MSPs hear fears of ‘cuts upon cuts upon cuts’ ahead of Scottish Budget

Organisations including Police Scotland and Colleges Scotland have raised funding concerns with MSPs on Holyrood’s Finance Committee (Jane Barlow/PA) -

MSPs have been warned about the impact of a failure to increase spending for key areas in the upcoming Scottish Budget – with Police Scotland saying this would lead to a “significant workforce reduction” while college bosses claimed it would be a “catastrophe” that would see some institutions go bust.

Both Sarah Roughead, chief financial officer of Police Scotland, and Andy Witty of Colleges Scotland warned Holyrood’s Finance Committee about the impact of a so-called “flat cash” settlement – where funding received from the Scottish Government remains static.