Call for cross-party support on final Scottish budget vote

Finance secretary Kate Forbes has issued a plea for opposition parties to vote to support the Scottish budget on Tuesday.

MSPs are due to vote on the final stage of the budget, and Ms Forbes argued that the public expects unity at a “time of national emergency”.

The draft budget for 2021-22 was unveiled in January and promised record funding of £16bn for the NHS in Scotland and money for local authorities to freeze council tax.

To help businesses impacted by coronavirus, Ms Forbes also said the budget would extend the 100% rates relief for some of the hardest-hit sectors – including retail, hospitality, leisure, aviation and newspapers – for a further year.

But with the Scottish Government not having a majority in Holyrood, SNP ministers need to win the support of at least one other party for the budget to pass.

Although Ms Forbes has said the ongoing cross-party talks have been “positive”, opposition MSPs have called for more money to be allocated for pay increases for the lowest-paid care workers, homebuyer support and education.

Ahead of the budget vote, the Finance Secretary said: “We are continuing to tackle a global pandemic and I have sought to engage constructively to deliver a budget that meets the needs of the nation.

“I would like to thank all parties for the positive way they are participating in this process and I am hopeful of reaching a successful conclusion.

“At this time of national emergency, with our recovery at stake, the Scottish people will expect nothing less of us.”

Listing some of the headline spending announcements, Ms Forbes continued: “It meets the main ask of business by extending 100% rates relief for the retail, hospitality, leisure, aviation and newspaper sectors for a further 12 months – considerably exceeding the relief offered in England.

“It supports families by providing money for a council tax freeze and delivers a fair pay rise for our public sector workers to whom we owe so much during the pandemic.

“This budget provides record funding for our NHS and local government, £832m for affordable housing and new funding to tackle climate change.

“Our businesses, people and economy are expecting us to provide certainty and stability. I urge MSPs to vote for it on Tuesday.”

Scottish Labour’s finance spokesman Daniel Johnson said the budget must reward Scotland’s “heroic” social care workers.

Having unsuccessfully tabled an amendment at its stage one vote to raise the pay of all social care workers to £15 an hour, starting with an immediate increase in pay to £12 an hour, Mr Johnson said: “Scotland’s social care workers have proved their worth beyond any doubt during this pandemic – that so many are stuck on poverty pay is simply wrong.

“The social care workforce is predominately female and often subject to unscrupulous employment practices. By delivering a fair pay deal for social care workers we can send a message that the days of this vital workforce being neglected are over.

“There is no good reason why this budget cannot be used to deliver fair pay for social care workers.

“At this budget, Scottish Labour will fight to make fair pay for Scotland’s heroic social care workers a reality, and we call on the SNP to work with us to make this a reality for thousands of workers.”

Scottish Conservative finance spokesman Murdo Fraser pointed to the reduction in stamp duty in England and Northern Ireland announced by the Chancellor and said: “The SNP have decided not to give the same support to buyers in Scotland, despite receiving over £10 billion in additional pandemic funding from the UK Government.

“This is a mistake, and the SNP finance secretary needs to think again.

“The consequences of this will be that many families in Scotland will be unable to move home.”

In his party conference speech on Saturday, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie said they would back the budget if the additional funding as a result of the UK budget was directed towards farming and environment schemes, “short changed” councils and “more to help education bounce back”.