Scottish Finance Minister Shona Robison announced cuts of around 500 million pounds (€593 million) due to “enormous and growing” economic pressures as the government seeks to make savings in the current financial year.
Speaking in the Scottish Parliament, Robinson said the historic nation was facing additional costs of 800 million pounds (949 million euros), driven by wage agreements in the public sector, the “prolonged” austerity imposed by the British Parliament in Westminster, inflation, the Covid-19 pandemic, the impact of Brexit and the war in Ukraine.
In addition to the direct cuts, the government will mobilise up to £460m (€545m) from the ScotWind lease, an auction of subsea land for offshore wind projects that was previously intended to tackle the climate crisis.
“We cannot ignore the serious financial challenges we face,” Scotland’s Finance Minister said, stressing the Scottish National Party (SNP) government’s commitment to maintaining a balanced budgetas he did, he claims, during his 17 years in power – while the Conservative Party governed much of that period within the British (central) Executive -.
However, a report published last week by the Scottish Fiscal Commission (SFC) concluded that much of the financial pressure on the public finances came from “the Scottish Government’s own decisions”.
Last month, Scotland introduced emergency restrictions for all “non-essential” expensesincluding a freeze on hiring public sector staff or measures such as implementing income-based winter fuel payments, reintroducing maximum train fares or removing free bus travel for asylum seekers, among others.
Robison stressed the need to “Maximize efficiency” in public bodies and extend the hiring freeze to these bodies, ensuring that essential services such as the NHS, police and fire services can hire the staff they need.
£60m (€71m) is expected to be saved through “emergency spending controls” on recruitment, overtime, travel and marketing; a further £65m (€77m) from the redistribution of money to other projects; and £188m (around €223m) will be cut from various government departments.
Scottish Conservative finance spokeswoman Liz Smith responded to Shona Robison’s announcement by referring to The ‘black hole’ is due to the Scottish government’s own decisionsWhile Labour’s finance spokesman Michael Marra blamed the cuts on “SNP incompetence”. Robison’s announcement comes a day before Scotland’s pro-independence chief minister John Swinney is due to reveal his first government manifesto, in which he will set out his administration’s policy aims.
