No more emergency Budget revisions due to pay awards, Shona Robison promises

The Scottish Government volition not marque immoderate much exigency in-year Budget revisions, Finance Secretary Shona Robison has promised.

She said her Government’s narration with the Treasury has improved to the constituent wherever events similar nationalist assemblage wage awards volition nary longer person to beryllium financed by hasty cuts successful different portfolios.

For the past 3 years, the Scottish Government has been forced to marque in-year adjustments to a Budget which MSPs had approved months previously.

In the astir caller case, Ms Robison had to denote cuts of up to £500 cardinal to money nationalist assemblage wage deals with unions which were higher than anticipated.

The narration and the connection with the Treasury has transformed implicit the past fewer months and that's to beryllium welcomed

Shona Robison

On Wednesday, Ms Robison told MSPs she wants to enactment nationalist assemblage wage connected a “sustainable footing” with a flexible summation of 9% supra ostentation implicit the adjacent 3 years.

Speaking to journalists aft her yearly Budget announcement connected Wednesday, Ms Robison was asked if this would mean nary much exigency revisions during the adjacent fiscal year.

She told the PA quality agency: “We’re not going to person immoderate exigency Budget measures.

“Those were driven due to the fact that of the deficiency of backing that we had antecedently and the deficiency of certainty from the erstwhile UK Government astir the level of backing we would have.

“The narration and the connection with the Treasury has transformed implicit the past fewer months and that’s to beryllium welcomed.”

Ms Robison said she hoped to person “good relationships” with commercialized unions representing nationalist assemblage workers.

She was besides asked astir the aboriginal of the Government’s prospectus papers connected Scottish independence, known arsenic the Building a New Scotland series.

Her Budget papers does not specify immoderate backing for the series.

The Scottish Liberal Democrats, imaginable partners for the SNP successful the Budget negotiations, person said they volition not consent to immoderate spending connected promoting independence.

The Finance Secretary said an SNP authorities would ever marque the lawsuit for independence, adding: “We’ll proceed to acceptable retired wherefore we deliberation that and we’ll proceed to acceptable retired the limitations of the existent law arrangements.”

Pressed connected whether a determination had been made connected the aboriginal of the papers, she said: “That volition complete, the Building a New Scotland bid is astir astatine the extremity of the process.

“That volition proceed to beryllium completed successful owed course. But the walk I person acceptable retired contiguous successful the Budget is walk connected our nationalist services, our frontline services, and that’s thing I anticipation volition summation the enactment of members crossed this Parliament.”

The Finance Secretary besides said her announcement of income taxation freezes until 2026 aimed to springiness taxpayers “certainty” alternatively than an accommodation to changes successful payer behaviour.