‘Emphasising growth implies other concerns play second fiddle’

Growth is what the Scottish Government says is its priority in this week’s Spending Review. However, taken literally it looks as though the Scottish Government is blinkered to issues about inequality and the uneven distribution of wealth in Scotland today.

The government is big enough to focus on more than one thing at a time. By emphasising economic growth as the key message for the coming years, it can be implied that all other concerns, however important, play second fiddle.

I am not fully convinced by this overall narrative. It is not enough simply to create wealth without consideration of the consequences on society and the environment. We have to be far more sensitive to how wealth is distributed and about the destructive impact greater wealth can have on communities and the environment.

The Spending Review is accompanied by an Equality Statement, which includes a lot of information about what the government expects the impact of the changes to be.

This is good stuff, but why does the government feel the need to relegate equality issues in this way and not include anti-poverty work as part of its core story? From the Spending Review document alone, you’d get the impression that poverty and environmental concerns are not serious issues in Scotland.

For instance, they proudly talk about “growing Scotland’s transport infrastructure” through supporting a new Forth bridge and the Aberdeen bypass. But this will harm efforts to tackle the growing carbon emissions from the transport sector.

Despite my disappointment with some of the main themes, which I think are missing from the Spending Review, there are a number of specific announcements which represent a constructive development and which I welcome wholeheartedly. For example, there are new funds for renewable energy sources, and a commitment to continue the Climate Challenge Fund.

£3 million of new money for work to tackle sectarianism will help to enhance and complement our work in local communities. Increasing the Living Wage to £7.20 will also help those who, despite working, still live in poverty.

But by not making the central issue about poverty, in whatever form it takes or about the need to balance economic stability with environmental protection, I feel that the Spending Review somewhat misses the point.

The focus of budgets and spending reviews need not just be a list of financial announcements but can demonstrate a deep understanding the economy is there to serve society, and not the other way around.

l The Rev Ian Galloway is convener of the Church and Society Council of the Church of Scotland.