Scotland's budget wasn't dramatic, but small measures could benefit families

Scotland’s Finance Secretary has set out plans for a new mansion tax, a private jet tax, and extra money for low-income families with children under the age of one, in her Budget. ITV News Scotland Correspondent Peter Smith reports

Words by ITV News Scotland Reporter Vanessa Taaffe and Scotland Producer Stephanie Docherty

This was certainly a budget made up of small measures to try and ease the squeeze for Scottish families.

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There wasn’t exactly a standout, dramatic policy moment from the finance secretary on Tuesday afternoon, but Shona Robison said it would be a budget for families, offering up extra cash for the those struggling the most.

The Scottish child payment, a Scottish government benefit for low-income families with children under 16, is going from just over £27 a week to £40 a week for babies.

While this is a headline-grabbing policy, experts from the Fraser of Allander Institute have calculated that only around 12,000 children are likely to be eligible for this, meaning it’s not an expensive commitment from the Scottish government.

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Finance secretary Shona Robison stated that £1.5 billion in planned efficiencies and reforms would need to be made to ‘protect investment in frontline services’.

Also on offer for families is the expansion of breakfast clubs and a commitment to more free sporting opportunities for children. Robison linked this to Scotland’s ‘Summer of Sport’, with Glasgow hosting the Commonwealth Games and Scotland’s men qualifying for the football World Cup.

Elsewhere, there are some new taxes aimed at the wealthy. A so-called “mansion tax” for properties over £1 million is to be introduced along with a new tax on those who travel by private jet.

Staying with taxes, there have been some changes to the thresholds for the two lowest income tax bands, resulting in those earning less than £30,000 a year paying slightly less tax than in the rest of the UK.

And finally, the finance secretary announced more record spending on the NHS.

Money has been freed up to open new walk-in high street GP clinics, as well as extra cash for frontline health and social care services.

The opposition parties have pointed out this is the nineteenth SNP budget, claiming it’s just more of the same and will not deliver the change Scotland needs.

With a Holyrood election looming, some of these policies may not even come to pass if there’s a new government in May.