Meeting of the Parliament 10 September 2025
The reality is that we are going to deliver that. If the member wants to know where the number comes from, it comes from the numbers that we published last year. Openly, across the whole public sector, spend on corporate costs will reduce by 20 per cent over the next five years, at 4 per cent per year. That will involve a range of measures, including in procurement, where we have already saved more than £200 million; in estates, where we have already saved many tens of millions of pounds; and in workforce reduction. That is where the £1 billion is coming from, and the member should have no doubt that we are going to deliver that.
The current UK Government appears to be continuing the trend of austerity, and its spending decisions will significantly hamper Scotland’s fiscal position for the coming year. The UK spending review was a missed opportunity to take the necessary measures to stimulate economic growth and put public services on a sustainable path.
Our funding for day-to-day spending is set to grow by only 0.8 per cent in real terms over the next three years. Had our funding for day-to-day priorities grown in line with the UK Government’s overall spending, we would have £1.1 billion more to spend on priorities over the next three years.