Why Scotland should worry SNP will squander windfall from Labour Budget

Last week’s Budget delivered the largest settlement for Scotland in the history of devolution – even John Swinney was forced to admit there were “many welcome measures”.

This is the difference between the Tories and a UK Labour government with Scottish MPs at the heart of it – after 14 years of austerity, Chancellor Rachel Reeves used her first Budget to deliver £1.5 billion additional funding for Scotland this year and another £3.4bn next year. That’s a total of £47.7bn for next year’s budget – the most in the history of devolution.

But, as I highlighted last week, the real question for Scotland is what the SNP does with this windfall. And their track record doesn’t exactly inspire confidence.

SNP must not waste money on spin

In 2022, the SNP pledged to invest the £755 million windfall from the sale of ScotWind renewable energy licences in a Norway-style fund that could provide for future generations, yet just two years later they raided £460m of it to plug holes in Scotland’s finances. Although the SNP has poured nearly £400m of taxpayers’ money into shipbuilder Ferguson Marine, the two ferries it was supposed to be building since 2015 are yet to carry a single passenger.

Under devolution, the Scottish Government can choose how it spends the block grant – meaning it’s the SNP’s decision – but I want every penny of extra money coming from NHS spending elsewhere to be spent on the NHS in Scotland too. It’s essential we hold the SNP to account so that the money isn’t wasted on spin but makes a visible difference for patients and staff.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves' Budget means the Scottish Government is getting the largest grant from the UK Government in the history of devolution (Picture: Leon Neal) | Getty Images

In February, the SNP government froze plans for more than a dozen NHS construction projects, meaning hospitals and treatment centres have been left to crumble. These include a GP surgery in West Lothian where staff are forced to wear wellies due to the leaky roof and one in Kincardine that was deemed not fit for purpose as far back as 2016.

Meanwhile, SNP Health Secretary Neil Gray's local hospital was branded a "risk to life" after a report highlighted floods, bacteria outbreaks and heating failures.

Prompt treatment required

In England, the UK Labour government has pledged to use its health budget for new technology including radiotherapy machines, mental health crisis centres, new surgical hubs and health research and development.

Yet this week it was reported that the SNP government told NHS Fife chiefs not to request the £100m needed to overhaul mental health care. As any good doctor will tell you, it’s better to treat a problem as soon as you spot it rather than let it get worse.

It’s also important to recognise that the status quo will simply not cut it. The SNP government could start by improving recruitment and retention of NHS staff rather than spending millions on expensive locums. And it should tackle delayed discharge head on, so that patients who are treated can return home rather than being stuck in hospital beds while the untreated languish in corridors.

Over the next few weeks, this SNP government must prove that it’s serious about making the NHS work for Scots once again. It has the resources to do so. And if it fails, Scottish Labour is ready to deliver.

Jackie Baillie is MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour’s deputy leader and her party’s spokesperson for health