Councillor warns of local authority's £5m burden to meet National Insurance contributions

The new numbers, revealed in a letter from Angus Council’s Finance Director, Ian Lorimer, highlight the scale of the unexpected additional cost for the council..

Monifieth and Sidlaw SNP councillor Lloyd Melville has published the letter, revealing the “£5 million hammer blow” in advance of the local authority setting its budget in late February.

The costs have risen from an earlier estimate of £3 million, provided by Mr Lorimer at the full meeting of Angus Council in December.

Mr Lorimer states in the letter that the £5 million estimate does not include the potential additional price rises passed to the Council from contractors because of the hike. The figure also does not include any costs to the Angus Health and Social Care Partnership.

Earlier this month the Scottish Government announced it would compensate Councils for 60% of the rise, providing an additional £144 million.

Mr Melville said: “The people of Angus deserve the facts about the significant challenges facing us. Rachel Reeves has struck a £5 million hammer blow to Angus Council’s budget, making it harder for us to deliver services for our communities. This hike was a choice made at Westminster. The UK Government must see sense and fully compensate the public sector for this reckless decision.”