The Chancellor must provide urgent clarity over funding to shield
Scottish public services from additional costs arising from tax
increases in the Autumn Budget, Finance Secretary has said.
The Treasury has pledged to reimburse public services for the
additional costs that they will bear as a result of the increase
to employer national insurance. Ms Robison said it must be clear
how this would work in practice well in advance of the Scottish
Budget on 4 December.
The Finance Secretary added:
“We have broadly welcomed the UK Government's Autumn Budget as a
step in the right direction, however one glaring issue is the
pressure that the increase of employer National Insurance
contributions have on funding for Scotland's public services.
“We will be publishing our budget for 2025-26 in just 31 days,
and without a guarantee the National Insurance costs will be
fully met by the UK Government we face a financial hole of up to
£500 million that could see funding diverted from frontline
services. We have a range of public sector employers, including
the NHS, police and local authorities, who need clarity on this
to inform their spending decisions.
“Scotland has a proportionately larger public sector than
England, and higher levels of public sector pay. It is vital the
Treasury fully funds the actual costs in Scotland's public
sector, and doesn't just give a much lower value Barnett share of
spending in England.”
Background
Budget marks ‘step in right
direction' - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)
