Shona Robison confirms Scotland council tax freeze was not signed off by Cabinet

During his speech to SNP conference, First Minister Humza Yousaf made the surprise announcement, which council leaders have since warned could end up costing hundreds of thousands of pounds.

The move has also been criticised by Cosla, the umbrella organisation for Scotland’s 32 local authorities, and by the SNP’s government partners the Greens, who say they were not told about this decision prior to the official announcement.

Ms Robison, who is also the finance secretary, has now defended the decision to not inform councils prior to the announcement.

Speaking to BBC Good Morning Scotland, Ms Robison said: “[Mr Yousaf] did this because he is listening to the views of the people of Scotland and the fact household budgets are under strain, and he wants to respond to these concerns.

“This was discussed over the few days in the lead up to his speech, and the decision was made in the 24 to 48 hours before the speech to go ahead with this.

“Because of the nature of the announcement, it meant normal consultation and communication was not followed.

“It was part of the leader’s speech to party conference and the decision had been made very late on and had to be kept under wraps.”

She added the decision “wasn’t signed off by Cabinet”.

Since the announcement was made, Ms Robison has met with Cosla and says she understands their concerns, but reassured the body this was a one-off freeze designed to take the pressure off family budgets.

During her interview she was also asked where the money for this, and the investment of £300 million over three years to cut NHS waiting lists.

She said: “Some of that is capital money and some of it is spread over a number of years, so it is not all impacting on the 2024/25 budget.

“The money for waiting times is critical, because otherwise we would not be able to turn that around - that’s something we simply had to find the money for.

“But there is a very challenging budget ahead of us, but these announcements will be priorities in that difficult budget process.”

The interview has been criticised by the Scottish Conservatives, who say this shows the decision was “rushed out for political reasons” and to “secure easy headlines for her party”.

Liz Smith MSP, the Conservatives’ finance and local government spokeswoman, said: “The lack of proper process has completely undermined local authorities, which is typical of the SNP’s attitude towards council during their 16 years in power.

“The deputy first minister couldn’t even deny that this announcement means that the Verity House Agreement has been ripped up already.

“Pledging to negotiate with councils is completely meaningless given they had no idea this would be coming.

“Once again, they look set to bear the brunt of SNP funding cuts, which will impact crucial day-to-day services in communities across Scotland that are already beyond breaking point.”