‘The 2.2% interest savings bond is a step in the right direction’

Alastair Paisley, 79, was a City of Edinburgh Councillor for 16 years before retiring in 2012.

He was impressed by the plans laid out by the Chancellor in the Budget, but questioned the impact that extra funding in health and social care would have in Scotland.

“What we saw yesterday from Philip Hammond was a positive Budget, much more positive than maybe a lot of people thought it would be,” he said.

“It wasn’t perfect but I think there’s a lot to be encouraged about. The increase on a pint of beer is hardly massive and there was a decent offer on the heightened business rates, and the announcement of the highest wages in 20 years, all very encouraging. But the one aspect I take away from it was that it was a Budget very much aimed at a united Britain, rather than one which has so many devolved matters.

“£100 million to place more GPS in accident and emergency departments for next winter is something I was hugely positive about. Hopefully that can go some way to reducing the awful waiting times that have put such a strain on the NHS – but, just like the extra £2 billion allocated to social care, up here

0 Alistair Paisley: There is currently no incentive to save that is a devolved matter, so I suppose the question is what happens in our hospitals?

“We saw £350m worth of measuresbeingearmarked from Scotland, I’m not sure where that figure has come from, considering we just recently got £500m from an infrastructure fund.

“It’s all about what Scotland does with the extra money that matters. If there is a plan in place already I would be surprised, but there has to be some sort of direction.

“If Nicola Sturgeon stands up tomorrow and says, ‘This amount is going on health and this is going on schools and this on police,’ then I’ll be delighted, but there’s always that chance they aren’t going to know what to do with it and then it helps no-one.

“In terms of saving, I think the interest rate increase will go a long way to persuading people to invest in their future by saving more.

“The 2.2 per cent interest savings bond is a step in the right direction to make ISAS far more attractive to prospective savers.

“At the moment, confidence in banks is low because the rates they are offering are tiny, so people who might consider opening an ISA or savings bond are turned off the idea.

“It isn’t a huge leap forward, but 2.2 per cent is still a big leap from where we are now, which is practically at zero – there is no incentive to save.

“Obviously I would be delighted if the rate was higher and there will be people who will argue that point, but for now, it’s not a bad start.”