Extra health spending from Budget ‘nowhere near enough’, says Yousaf

The First Minister also criticised plans to further cut national insurance.
First Minister Humza Yousaf addressed the Chancellor’s Budget (Andrew Milligan/PA)
PA Wire
Craig Paton7 March 2024
WEST END FINAL

Get our award-winning daily news email featuring exclusive stories, opinion and expert analysis

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

The £230 million coming to Scotland following the Chancellor’s Budget is “nowhere near enough”, the First Minister has said.

As a result of spending in England on the NHS, Scotland will receive £237 million in Barnet consequentials for this year’s budget.

But Humza Yousaf has criticised Jeremy Hunt’s spending plans, claiming the cut to national insurance in the Budget and the autumn statement last year will mean £1.6 billion less in “potential consequentials” for Scotland.

Speaking at First Minister’s Questions on Thursday, he said: “Health consequentials of £237 million are nowhere near enough given the pressure we face.

“They don’t cover, for example, the recurring costs of the agenda for change pay deal.”

The Scottish Government had also been hoping for capital funding to flow from the Budget, with Deputy First Minister Shona Robison saying a cut in the Scottish housing budget of more than £200 million would be first to be reversed if extra cash became available.

Earlier on Thursday, Alyson Stafford – the director-general of the Scottish Exchequer – told Holyrood’s Public Audit Committee that there would be no capital consequentials coming to Scotland as a result of the Budget, and total funding would drop by 8.7% in real-terms by 2026-27.

Mr Yousaf declared: “The absence of investment in public services and infrastructure is nothing, frankly, short of a betrayal of our public services by the UK Government.”

The First Minister went on to take aim at Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross, who had earlier questioned Mr Yousaf on the NHS.

Mr Ross has said he opposes an extension of the windfall tax on oil and gas firms proposed by Mr Hunt in the Budget, and he has vowed to vote against it – with reports emerging earlier this week that he had considered resigning over the issue.

He denied the reports when asked by journalists on Thursday.

Mr Yousaf said: “So disastrous a betrayal of workers in the north east, apparently Douglas Ross threatened to resign, but he’s still sitting here.

“I wonder if he sold out the north east for a peerage or, indeed, to be a privy councillor.

“We don’t know but I’m sure in time we’ll find out.”

Responding to the attack, a spokesman for the Scottish Tories said it was “desperate”.

“He should have been fully focused on answering Douglas’ questions on his party’s appalling record in charge of Scotland’s NHS, instead of typically reaching for his playbook of personal insults,” he said.

Speaking to journalists following First Minister’s Questions, Mr Ross said: “The Chancellor had a difficult Budget to set and I think everyone has accepted there was a balance to be struck.

“I will never shy away away from publicly saying it was the wrong choice by the Chancellor and I still have an opportunity to present it from happening when this Bill comes back to Parliament.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in