On 19 December, Scottish Secretary for Finance Shona Robinson announced the SNP’s budget plan for the year 2024/25.
Robinson stated that Brexit and “disastrous Westminster policies” render the country vulnerable to the continued effects of inflation, citing the war in Ukraine and the pandemic as added stressors.
Robinson also called the autumn statement by the UK government “a worst-case scenario for Scotland.”
The SNP’s budget plan includes investments towards the NHS, education, and environmental policies such as public transport and energy efficient heating, with the biggest investment of £6.3bn going towards social security benefits and payments. It also includes a freeze on income and council tax.
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Robinson announced that there will be no changes to the current tax rates and that the starter and basic rate bands are to be raised to account for inflation.
The government will also add a new income tax band, the advanced rate, to the Scottish system, which will apply to those earning more than £75,000 a year.
“Asking those with more to pay more is the right choice,” said Robinson.
“When public services need investment and protection from Tory cuts, this government does believe that those with the broadest shoulders should pay a higher rate of tax.”
When it came to the education sector, the finance secretary stated that £1bn will be invested in fighting the poverty related attainment gap in schools.
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Further funding will be provided to expand the provision of free meals in schools to P-6 and P-7 alongside putting £1.5m towards cancelling school meal debt.
On top of that, the government will continue to fund councils to offer permanent contracts to teachers and keep them in the system.
Universities and colleges are to receive over £2.4bn to further protect free tuition and to continue to improve wider access to higher education.
Robinson also announced several investments for a more environmentally friendly Scotland.
Acknowledging inflation and rising heating costs, she said:
“We’re providing £358m to continue to accelerate energy efficiency upgrades and installation of clean heating systems.”
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Additionally, there will be an investment of almost £2.5bn for public transport, with roughly a fifth of the money going towards bus services and travel schemes such as the Young Persons’ (Under 22s) Free Bus Travel.
The government plans to invest in ScotRail and the Caledonian Sleeper to improve maintenance and renewal of Scotland’s rail infrastructure and to support passenger rail services.
In her speech, the finance secretary criticised Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s autumn statement for not putting enough focus on public services such as the NHS.
“Health consequentials from the autumn statement from the UK government to Scotland amount to a total of 10.8m pounds. That’s equivalent to five hours of NHS Scotland activity.”
She stated that investing in the country’s NHS was a “non-negotiable” for the Scottish government and that it continues to be committed to improve services and waiting times, and to keep the NHS publicly owned and operated.
Additional government funding will go towards affordable housing, helping disabled people lead “full and independent lives”, expanding employment opportunities for young people and helping those “keen to re-enter the workforce”, and taking steps to invest £100m more in arts and culture by 2028/29.
“Creating a Healthier Scotland – the conversation begins” by Scottish Government is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0.