SNP Government 'to cut spending by £2.6 billion per year by 2030'
Speaking in Holyrood, Shona Robison said that the Scottish Government's plans would save the equivalent of '4.4% of the forecast resource budget' by 2029/30.
Her speech came as the Scottish Government published both its Medium-Term Financial Strategy and its first Fiscal Sustainability Delivery Plan.
Opening, Robison said that the Scottish Government had been left facing a '£400 million shortfall' after Chancellor Rachel Reeves declined to provide full funding for the additional costs of Labour's increases to employers' National Insurance contributions.
She went on: 'Further, in the UK Spending Review, had the resource funding being provided to the Scottish Government for day to day priorities matched the average increase for UK departments, we would have £1.1 billion more to spend over the next three years.
'And, last week, they set out proposals that will deliver deep cuts to disabled people's support – pushing more people into poverty. With a real life negative funding impact in Scotland of £440m by 2029-30, based on the Office for Budget Responsibility's estimates.'
Robison said that the allocations "simply do not reflect the unavoidable realities of the demands that will be placed on public services by the demographic changes we face – not least through an ageing population".
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