Chamber
Meeting of the Parliament 20 November 2024
20 Nov 2024 · S6 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
National Insurance Increase (Impact on Public Services)
I thank Douglas Lumsden for his very succinct intervention.
I fully accept that there are cost pressures in councils right across Scotland. The Scottish Government cannot absolve itself of blame there, either. It, too, has made poor financial decisions, wasting £2.7 billion of taxpayers’ money this term alone, while short-changing Scotland’s councils.
The Scottish Government has failed to grow the Scottish economy; it would have had an additional £600 million to spend this year alone had it done so.
It is now clear that, together, the Labour Party and the Scottish National Party have contributed to an environment—
In the same item of business
The Deputy Presiding Officer (Annabelle Ewing)
SNP
The next item of business is a debate on motion S6M-15529, in the name of Neil Gray, on the impact of the national insurance increase on public services. I i...
The Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care (Neil Gray)
SNP
During the recent United Kingdom general election, we highlighted the real and pressing challenges in United Kingdom public finances. At the time, those chal...
Alex Cole-Hamilton (Edinburgh Western) (LD)
LD
Does the cabinet secretary recognise that there is not only an increase in the percentage of employer national insurance contributions but a decrease in the ...
Neil Gray
SNP
I agree with Alex Cole-Hamilton about the impact that the changes will have. This morning at Leith surgery, I heard the exact point that he was referencing a...
Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con)
Con
I do not disagree with many of the points that the cabinet secretary has made. However, there is something missing from his speech, and from his motion, and ...
Neil Gray
SNP
I appreciate the point that Murdo Fraser makes, because I think that the increase is regressive for growth, which is supposedly the UK Government’s number 1 ...
Craig Hoy (South Scotland) (Con)
Con
Will the cabinet secretary give way?
Neil Gray
SNP
All are clear that failing to mitigate the cost pressures that are felt by contractors risks jobs and NHS service delivery now, and jeopardises our on-going ...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
SNP
Yes.
Neil Gray
SNP
I give way to Mr Hoy.
Craig Hoy
Con
Will the cabinet secretary concede that the cost pressures that GPs and dentists face were already in place as a result of decisions that were taken by his G...
Neil Gray
SNP
No—I recognise that the uplift that we have given to GP services is challenging, but it aligns with the recommendations from the review body on doctors’ and ...
Craig Hoy (South Scotland) (Con)
Con
In politics, there are lies, damned lies, and then there are the election commitments and employment claims from Labour’s new Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ra...
Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab)
Lab
Will Craig Hoy take an intervention?
Craig Hoy
Con
I will. Perhaps Jackie Baillie can give us her interpretation.
Jackie Baillie
Lab
I genuinely find it quite extraordinary that 14 years of the Tories has just been wiped out at a stroke. What happened to Boris Johnson and Liz Truss, who cr...
Craig Hoy
Con
Jackie Baillie is forgetting that inflation was falling, interest rates were falling and economic growth was on an upward path, which the OBR now says is und...
Neil Gray
SNP
I recognise the challenges that Craig Hoy mentions. However, does he accept that, as we have set out, the resource block grant uplift is less than 1 per cent...
Craig Hoy
Con
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 ...
Douglas Lumsden (North East Scotland) (Con)
Con
This afternoon, I heard from Aberdeenshire Council that it has an extra £10.7 million of additional costs in relation to national insurance. In relation to t...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
SNP
Mr Lumsden, that is a very long intervention.
Douglas Lumsden
Con
Does the member agree—
The Deputy Presiding Officer
SNP
Mr Hoy, I think that you have heard enough to respond to that. In doing so, I ask that you start to bring your remarks to a close.
Craig Hoy
Con
I thank Douglas Lumsden for his very succinct intervention. I fully accept that there are cost pressures in councils right across Scotland. The Scottish Gov...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
SNP
Mr Hoy, you will have to conclude. Please move your amendment. Thank you.
Craig Hoy
Con
—that threatens the very survival of public services across Scotland.
The Deputy Presiding Officer
SNP
Mr Hoy, please conclude and move your amendment.
Craig Hoy
Con
I conclude on that point. I move amendment S6M-15529.2, to leave out from “should” to end and insert: “increasing employer national insurance contributions...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
SNP
I call Jackie Baillie to speak to and move amendment S6M-15529.3. 15:36
Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab)
Lab
It is not often that the SNP Government holds a debate on any aspect of health, as it normally wants to run away from its own dismal record. However, if ther...