Deputy First Minister responds to Chancellor’s
statement.
The Spring Budget has failed to deliver the funding Scotland
needs for public services, infrastructure and cost of living
measures, Deputy First Minister and Finance Secretary has said.
The Budget provided less in Barnett consequentials from health
than in-year health consequentials of 2023-24, and failed to
deliver more capital funding for infrastructure.
The Finance Secretary said:
“Today’s UK Spring Budget is nothing short of a betrayal of
public services across the UK. Our hope had been the Chancellor
would have eased pressures on services – not least by providing
more funding for capital. This would have helped support our NHS
and the delivery of more affordable housing, but it would also
have created jobs and economic growth, as well as helping secure
a just transition to net zero.
“When more support is desperately needed for public services and
infrastructure, for greater cost of living measures, and for
money to aid our efforts to reduce carbon emissions – Scotland
has been badly let down by the UK Government.
“Today’s statement provides not a single penny more for capital
funding. And the Barnett consequentials from health that were
signalled by the Chancellor are actually less than the in-year
health consequentials of 2023-24 and less than what is needed to
address the pressures we face. I can guarantee that this Scottish
Government will not be passing on this UK Government cut to our
NHS.
“The National Insurance cut fails to offset the crippling effects
of the Cost of Living crisis. There is also little detail of the
spending cuts needed to pay for it. Even before today’s Spring
Budget the Institute for Government described its spending plans
as a ‘fantasy’, with no detail on where cuts will fall. Today’s
statement merely adds to that: according to the UK Government's
own financial watchdog, the Office for Budget Responsibility, the
Treasury may not even have the headroom available that today's
commitments are based on.
“Public services up and down the UK are in real need of
investment, and they’re being sacrificed to deliver unsustainable
tax cuts.”
Background
The independent Office for Budget Responsibility’s assessment of
the Spring Budget highlights the risks to the forecasts, such as
uncertainty around inflation, interest rates and productivity
growth. The OBR also points out that the forecasts are based
on the UK Government’s assumption of no real growth in public
spending per person over the next five years, despite the
Chancellor committing to increase spending on some major public
services in line with or faster than GDP.
