Budget stays true to our values
Last week was a busy one as the final Scottish Government budget debate dominated our time in parliament and I am pleased to say it passed its final vote and will be implemented over the course of the parliamentary term.
The SNP in government, since taking office in 2007, have always prioritised strengthening Scotland’s public services alongside funding initiatives to support families that combat poverty and help to tackle the issues our communities face.
This year is no different and spending plans for 2024/25 include:
£13.2 billion for frontline NHS boards; over £1.5 billion for policing and nearly £400 million to support the fire service; over £5 billion to help create jobs, support businesses, aid the transition to net zero and fund public transport to provide viable alternatives to car use; £6.3 billion for social security benefits; £200 million to help tackle the poverty-related attainment gap and £1.5 million to cancel school meal debt and over £14 billion for local authorities which is the highest settlement yet delivered for local government.
Despite the challenges caused in large part by the UK Government’s failure to invest in public services and infrastructure, I am delighted the Scottish Government have once again delivered a budget which stays true to our progressive values and is committed to investing in services, growing our economy, protecting vulnerable people and tackling the climate emergency.
However, despite all we do to combat Tory-driven austerity and the current cost-of-living crisis, the block grant funding allocated to Scotland from the UK Government has fallen in real terms since 2022/23.
Equally, our capital spending power is due to contract by almost 10 per cent in real terms over five years – amounting to around £1.6 billion.
This is a staggering amount of money and the only real way to protect our communities from needless cuts is clear – we must break free from the outdated union that does not meet our needs once and for all and give our government the full financial powers of an independent nation.
Analysis released last week estimated 100,000 children will be kept out of relative poverty in 202425 as a result of Scottish Government policies and updated modelling of the cumulative impact of policies such as the Scottish Child Payment indicates the relative child poverty rate will be 10 percentage points lower than it would otherwise have been.
This is a clear indication of what we can achieve when we have a government that prioritises people, families and the stability of future generations over money and making the rich richer.
It’s time we rejected over a decade of Tory rule once and for all and choose a future where we can decide for ourselves the best place for our money.