THE UK Government's move to hike national insurance will cost Inverclyde Council £1.1 million a year and could trigger a fresh round of cuts.

The change will mean an increase in the amount of employer contributions the cash-strapped local authority will have to fork out per annum.

Councillor Stephen McCabe says it is a massive amount of money to find and that unless the Scottish Government provides compensation from the extra income generated then Municipal Buildings bosses will be left wrestling with a new funding gap.

Mr McCabe has warned that this could result in spending cuts which could affect frontline services.

It could also mean another council tax rise for hard-pressed locals.

Scotland will get a share of the receipts from the NI increase, following the decision by the Conservative government to raise the tax to help the NHS recover from Covid and boost social care.

Councillor McCabe said: "We will need to wait to see what the Scottish Government decides to do and whether they choose to compensate public bodies.

"It will be a big funding boost for Scotland as well.

"I think they are waiting for UK Government's further announcements."

Westminster has signalled its intention to help public bodies following to cope with the change.

Employees, employers and the self-employed will all pay 1.25p more in the pound from next April.

But Councillor McCabe believes the decision to increase national insurance generally is the wrong move and says it will hit people hard.

He added: "Social care is under pressure, there is no doubt about it, and we would find places for extra funds.

"But I don't think it is the fairest way to increase taxes and pay for social care.

"This is going to impact on hard-working people on low incomes.

"I think there are other ways this could have been done."