Today, the Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Economy, Shona Robison MSP, set out Scotland’s budget for 2024-25 – against a backdrop of the most challenging fiscal landscape faced by any Scottish Government because of economically disastrous decisions taken at Westminster.
Despite this, the Deputy FM has used her budget to reaffirm the SNP’s commitment to making Scotland a better place to grow up, live and work – and that the values of equality, opportunity, and community will remain at the core of the SNP government.
Key announcements include:
- giving the NHS a real-terms uplift, taking total investment to £13.2 billion in the year ahead;
- committing £6.3 billion in social security benefits and payments, just over £1 billion more than in 2023‑24;
- investing £1.55 billion in policing, increasing the Scottish Police Authority resource budget by 5.6 per cent and providing an additional £75.7 million to support frontline service delivery;
- providing the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service with a resource uplift of £13.6 million and increasing capital investment by £10.3 million to £43 million;
- funding the £12 per hour real Living Wage for adult and children’s social care, and early learning and childcare workers in the private, voluntary and independent sectors who deliver funded provision;
- an additional £144 million of funding to councils who agree to fully fund a council tax freeze in 2024‑25 (equivalent to a five per cent increase);
- investing £66.9 million to kickstart our commitment of up to £500 million to anchor a new offshore wind supply chain in Scotland, and
- spending nearly £2.5 billion on public transport and increasing active travel funding to £220 million in the year ahead.
Commenting after the statement, Stuart said:
“While the UK Government takes decisions which only serve to widen the gap between the richest and poorest, the SNP Scottish Government is taking a different approach – an approach which protects public services and shields households from the worst of this cost of living crisis.
“In recent times, our public sector has had to respond to a Brexit crisis that Scotland didn’t vote for, the conflict in Ukraine, and the ongoing impact of the COVID‑19 pandemic.
“As part of our recovery, we must consider future workforce plans to ensure our public services are sustainable in the long term.
“That’s why I’m pleased that this SNP-led government will fund an above inflation 5% council tax freeze – delivering over £140 million of additional investment for local services, while also ensuring households in Inverclyde and across Scotland are not put under further strain as the cost of living crisis persists and inflation remains stubbornly high.
“I’m also pleased that the Scottish Government will provide Local Authorities with £1.5 million to cancel school meal debt, removing a worry hanging over families up and down the country who are struggling to make ends meet.
“The SNP are also absolutely committed to keeping our NHS publicly-owned, publicly operated, and free at the point of need.
“I therefore welcome the announcement that an increase of over £550 million will be given to NHS Boards – representing a 4.3% uplift – and that £2 billion will be invested in health and social care integration, which exceeds the Scottish Government’s commitment to increase social care investment by 25% by the end of this Parliament – two years early.
“In response to local concerns, my key asks when I met with the Deputy FM last week were additional resourcing for our police and fire and rescue services. I therefore welcome that the announcement that we will increase the Scottish Police Authority resource budget by 5.6%, providing an additional £75.7 million, which is a real terms increase for Police Scotland.
“This will provide much-needed resource to support frontline service delivery – and on top of that, this SNP government are also increasing the police core capital funding by 12.4% to £64.5 million for investment in the police estate, technology and fleet. This is particularly topical given the recent press coverage about Greenock Police Station.
“I am also pleased that my ask for our Scottish Fire and Rescue Service to be provided with more capital investment did not fall on deaf ears – as the Deputy FM confirmed that the Scottish Government will provide them with a resource uplift of £13.5 million, and increased capital investment of £10.3 million.
“There are many other important announcements in this budget, so I would encourage my constituents to read the Deputy FM’s statement to see all that it includes.
“My main take away from the chamber today though was that despite the constraints placed upon us by a UK Government that does not share our values, our principles, or our commitment to public services, our social contract with the people of Scotland is at the core of this budget and shines through every funding decision contained within it.
“We choose investment in our people and public services – which is in stark contrast to the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement which seeks to undermines the viability of public services across the whole of the UK, not just here in Scotland.
“The SNP in government will always do our best with the powers that we have, but they are simply no substitute for independence.”
