The Scottish government is to freeze funding of policing, early years learning and local government, and slash arts, trade and cultural funding for the next five years, to plug a deep hole in its budgets.
Kate Forbes, the Scottish finance secretary, said the cuts – estimated to total about 8% in real terms – were needed to greatly increase spending on health by £7bn, social welfare by £6bn and on climate action, including investing £1.8bn in low-carbon homes.
