Topics
Democracy & Governance
Elections & civic particip…
Holyrood Elections 2026 and th…

Table of Contents

Summary
Introduction
The financial reality I face in planning our budgets
Increasing demand is reshaping our service landscape
The housing crisis: delivering social housing in a constrained financial environment
How the Verity House Agreement (VHA) can make a practical difference
The public service reform agenda must be locally led
What I believe must change now
Conclusion: A shared opportunity, but one we must now deliver on

Holyrood Elections 2026 and the future of local government part one: Scotland’s local government finance

Jonathan Belford, Chief Officer, Finance & s.95 Officer, Aberdeen City Council and Chair of Scottish Local Authorities Directors of Finance Section of CIPFA Scotland

15th April 2026
Scotland
9 mins read

Jonathan Belford presents the case for reform of local government finance. Arguing that to build a sustainable future, we need a sustainable funding system that matches the scale of the challenges we must address. He outlines the case for five key reforms to secure a financially sustainable future for local government – and to meet the housing, care and service demands of our communities

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