Meeting of the Parliament 10 September 2025
I have just clearly said that, if our spending in Scotland had been growing at the same rate as UK Government spending was growing, in total, we would have £1.1 billion more to spend on our priorities over the next three years.
I want to talk about the actions that we are taking. We have a very thorough public service reform strategy, which was published in June and which we are taking forward across a whole range of activities to deliver that £1 billion. The fiscal sustainability delivery plan sets out a clear and credible path to managing Scotland’s public finances over the next five years by increasing value from our spending and driving efficiency and productivity across public services; delivering sustainable and inclusive economic growth; expanding Scotland’s tax base and creating more good jobs; and taking a strategic approach to taxation to ensure that the tax system is fair and competitive and that it delivers sustainable revenues.
We have committed to a Scottish spending review—which Murdo Fraser called for—and that is happening, as he well knows, alongside the 2026-27 Scottish budget. That will provide the spending plans for three years for resource and four years for capital, with spending focused on delivering the greatest impact across our four priorities of eradicating child poverty, tackling climate change, growing the economy and ensuring high-quality and sustainable public services. Those are our priorities and the priorities of the people of Scotland.
Ultimately, it is only with the full powers of independence and full control of fiscal levers that we can deploy a truly sustainable system to support efficient and effective public services that deliver for the people of Scotland. Until that time, we will continue to do everything within our powers to meet the challenges that our public finances face, and we have set out a clear path to achieving that.
I move amendment S6M-18779.3, to leave out from “notes” to end and insert:
“that Scotland’s public services have been hampered by the UK Conservative administration’s austerity budgets; recognises the deep harm that the UK Conservative administration has done to the economies of the UK and Scotland with Brexit, and that this has reduced Scotland’s public spending by £2.3 billion annually; further recognises that this loss of public finances impacts on Scotland’s vital public services, including Scotland’s NHS, support for a just transition, and skills training; notes that a public sector reform programme is underway with the aim of saving public money while protecting the delivery of frontline services; believes that the UK Labour administration should either explore the application of wealth taxation or devolve the necessary powers to Scotland so that the Scottish Parliament can do so; welcomes that the Scottish Government has already announced plans for a three-year spending review to be published alongside the upcoming Budget, and believes that it is only with the powers of independence and full control of the fiscal levers that a truly sustainable and fair system can be developed to support efficiency and public service delivery.”
15:06Motions, questions or amendments mentioned by their reference code.