£20m for indyref but services cut

FINANCE chief Kate Forbes set aside £20 million for an independence referendum next year while outlining a swathe of budget freezes that will see local services “cut to the bone”.

Setting out a four-year spending review yesterday, the SNP minister blamed the pandemic, the war in Ukraine and Westminster for the sweeping changes.

Experts at the Institute for Fiscal Studies say the plan will mean cuts of around 8% to the police, justice services, universities and rural affairs.

Ms Forbes’s £180 billion plan for day-to-day spending until 2027 is expected to bring a 16% cut to enterprise, tourism and trade promotion.

It will also see the public sector workforce in Scotland slashed to pre-pandemic levels.

Despite the swingeing cost-cutting, the government has set aside £20m for the “delivery of a referendum on independence” in 2023-24.

Opposition parties said Ms Forbes should liberate the funds and accused the SNP of “warped priorities and disastrous incompetence”.

The spending review – the first multi-year plan since 2011 – is designed to head off a projected £3.5bn shortfall by 2027.

While some areas have been prioritised for increases, many others face a frozen budget over the next four years that will see their cash cut in real terms.

The plan looks particularly tough on local government and policing, with the overall size of the public sector set to be cut significantly.

Central funding for councils will be frozen for the rest of the parliament, raising fears of sharp council tax rises.

The government’s rail budget will face a real-terms cut despite it taking over ScotRail, and an ongoing dispute over train drivers’ pay.

The Scottish Funding Council, which supports colleges and universities, has also had its funding frozen.

The Scottish Government pointed to health and welfare spending as areas where the budget has been protected.

Scottish Labour finance spokesman Daniel Johnson claimed the SNP have “nothing to offer expect empty rhetoric and the same old spin”.

“They are slashing support for economic development as our economy falls off a cliff and wasting £20m on a divisive referendum while cutting local services to the bone,” he said.