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DFM: fairness, equity and ability to pay at the heart of Scottish Government budget.

The Deputy First Minister and Finance Secretary John Swinney has said that this week’s budget is an opportunity for Parliament to deliver on the aspirations of the people for a more prosperous and fairer Scotland.

The 2015/16 Budget will see provisions for free school meals, £4.5 billion for health and education infrastructure and, for the first time, a £12 billion total health budget.

This Wednesday (February 4, 2015), MSPs will vote on the Budget. The Deputy First Minister said the budget would build on the Scottish Government’s track record since 2007 of delivering opportunities for all to flourish through sustainable economic growth.

Despite the increasing strength of Scotland’s economy, this budget is set against the context of cuts by Westminster to the Scottish Government’s Fiscal DEL budget of around 10 per cent in real terms over five years, including capital spending cuts of over 25 per cent. The Deputy First Minister will also take the opportunity to call for greater devolved tax powers as recommended by the Smith Commission and will renews call for the UK Government to rewrite clauses that appear to grant UK Ministers a veto over Scottish Government proposals.

Ahead of the debate, the Deputy First Minister said:

“This budget is focused on tackling inequality, investing in our economy and protecting and reforming our public services.

“We will commit £4.5 billion investment to infrastructure with new colleges, health facilities and schools being built across the country. Our budget proposals will continue our strong commitment to frontline health spending, with extra funding in 2015-16 bringing the total annual health budget to more than £12bn for the first time.

“This budget continues our actions to mitigate UK Government welfare cuts with £81m of support and delivers on our commitments to expand childcare and to provide free school meals for all p1-p3 pupils.

“The Chancellor’s Autumn Statement – his last substantial finance statement before the UK General election – could not be further removed from the issues that matter to people in Scotland and it shows that we are continuing to pay the price for UK Government’s austerity agenda.

“The lowest earning households in Scotland will be among the hardest hit by the UK Government cuts. But this Scottish Government is focused on securing economic growth, tackling inequality and protecting our public services.

“Protecting our public services was an issue right at the heart of the referendum debate and it is clear that people from all parts of Scotland and right across the political spectrum hold them dear. I believe our budget reflects this.”

To make Scotland a more prosperous country the budget will:

• Secure £4.5 billion of infrastructure investment in 2015-16
• Support £330 million of further capital investment in our Scotland’s Schools for the Future programme through NPD funding
• Provide £140 million to deliver 2 new college campuses through the NPD pipeline
• Continue to deliver the most competitive business tax environment in the UK
• Invest £16.6 million in 2015-16 to further take forward recommendations of the Commission for Developing Scotland’s Young Workforce

To tackle inequalities the budget will:

• Drive investment in affordable housing of over £390 million to deliver 6000 affordable homes and £125m of additional financial support for the housing sector.
• Invest over £300 million over two years in extending child care to 600 hours for all 3 and 4 year olds and vulnerable 2 year olds.
• Provide additional support for looked after children
• Provide £81 million to mitigate against Westminster’s welfare reform including the ‘Bedroom Tax’
• Maintain a council tax freeze across Scotland
• Continue the Scottish Government’s social wage commitments including free prescriptions, concessionary travel and free personal care

To protect and reform Public Services the budget will:

• Increase the health budget to over £12 billion with a funding increase of £288 million
• Invest over £170 million in 2015-16 to help drive integration of adult health and social care
• Support 1000 additional police officers
• Protect the Local Government budget
• Maintain a Scottish living wage for public sector workers covered by public sector pay policy
• Continue the commitment to no compulsory redundancies.

The Deputy First Minister continued:

“It is in the interest of all political parties in Scotland to support the Scottish Government in our call to the UK Government to ensure Smith recommendations are delivered as the Commission intended.

“The UK proposals on welfare do not allow us to vary Universal Credit without the permission of the UK Government. That means – under the current proposals – we will not have the independence to take action to abolish the Bedroom Tax. We ask for those clauses to be rewritten urgently.

“We remain committed to this process and we will continue to work with the UK Government and other stakeholders to ensure that the changes are made ahead of the Bill being taken through Westminster. We will be working closely with stakeholders to ensure these proposals are right for Scotland and that they reflect the views of ordinary people.”