In setting Scotland’s Budget for 2023-24, I have had to make difficult choices against a backdrop of global and domestic turmoil. But this is about facing up to responsibilities, while being open with Scotland’s people about the challenges ahead.
Challenges made starker because of the UK Government’s path of austerity. We will not follow that path. Instead, I propose a different, more progressive path for Scotland.
By standing firmly alongside our people and investing in our public services, the range of measures I have set out will protect the most vulnerable and go as far as we can to eradicate child poverty, while continuing to move towards a fairer, greener, net zero economy.
The path I am proposing for Scotland involves people paying their fair share. Higher earners will be asked to contribute more than the lower paid – amounting to an extra penny in income tax for those earning more than £43,662. This will allow us to deliver a £1billion uplift to the health budget.
So in reality, that extra penny is an investment in patient care and our NHS. But it still remains that most people in Scotland will pay less in tax than they would if they lived in the rest of the UK.
The Scottish Government will continue to put more money in the pockets of those who need it most, not just through the unique Scottish Child Payment, which has increased to £25 per week for eligible families, but by investing £428million to uprate all other devolved benefits in April 2023 by September’s Consumer Price Index inflation level of 10.1 per cent.
No one should face the “heat or eat” dilemma of choosing between staying warm or putting food on their plate, which this cost-of-living crisis has sadly made a reality. So this Budget commits £20million to extend the Fuel Insecurity Fund as a lifeline for households against rising energy prices. And it commits £80million capital funding to support the expansion of free school meals.
Our transition to net zero plays an important role in helping Scotland’s people – by creating new green jobs and transforming lives in many ways that are linked to helping households out of poverty.
This is why I have allocated more than £320million in 2023-24 to decarbonise how we heat our buildings, to help tackle fuel poverty. This is part of a £1.8billion commitment over this Parliament to improve energy efficiency and decarbonise more than a million homes by 2030.
The Budget I have outlined strengthens the social contract between the Scottish Government and every citizen of Scotland – which means everyone can continue to enjoy the specific benefits of living here, including free prescriptions and free access to higher education. It also means families will be shielded – as far as possible within our powers – from the welfare cuts and austerity policies of the UK Government.
I have set this Budget following a catastrophic UK Government mini-budget which drove up interest rates and saddled the country with higher debt, undermining public finances for generations to come. It comes in the midst of conflict in Ukraine, a surge in energy prices and soaring inflation.
So to say this is not the easiest of economic times would be an incredible understatement. But I’m confident with the right choices and a more progressive path, we can grow an economy in which everyone can flourish.
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