Meeting of the Parliament 20 November 2024
I accept that in terms of the consequences of the increase to national insurance contributions, but perhaps the Scottish Government would have had more cash to play with at this point had it not agreed those inflation-busting public sector pay increases, which were not in its budget last year and have led to the black hole in finances that the additional £1.5 billion is now being used to fill.
It is not just health-related organisations that have expressed concern. The Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations warns that the scale of additional costs put the sector’s essential services, jobs and organisations at risk.
Peter Mathieson of the University of Edinburgh, which has already announced the potential for job cuts, is warning that the small increase to tuition fees for students generates income that will be way below the significant increase in staff costs resulting from the national insurance increase. That is why organisations across Scotland, which are charged with delivering many of Scotland’s public services, are rightly concerned and are demanding that they are fully reimbursed for the additional employer national insurance costs.
However, I make this appeal to Scottish ministers: as they consider their own budget, they must pass on every single additional penny that they receive from the UK Government to cover national insurance payments. That includes to local government, where the Scottish Government has an appalling record of pocketing the cash and giving the Scottish local authorities the leftover.