Warning over transparency around £9.7 billion ‘pandemic pound’
Tracking how money provided to the Scottish Government through Barnett consequentials and following how the ‘pandemic pound’ has been spent is “getting harder”, the Auditor General has warned.
In its latest Covid-19 spending report, Audit Scotland said the Scottish Government had received £9.7 billion from the UK Government during the 2020/21 financial year.
However,thereporthighlighted the difficulty for both the Scottishgovernmentandthose attempting to track spending created by guaranteed Barnett consequentials.
Stephen Boyle, the Auditor General, said: “Not all the pandemic pound has been allocated so far, but that’s not surprising. Some spend, like business grants, is demand-led and other pots, like the £100 million for school attainment, are spread over more than one year.
“Butit’sgettinghardertoidentify what is, and isn’t, Covid-19 spending, as our latest analysis found.
"That’s because of the volume of announcements – over 170 to date – and, increasingly, how the spending naturally links with wider economic development and government goals. That increases the need for transparencyaroundspending.
“That makes directing public money more complex. And it’s why we need leaders working together. All the main players in the coronavirus response – the UK Government, Scottish Government, councils, health boards, enterprise boards – must keep collaborating and sharing knowledge to achieve thebestoutcomesandvaluefor money.”
The report itself added: “The complexity and scale of announcementsmakesfollowing the public pound difficult.
"Barnett consequentials in 2020/21 are guaranteed, meaning that funding has been confirmed as available to the Scottish Government before any potential UK Government spending decision that would normally generate them.
"This gives the Scottish Government some certainty over funding, but also provides challenges in following how Scottish Government and UK Government spending decisions relate. If the Scottish Government commits guaranteed Barnett consequentials to its own spending initiatives, those funds will not be available to match any UK spending announcements made later.”
Nearly two-thirds of disabled people are experiencing chronic loneliness during lockdown, a new study has found.
The number is even higher among young disabled people – 70 per cent, according to research by disability charity Sense.
It has sparked fears of a mental health crisis facing the population of 14.1 million disabled people living in the UK, after the charity said cases of loneliness have jumped by a quarter in the last year for those who were already disproportionately affected by the issue prior to the coronavirus outbreak.
Of the 1,011 disabled people surveyed between January 20-22, 37 per cent said they were chronically lonely before the pandemic, rising to 54 per cent for 16 to 24-year-olds.
Nearly two-thirds – 61 per cent – of disabled people said theywerenowchronicallylonely, after they described feeling lonely "always" or "often".
The charity said feelings of chronic loneliness "go on for a long period of time", whereby people suffer "constant and unrelenting feelings of being alone, separated or divided from others, and an inability to connect on a deeper level".
Christine Punt, 70, from Watford, in Hertfordshire, is deafblind – a combination of sight and hearing loss – and has been shielding since the start of the pandemic.
With her care support reduced, Ms Punt has had to depend heavily on her husband, George, which she said is taking a toll on their relationship and has left her feeling frustrated and isolated.
Mspuntsaid:"ihavefeltmore awareofmydisabilitythroughoutthepandemic,andigetfrustrated as I cannot rely on support in the same way."
More than 150,000 employees in the Scottish NHS will be given an “interim” 1 per cent pay rise, with Health Secretary Jeane Freeman saying it comes amid the “sustained pressure” they have been under during the pandemic.
Ms Freeman said while formal pay negotiations had been impacted by the delay to the UK government Budget, the Scottish Government will give staff an interim 1 per cent “payment on account” – backdated to December 2020.
The move will benefit some 154,000 NHS employees with contracts under the Agenda for Change system, including all nurses, paramedics, healthcare support staff and allied health professionals, such as occupational therapists and physiotherapists.
However, union leaders insisted workers deserved a pay deal that recognises their “sacrifices” during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Willie Duffy, head of health for the Unison trade union in Scotland, said: “We are disappointed that the Scottish health secretary has made this announcement when Unison had previously written to her rejecting this offer.” The union is concerned about how the interim pay rise will impact on salary talks, with Mr Duffy insisting: “We do not agree that NHS pay cannot be resolved until the summer of 2021. We are calling for pay negotiations to commence immediately.
“NHS staff need a pay settlement that recognises the sacrifice so many have made over the pandemic and starts to restore some of the real-terms pay cuts of the past decade and show how much the government values the role they play.”
The 1 per cent interim pay rise comes after NHS workers in Scotland received a one-off £500 payment from the Scottish Government as a thank you for their work during the coronavirus pandemic.
Ms Freeman stressed she was committed to reaching a pay deal that was “fair, affordable, and sustainable”.
Shey said: “The NHS is founded on the hard work, professionalism and dedication of our staff, and I and millions across Scotland are hugely and constantly impressed by, and grateful for, their skill and commitment, particularly given the added and sustained pressure placed on the service by Covid-19.”
new child benefit scheme hailed by the Scottish Government as the “most ambitious anti-poverty measure” anywhere in the UK will not be enough to meet its own child poverty targets, a new report has warned.
The Joseph Rowntree Foundation said that the Scottish Child Payment benefit has to be “boosted significantly” from its current level if it is to help meet the strict targets.
Its analysis found that as things stand, Scotland is on course to miss its interim child poverty target by four per cent, leaving 40,000 children trapped in poverty as a result.
The foundation said that if the UK government removes the £20 per week uplift in Universal Credit and Working Tax Credits, the interim target will be missed by six per cent, or around 50,000 children.
The Scottish government has set the interim target of having no more than 18 per cent of children living in relative poverty by the end of 2023/24, down from the current total which sees almost a quarter (24 per cent) of youngsters affected - the equivalent of around a quarter of a million children.
The Scottish Child Payment provides £10 per week for each child under six in households on low incomes. Unlike Unia versal Credit and Child Tax Credits, there is no two-child limit on the policy, meaning all children in eligible households will benefit from the extra support.
More than 77,000 applications were received for the scheme as of February 7. Social Security Scotland started taking applications in November, with the first payments set for this month. Shirley-anne Somerville, the social security secretary, described the benefit as “the most ambitious anti-poverty measure currently being undertaken anywhere in the UK.”
But in its analysis, the foundation said that while the new benefit will significantly reduce the child poverty rate, it was not enough to hit the targets without further action. It suggested that the goal could be met if the payments are increased by £30 per child, at an additional cost of £380 million a year.