COUNCIL bosses could still be facing millions in budget cuts despite £3.2million more from the Scottish Government.

A deal with the Scottish Greens will see the SNP’s budget at Holyrood increase funding for West Dunbartonshire.

But council leader Jonathan McColl admitted they still had to calculate how the extra cash might affect the gap.

He also confirmed they will not be introducing work place parking charges, despite being given that power by Edinburgh.

Cllr McColl said: “I welcome the Scottish budget, not just in terms of the fair settlement for local government, but for what it delivers for all public services and the economy of Scotland.

“We’re still working through the detail, but suffice to say we are in a much better position than before we started negotiations with the Scottish Government.”

“I’m pleased to say that the discussions I’ve had with the Scottish Government over the past few months have been conducted in a cooperative and constructive way and that has resulted in a good outcome for council services.”

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Although more money was forecast to go to West Dunbartonshire in the SNP’s draft budget, much of it was ringfenced for particular projects, meaning millions would still need to be cut.

Labour councillor David McBride said the extra money was welcome but that all councils still faced cuts.

He said: “While any additional money on top of the disastrous draft budget issued late last year is welcome and was anticipated, the Scottish Parliament Information Centre has confirmed Scotland’s councils still face £230million of real terms cuts to funding, despite the spin from the SNP and the Greens.

“We will need to wait until the council receives its full settlement to know exactly how this will affect us here, but the cuts already agreed by the SNP will no doubt remain in place as they look to cut services over and above this.”

“The council leader was instructed to meet the finance secretary to make the case for West Dunbartonshire to be funded fairly by the SNP following a nine-year council tax freeze and cutting Scotland’s councils budget by four times the rate of the funding cuts to Scotland by the Tories.

“I await details of his discussions with Derek MacKay to discover if this will allow us to reverse the spending cuts imposed by Holyrood.”

The council is currently expected to put their potential cuts out to public consultation after their February 14 meeting.