A Medium Term Financial Strategy will be set out next week in the
aftermath of a “disappointing” UK Spending Review and welfare
reforms that will reduce Scotland's budget.
Finance Secretary will outline the five-year
strategy and accompanying action plan to ensure public money is
focused on Scottish Government priorities.
The Finance Secretary said:
“This government has delivered a balanced budget every year while
taking steps to improve the overall sustainability of our
finances. This is despite a deeply challenging financial
situation caused by rising global instability, persistent higher
inflation and over a decade of UK austerity.
“Our disappointing settlement at the recent UK Spending Review
has made the situation worse, short-changing the Scottish
Government by £1.1 billion in our day-to-day funding compared
with UK Government departments. This comes on top of reductions
in our funding worth hundreds of millions of pounds as a result
of the UK Government's proposed welfare reforms and failure to
fully fund its employer National Insurance increase.
“In this context, it is important that we take action to maximise
funding targeted at frontline services such as our NHS.”
Background
The Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) will outline the
approach to ensuring Scotland's finances remain on a sustainable
footing. It will be accompanied by a Fiscal Sustainability
Delivery Plan, setting out the actions being taken in support of
the MTFS. Both documents will be presented by the Finance
Secretary in a statement to Parliament on Wednesday 25 June.
Under the UK Spending Review the Scottish Government's day-to-day
spending is set to grow by 0.8% over the next three years,
compared with 1.2% average growth for UK Government departments.
Had this funding grown in line with UK Government overall
spending, the Scottish Government would have £1.1 billion more to
spend on day-to-day priorities over the next three years.
The Scottish Spending Review and a new infrastructure pipeline
will be published alongside the 2026-27 Scottish Budget later
this year.
