Budget: 'Government must shoulder its share of cuts'

Published on Friday 24 April 2009 09:01

ALEX SALMOND has denounced Alistair Darling's Budget for the £500m cuts it will require from the Scottish Government next year.

But he carefully avoided answering Tory leader Annabel Goldie's question yesterday when she pressed him on what he planned to do to deliver the spending reduction.

Instead, Mr Salmond claimed the Scottish economy faced "ruin and redundancy" if it was left at the mercy of London Chancellors.

But Ms Goldie told the chamber: "Scotland needs a First Minister who doesn't just bawl and shout at Westminster but who confronts reality."

Labour, of course, argues that despite the demand for "efficiency savings", as the UK Government describes them, Scotland's budget from Westminster will still go up again next year, as it has every year since devolution.

Mr Salmond and Labour leader Iain Gray are locked in battle over which figures paint the true picture.

If Scotland is facing major cuts, the question of where they are made is crucial. Edinburgh council leader Jenny Dawe has already warned cuts to the city's budget would have a direct impact on council services.

Local authorities deliver most of the vital day-to-day services which people rely on, including education, housing and social services.

The Scottish Government must be careful it does not simply pass the cuts down the line to councils, leaving vulnerable members of society and community groups to suffer the consequences.

With its concordat between central and local government, the SNP has already shown itself adept at shifting responsibility for cuts on to someone else. Ministers have been happy to take the credit for the council tax freeze while councillors have to shoulder the blame for any cuts to services which then arise.

When it comes to next year's "efficiency savings", the Scottish Government should be prepared to shoulder a sizeable slice of the cuts itself rather than pass on all the pain to local level, where core services would come under threat.

The SNP must remember it relies on the co-operation of councils to deliver some of its key manifesto pledges, including smaller class sizes and free school meals. If council funding is slashed, these will just not happen or, if they do, it will be at the expense of key services.

The Scottish Government has to face up to reality and take its share of inevitable cuts, even if it means shelving some of its aspirations.