Extra £300k for capital, but cuts still looming
Almost half a billion pounds has been cut from Scotland’s legal aid budget since the SNP came to power, Scottish Labour has claimed.
The party says a funding freeze announced in Thursday’s Budget means spending on legal aid has fallen by £499 million in real terms since 2007-8.
Scottish Labour condemned the cuts, saying they could “risk access to justice” for those on low incomes.
Scottish Labour’s justice spokesman James Kelly said: “The scale of the cuts to the legal aid budget over the SNP’S time in power has been catastrophic and the prospect of vulnerable people being denied legal aid due to these cuts is appalling ... under the Government’s proposed spending plans, legal aid would receive £137.5m – the same figure as was in the 2018-19 and 2019-20 Budgets.”
Edinburgh City Council finance chiefs are set to be handed only £300,000 more than expected for next year’s budget – while proposals for an estimated £31 million of cuts will be revealed on Monday.
Scottish public finance minister Kate Forbes delivered the draft budget on Thursday, indicating an extra £495m day-to-day revenue spending will be made available for local government. But local council umbrella organisation Cosla said Scottish Government commitments delivered by local authorities total £590m – resulting in a £95m real-term cut for local councils.
In the draft settlement, Edinburgh City Council is set to be handed £792m for 2020-21. The settlement could increase or reduce based on negotiations in Holyrood and the UK government’s budget on 11 March.
A leaked briefing note sent to councillors indicates finance officials who were preparing to earmark up to £31m of savings will only have an extra £300,000 to play with next year, as things stand.
The note says the draft settlement “shows a modest overall increase in core funding” – when officials were bracing themselves for a 0.7 per cent “like-for-like reduction” from last year. Councillors will set a three-year budget on 20 February.
Finance convener, Cllr Alasdair Rankin, said the draft budget was “better news than we expected”.
A council spokesperson said: “We’re analysing the detail of the Scottish Government’s proposed budget to assess the implications for Edinburgh.”