Council tax rise of 9% agreed in Midlothian

A council tax rise of 9% has been voted through in Midlothian after its budget was approved.

It translates to an increase of £12.50 per month from April for the average band D property in the region, meaning the new total figure will be £1816.16.

A meeting of the full council to set the budget voted a nine to nine tie on the proposal, giving Provost Debbi McColl the casting vote to approve it.

An amendment tabled by the council's Conservative group - which would have seen a lower council tax increase of 8% - was rejected, while Labour members had called for more funds to be given to health and social care services.

It came amid claims from Labour that the most vulnerable in society were being let down by a care package crisis.

But both amendments fell after councillors passed the SNP budget.

Last week Scottish Borders Council passed a council tax rise of 8.5%, while earlier on Tuesday, Glasgow City Council and East Lothian Council voted on increases of 5.9% and 7.5%, respectively.

Council leader Kelly Parry said the increase had been decided by the need to balance the books and was not reached easily.

"I want to be very clear to the public, the recommendation to increase council tax by 9% is not a figure the councillors choose, or arrive at randomly, casually or without thought and consideration," she said.

"It is a balanced figure to make up the shortfall in our funding."

She said reducing the council tax increase required "more income from other sources".

Parry added that over £4m was being taken out of the council's reserves which otherwise would have required a balancing council tax rise of 16%.

The budget included a £75.122m payment to the Midlothian Integration Joint Board, which oversees health and social care services - an increase of more than £3.6m on the previous year.

Earlier in the meeting the Conservative group had called for their former leader David Virgo, who had resigned from the party, to step down and allow a by election in his ward as he was elected as a member of their party.

Conservative councillors Peter Smaill and Pauline Winchester claimed Virgo's name had appeared on the SNP group office door after his resignation.

Smaill said photos of Virgo at the SNP Christmas party had also been shared on social media.

Labour members backed the motion, but it was also tied nine to nine with McColl taking the casting vote and rejecting it.