing fines."
It was recently announced that nearly £14 million of cuts will required in North Ayrshire seeing vital reductions to services across various sectors and a number of full time job losses.
Mr Greene responded to news reports that a number of public facilities would be closing. He said in a statement "It’s not a naturally political topic, but public loos are vital for those who need them. A number of serious health and stomach conditions mean that many are suffering on a daily basis and rely on those public amenities to be able to go about their daily lives. As someone who suffers from a stomach disorder, schemes such as the key system and readily available public conveniences are a necessity for many.
This is just one example of the many areas where funding is being cut. The SNP long claim they want more powers, yet they seem unwilling to use the ones they have. The Scottish Conservatives think that power should be returned to councils to respond to the economic climate and control rates in the way they see fit."