SNP DELIVERING FOR SCOTLAND
SNP MSP Clare Adamson has said that today’s budget statement was the clearest indication yet that only the SNP will stand up for Scotland’s citizens.
Finance Secretary Shona Robison outlined the SNP Government’s spending plans for 2025/26 in Holyrood.
The Scottish Budget brings a record increase in frontline NHS spending, the introduction of universal winter heating payments following Labour’s cuts, and plans to lift 15,000 children out of poverty by mitigating the UK Government’s two-child limit from 2026.
Meanwhile, income tax rates have been frozen for the rest of this Parliament and a majority of Scottish taxpayers pay less income tax than they would elsewhere in the UK.
Ms Adamson MSP for Motherwell and Wishaw said:
“The SNP is committed to the priorities of the people of Scotland.
“We have faced the imposition of Brexit, the COVID19 pandemic, the Truss budget disaster, and now a listless Labour administration which is just more of the same.
“The SNP’s priorities are clear in this budget statement. Record funding for frontline NHS services, social care investment to reduce waiting lists, record local Government funding, and £768 million to provide 8,000 more affordable homes.
“Labour promised change. But, since coming to power, Labour MPs have shamefully voted to keep the Two Child Cap and scrap the universal winter fuel payment.
“We know these policies are driving poverty and inequality in Scotland and that is why the SNP will step in to fix Labour’s mess.
“The SNP Government will fund universal winter heating payments for older people next year and mitigate the Two Child Cap from 2026.
“It is frustrating that, once again, we are having to shield Scots from the worst aspects of Westminster policy instead of controlling our own affairs. But we cannot wait on a Labour Government to do what needs to be done while communities suffer.
“The SNP is delivering for Scotland and we are the only party that can be trusted to stand up to a distant UK administration.”
The 2025-26 Budget includes:
a record £2 billion increase in frontline NHS spending taking overall health and social care investment to £21 billion to reduce NHS waiting lists, making it easier for people to see their GP, and progress the Belford Hospital, Monklands Hospital and Edinburgh Eye Pavilion projects
funding for universal winter heating payments for older Scots, and investment to allow the mitigation of the two-child cap from 2026
tax choices that freeze income tax rates, increase the Basic and Intermediate rate thresholds to put more money in the pockets of low and middle-income earners, and provide business rates relief for hard-pressed local pubs and restaurants
a record £15 billion for local government to support the services communities rely on and £768 million to provide 8,000 more affordable homes
£4.9 billion of action on the climate and nature crises to lower emissions and energy bills, protect the environment, and create new jobs and opportunities
a real-terms uplift of 3% for spending on education and skills to maintain teacher levels and invest in school infrastructure, as well as new funding to put more breakfast clubs in primary schools
a £34 million uplift for culture in 2025-26
Scottish Budget 2025-26
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