The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Budget savings means £177m cut for Scotland
AUSTERITY: Chancellor outlines plans including rest of Royal Mail sale
Scotland is facing a budget cut of £177 million through savings outlined by George Osborne as part of his austerity programme.
Deputy First Minister John Swinney branded the move “completely and utterly unacceptable” after the Chancellor announced the changes, many of which he wants to be made in the current financial year.
The UK Government pointed out the shortfall north of the border was equivalent to around 0.6% of the overall budget this year and Scottish ministers have the option to defer the impact for 12 months.
Mr Osborne must find a further £30 billion of savings over the next three years, including £12bn from welfare spending and £13bn from Whitehall departments.
This will include offloading the Government’s remaining stake in Royal Mail as part of efforts to balance the books.
The Chancellor said he would begin selling the 30% holding – worth around £1.5bn – within months.
Finance Secretary and Perth and North Perthshire MSP Mr Swinney, who is expected to meet the Chancellor at Downing Street on Monday, said there had been no conversation with the Scottish Government prior to the plans being announced.
He added: “This cut of around £170 million to the Scottish budget this year is completely and utterly unacceptable.
“The Scottish Parliament has already agreed our budget for this year and that should be respected, not slashed as part of George Osborne and David Cameron’s ideological obsession with austerity.
“The people of Scotland made perfectly clear in the recent UK election that they rejected the Tories’ plans for more and harsher cuts, yet the UK Government is planning to inflict £170 million of even deeper austerity on Scotland.”
Although the Barnett funding formula means Holyrood receives around 10% of spending, Scotland has been protected from the full scale of these cuts as the fully devolved areas of health and schools are protected in the UK budget.
Mr Osborne told MPs: “The Scottish National Party in Holyrood has the power to increase taxes to increase spending.
“They’ve got the power to increase income tax already, they’re getting more powers next year to do so, so it is time for the SNP – when it comes to complaints about public expenditure – to put up or shut up, in my view.”
Labour’s shadow Scottish secretary Ian Murray said: “The true colours of the Tories have been exposed – a party determined to cut billions from public spending no matter the human cost.”