Budget bill: pain to come as spending axe falls

Published on Thursday 9 September 2010 01:27

An annual bill, this is the legislation required to allow the block grant handed to the Scottish Government to be issued to councils and government agencies.

This year, the bill's passage will be the most fraught since devolution, with a 1.7 billion real terms cut expected to materialise.

Finance secretary John Swinney has no choice but to issue a host of unpopular cuts, the like of which have caused riots across many countries in Europe. He has given a clear steer that significant pay restraint will be employed to cut costs.

"Free" benefits, such as NHS eye tests are also likely to now carry a charge.

However, the Independent Budget Review, led by former Scottish Enterprise chairman Crawford Beveridge, suggested he may have to go much further - by cutting jobs and reviewing other universal benefits, such as free personal care.

Mr Swinney will also have to carve up his cake, handing out punitive cuts to local authorities. They may compensate by going ahead with council tax rises.

Will it be passed? Maybe. With an election due, there isn't quite the same motivation for the SNP to ensure its crucial budget bill passes. The bill will be incredibly controversial, so it could easily fail, prompting the end of the government.