Extra cash coming to Scotland as a result of Rachel Reeves’s Budget will not be used to scrap the two-child limit on some benefits or end means-testing for winter fuel payments, Holyrood’s Finance Secretary has suggested.
The Scottish Government will receive an additional £3.4 billion in 2025-26 as a result of Wednesday’s UK Budget, but Shona Robison insisted it is no “bonanza” that can reverse either policy.
Chancellor Ms Reeves said the additional cash – part of a £47.7 billion settlement for Scotland she said is the largest real-terms funding deal for Holyrood since devolution – must be used “wisely” by SNP ministers.
She told BBC Radio Scotland: “The challenge now for the SNP in Scotland is to use that money wisely to start reducing waiting times, because… the performance of the NHS in Scotland under the SNP is worse than in any part of the United Kingdom.
The Chancellor insisted the onus is on the Scottish Government to “deliver” on the back of what she said is “the biggest settlement in the history of devolution”.
But Ms Robison stressed the additional funding is “largely” for the NHS and other frontline public services.
She appeared to rule out using the cash to either restore the universal winter fuel payment for pensioners in Scotland or abolish the two-child cap.
Both these policies have been introduced by Westminster and have been heavily criticised by the Scottish Government.
Asked if her Government will look to mitigate those policies now extra money is available, the Finance Secretary said: “Let’s be clear, the money we have received is largely for the NHS and for frontline public services. This does not give us a huge area of headroom to spend on other things.
“The money is directly for services and frontline public services, so any money that I divert into other things will be money from the NHS or other frontline services, so we have to be quite careful here.
“This isn’t a bonanza that allows us to spend money on mitigating, as we have done, largely mitigated a lot of Westminster welfare policies, but we can’t continue to mitigate.
“We are already spending, I think it is about £130 million at the last count, mitigating welfare policies from Westminster like the bedroom tax for example.
While she said SNP ministers have “done so much to mitigate Westminster welfare policies”, she said the new money announced in the Budget “clearly has come to be directed to things like the NHS, and the NHS requires some investment”.
She also said the Scottish Government is seeking clarity on whether public sector employers will be compensated for the increase in employers’ national insurance contributions announced as part of the Budget.
The Finance Secretary said: “We absolutely need to see those costs fully covered, because they could add up to the £500 million in costs for the public sector unless it is fully funded.”
With Scotland having a larger public sector than the rest of the UK, Ms Robison stressed the importance of having those costs “fully funded” and not just receiving a proportionate share of cash to be distributed across the UK.
“We will be seeking urgent clarity on that today,” she said.
