Free prescriptions and eye tests for all may have to end, MSPs warned

Published on Tuesday 11 May 2010 23:24

UNIVERSAL benefits such as free prescriptions and eye tests must be considered for the axe, public sector chiefs have told MSPs.

They warned that a period of "entrenchment" lies ahead in public spending and all council services are now at risk.

The Scottish budget is expected to be cut by as much as 35 billion over the next 15 years, prompting Labour's David Whitton to suggest putting a "limit" on free prescriptions, free pensioner travel and free school meals.

Ronnie Hinds, of the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives, said: "That question really has to be asked. It won't be easy decisions for politicians to make or get acceptance from the population but we do have to go there." He pointed to his own area of Fife, where free concessionary travel was axed.

Robert Calderwood, chief executive of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, said health chiefs had also called into question the provision of universal benefits, while giving evidence to the Scottish Parliament's finance committee. He said spending which enables benefits such as free eye tests could instead be used in other areas.

"We have highlighted that it is important to look at choices going forward and the issue as to whether free eye tests, free prescriptions universally available, should be more targeted as a choice to be compared to the other opportunity costs of that money," he said. "I do believe that the parliament needs to address these issues in relation to future years' opportunity costs."

Prescription charges will be abolished entirely in Scotland from April next year.

Murdo Maciver, of the Association of Directors of Education in Scotland, said the organisation had had "reservations throughout" about the SNP government policy of free school meals for all P1-3 pupils and welcomed the more "flexible" approach announced by education minister Mike Russell last year.

The committee heard that councils are working on the assumption that there will be 12 per cent cuts in public spending over three years from next year onwards.

Public spending is facing a time of "entrenchment", said Mr Maciver, after steady rises over the past ten years since devolution.

The Scottish Government's chief economic adviser, Dr Andrew Goudie, appeared before the committee just weeks after publishing a report that projected a 35bn spending cut over 15 years.

He said: "I am confident that the scale of the contraction that we're likely to see is going to be very substantial."

His report estimated five consecutive years of real-terms cuts and a further two years before growth returns.

Dr Goudie said "efficiency savings" are necessary and the public sector will have to "improve productivity". He added: "We're looking at a scenario here which isn't as we've seen before. There's no automatic bounce-back to the levels we've seen in the recent past."

WHERE THE AXE COULD FALL

Some of the proposed changes to universal benefits include:

&#149 Abolishing free personal care, which would save 562m by 2010-11

&#149 Removing free eye care would save 91m by 2011-12

&#149 Scrapping prescription charges, which would save 57m by 2011-12

&#149 Ending the council tax freeze, which would save 70m a year

&#149 Scrapping concessionary bus fares for pensioners would save 91m