The Scottish Labour leadership candidate has also backed calls for £750 million additional funding for social care.
Scottish Labour leadership candidate Joe Fagan has called for the Scottish Government to abandon plans for cuts to social care and instead increase funds by millions.
Mr Fagan is taking on fellow MSP Michael Marra to replace Anas Sarwar after he was sent to the House of Lords and made a UK minister.
The former South Lanarkshire Council leader is calling on ministers to abandon the Government’s current plans which will mean a real-terms cut to day-to-day health and social care spending this year.
He has also backed Cosla’s call for an additional £750 million to be allocated for social care.
Mr Fagan said: “Councils have suffered disproportionate cuts under the SNP Government for too long.
“Current plans would mean another real-terms squeeze on the services working people rely on every day. That has to stop.
“I also back Cosla’s call for an additional £750 million for social care. But that money has to be additional. Ministers cannot put money into social care with one hand and take it back out of the rest of local government with the other.
“I led one of Scotland’s largest local authorities and I know what a difference it makes when councils are trusted to lead. Councils are closest to the people they serve and they understand where investment can make the biggest difference.
“For too long, the SNP has pulled power and resources into Holyrood while councils have been left to absorb the cuts and take the blame.
“We need to turn that around and shift resources into councils and communities.”
In what he called his first two budget tests, Mr Fagan had called for the Scottish Government to give communities the powers and funding needed to bring bus services back into public control, and to deliver a minimum £15-an-hour rate for social care workers with better terms and conditions.
The call to give councils extra resources is his third test, he said.
He continued: “This third test is about making sure councils have the core funding to protect and improve the services people depend on.
“If the Scottish Government is serious about stronger public services and giving working people more control over their lives, it needs to fund local government properly.
“End the real-terms cuts. Increase core council funding. Back social care. Deliver fairer funding for local services, starting with the coming budget.”
The Scottish Government has been approached for comment.
