Scottish First Minister to launch reset TODAY after £500m finances cuts

Scotland’s First Minister will today try to reset his government today in the aftermath of a brutal round of £500million cuts to public spending.

John Swinney will set out his Government’s plans for the next year at Holyrood this afternoon amid the fallout from yesterday’s bombshell announcement.

Finance secretary Shona Robison was accused of creating an economic firestorm after slashing public spending to balance this year’s budget.

It led to a furious backlash from political opponents and charities, with the NHS among the areas most affected.

Mr Swinney today said the Scottish Government remains ‘optimistic’ it can still ‘enhance the lives of children and their families’, ahead of his first Programme for Government. 

He is expected to plough money into trying to eradicate child poverty, branding it his  ‘single greatest priority’.

John Swinney will set out his Government’s plans for the next year at Holyrood this afternoon amid the fallout from yesterday’s bombshell announcement.

Finance secretary Shona Robison was accused of creating an economic firestorm after slashing public spending to balance this year’s budget.

Health and social care has been cut by £115m to help fill the black hole, with less spent on mental health, GPs, NHS training, Covid vaccinations and disabled toilets.  

It comes as part of £188 million of savings demanded from across government departments.

Elsewhere, spending on transport is down by £23.7 million; net zero and energy is reduced by £23.4 million; with social justice down £15.7 million.

Ms Robison admitted she is also set to raid £460 million from a windfall renewable energy fund to cover above inflation public sector pay rises she agreed at a cost of £800m.

But rather than take responsibility for the state of the finances she said the UK Government should let her borrow billions to deal with budget crises instead, blaming Labour ‘austerity’ for forcing her to make tough choices.

At the same time, ministers admitted they would continue to waste taxpayer’s money on the SNP’s discredited independence white papers.

The Tories said SNP incompetence was now responsible for Scots suffering a ‘double-whammy’ of high taxes and spending cuts.

Scottish Conservative finance spokesman Liz Smith said: ‘The SNP should admit that these cuts are their own responsibility and could have been avoided if growth had not been stymied by their policies – which have made us the highest taxed part of the UK.

‘They should also admit that those rises are counterproductive, hampering future growth and investment.

‘Yet Shona Robison continues to accept that the SNP has any responsibility for the dire state of Scotland’s finances.’

The cuts are in spite of the SNP setting the highest income tax rates in the UK, with all those earning over £28,850 paying more than their counterparts south of the Border.

Scotland’s sluggish economic growth rate under the SNP – roughly half that of the UK’s – means the tax pain is for relatively little gain.

The Scottish Fiscal Commission, the watchdog overseeing Holyrood’s budget, yesterday said there was a £624 million ‘performance gap’ in Scottish income tax receipts.

Its chair, Professor Graeme Roy, told MSPs that if Scottish growth had matched the UK’s, Holyrood would have raised an extra £881m in income tax in 2022/23.

Instead, because growth was lower, it raised £257m.

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said the Scottish Government had ‘lost its way’, ahead of the statement.

‘Time and time again the SNP has ripped up its flagship pledges and missed its own targets, leaving every institution in Scotland weaker,’ he said.

‘NHS waiting lists are at a record high, the attainment gap is widening in our schools, our justice system is at breaking point and SNP financial chaos means more cuts are looming.

‘This is a government that has grown out of touch and run out of ideas.’

With one eye on 2026, the Scottish Labour leader said his party was ‘at work to fix the carnage left behind by the Tories’, adding ‘but we need change here in Scotland too’.

‘We need an end to 17 years of broken SNP promises and a return to the politics of hope,’ he said.

‘Scotland’s best days do lie ahead of us but only Scottish Labour can deliver the change our country so desperately needs.’