A £500 million package of cuts announced by the Scottish Government has been branded a “disaster for our climate” by the Greens as Shona Robison confirmed a major reduction in spending on active and sustainable travel.
Finance Secretary Shona Robison told MSPs at Holyrood on Tuesday that “difficult decisions” were required to balance Scotland’s budget as she confirmed £60m of savings would come through emergency spend controls, particularly targeting recruitment, overtime, travel and marketing.
She also announced £188m would be cut from “additional specific savings across all portfolios” including cutting spending on sustainable and active travel.
Up to £460m from the ScotWind leasing round will also be used, Robison said, in the hopes it won’t all required to be spent.
A letter from Robison to the Scottish Parliament’s finance committee details that £23.7m will be stripped from active and sustainable travel spending. The letter states this is “in part to fund the extension to the peak fares removal pilot”.
A total of £13.6m is to be cut from the delivery of the National Care Service and adult social care while £18.8m is to be cut from mental health services
As previously announced, peak rail fares will additionally make a return at the end of the month while there have been cuts to the Nature Restoration Fund.
Robison pointed the finger at Westminster stressing that if Scotland were independent “we would not be paying the price for bad decisions taken at Westminster”.
She said prolonged Westminster austerity as well as the economic damage of Brexit had placed enormous and growing pressure on public finances.
But the Scottish Greens have accused the SNP Government of “selling out our future to continue handouts of public cash to big business”.
Green MSP Ross Greer (below) added the Government was paying “lip service” to the climate emergency.
He said: “This is a disaster for our climate. The SNP have chosen to slash spending on climate action and increase costs for commuters.
“With global temperatures rising, Scotland must be a climate leader but the SNP is taking us backwards.
“Contrast that with over £700m of business tax breaks which remain untouched. Almost £250m has been poured into the SBBS [Small Business Bonus Scheme], a scheme which the government's own independent review could find no evidence of positive business outcomes from and which – despite its name – throws public money at large and extremely profitable companies.
“As even Labour frontbenchers have admitted, all roads lead back to Westminster when it comes to public spending. Their refusal to reverse 14 years of Tory austerity is a key cause of these cuts.
“However, that doesn’t change the reality that the SNP could have chosen to place the burden on big business, instead of on the planet and commuters.”
The Scottish Government has previously announced plans to introduce free bus travel for asylum seekers have also been scrapped.
Transform Scotland also accused the Scottish Government of “prioritising the demands of the more affluent” as it took aim at the cuts to active and sustainable travel.
The organisation posted on Twitter/X: “Finance Secretary Shona Robison has just announced cuts to resource spend on sustainable and active travel.
“Yet despite acknowledging that the Scottish Government ‘cannot afford all of our capital commitments’, it has decided to make *no* cuts to its multi-billion pound road-building programme.
“Its transport policies continue to prioritise the demands of the more affluent while slashing investment aimed at lower-income groups who are more reliant on buses, cycling and walking.”.
Robison outlined public sector pay is a "significant driver of in-year pressures" and that up to £0.8bn is expected in additional costs for this financial year.
The Poverty Alliance said it was “very concerned” about the effect of cuts to both these areas.
Chief executive Peter Kelly said: “People in Scotland believe in justice and compassion. They know that we need a strong social foundation so we can look out for each other and help people build a life beyond the injustice of poverty.
“But we’re now being left with holes in the fabric of Scottish society that will likely make life even harder for people on low incomes who are already being pushed towards debt, hunger, homelessness, and destitution. That is completely unjust, irresponsible and unnecessary.
“We are very concerned about the effect of cuts to mental health support and adult social care. We know that people in poverty are more likely to need that support, and data shows a growing risk of poverty for disabled people.”
Think tank Future Economy Scotland said the Scottish Government’s goals of ending child poverty, strengthening the economy, delivering net zero and improving public services would be “critically undermined” by the cuts announcement.
Laurie Macfarlane, co-director, said: "After more than a decade of austerity, many of Scotland's public services are already at breaking point, and household budgets have faced an unprecedented squeeze.
“Child poverty has increased, and net zero targets have been missed or abandoned. The lesson of the past decade is clear: Scotland can’t cut its way to a wealthier, fairer, greener economy.
“While Scotland’s fiscal pressures are partly a result of UK Government spending decisions, the Scottish Government is not powerless to act. The Finance Secretary could have harnessed devolved tax powers to raise revenue and offset the need for cuts.”
During the statement, Robison hinted the Scottish Government would not further increase income tax at the next Scottish budget, which has been slated for December 4.
