Meeting of the Parliament 20 February 2018
Local government workers would like to know whether they will get a pay rise, too, because there is nothing in the Scottish Government’s budget for local government that will deliver that. No doubt we will hear more about it tomorrow.
In many cases, the individuals whom I am talking about might be the only income earners in their families. A household income of only £26,000 that covers one or two adults and a number of children is hardly a generous sum. We need to stop hearing about how only the rich will pay more under the SNP’s plans. We are talking about hard-working families and those who can ill afford to pay such substantial sums.
There is also the question of unintended consequences from the tax changes. The cabinet secretary mentioned the married couples allowance. It was previously available only at the basic rate and is worth £200 a year, which is a significant sum to many people, particularly retired couples or couples on low incomes. I remind Mr Mackay that the measure was introduced by a UK Conservative Government. I am pleased that, thanks to the co-operation, reasonableness and generosity of UK Conservative Treasury ministers, a solution has been found to the problem and people in Scotland will be able to retain the allowance.
Once again, the Conservatives have to clean up the mess that the SNP has created in the tax system. I am pleased that that mess has now been resolved and we can reassure all the people who have been writing to us that they are able to keep their married couples allowance. However, there are other issues on which there will be unintended consequences. How will gift aid continue to apply to donations to charity in Scotland? How will it be affected? How will the tax on pension drawdowns be affected?
What homework has the cabinet secretary done? What engagement and relationship has he had with UK Treasury ministers? I am happy to give way if he wants to explain more.