Scottish Budget Bill published

The Scottish spending plans are to be scrutinised by Parliament, following the publication of the Scottish Budget Bill today (19th December).

Finance secretary Shona Robison set out the Scottish government’s public spending proposals on 4th December, and now committees will take evidence on the plans before MSP’s debate the Bill’s principles in the Chamber. This will decide whether the Bill should become law.

Proposed income tax rates and bands, which will apply from April, are set out in a Scottish Rate Resolution that is subject to a separate vote before the Bill’s final stage. 

The Budget Bill includes a record £2 billion increase in NHS spending, bumping up total health and social care investment to £21 billion in order to tackle long wait lists, and progress projects such as the Belford Hospital, Monklands Hospital and Edinburgh Eye Pavilion. Older Scots are to be paid universal winter heating payments, and the Budget also calls for investment to alleviate the two-child cap from 2026.

Further proposed investment includes a £15 billion deal to support local governments, £768 million to provide to provide 8,000 more affordable homes, £4.9 billion on action to tackle the climate crisis, a three per cent increase in spending on education, and a £34 million increase in culture investment.

The finance secretary said: “This Budget invests in public services, lifts children out of poverty, acts in the face of the climate emergency and supports jobs and economic growth.

“Parliament can show that we understand the pressures people are facing by coming together to bring hope to people, to renew our public services and deliver a wealth of new opportunities in our economy.

“I am urging all parties to work with us to pass this Budget and to deliver the progress and hope that people in Scotland desperately want to see.”