Exclusive:SNP's free tuition and baby boxes amid £500m spending cuts branded 'vacuous' and 'maddening'

The current approach to public spending in Scotland is “as vacuous as it is maddening”, a former leader of Scottish Labour has said.

Johann Lamont said there was “a serious debate to be had about the balance between universal provision and targeted spending”.

However, she said this was being “throttled” north of the Border, allowing policies such as free university tuition to exist alongside funding cuts to further education.

Johann Lamont | Jane Barlow/PA

Ms Lamont’s intervention comes amid warnings over the "enormous and growing" pressure on public finances in Scotland.

Earlier this month, SNP finance secretary Shona Robison announced £500 million of in-year cuts to balance the books, and partly blamed “Westminster austerity”.

The UK Labour Government has said “tough decisions” will need to be made to address a £22 billion financial hole.

Writing exclusively in The Scotsman, Ms Lamont said: “There is a serious debate to be had about the balance between universal provision and targeted spending; the cost of creating eligibility tests in comparison with the simplicity of a universal approach; the challenge of ensuring that the support to those most in need is not diluted.

“But that debate is throttled in Scotland. Just divide the world into good and bad, compassionate and monstrous. The comfort of the ‘retail offer’ is embraced.

“So, we can have baby boxes, with no analysis of their benefits, alongside a reduction in family support for vulnerable mothers and children. We can have free tuition for those who make it to university, alongside cuts to further education funding.

“We can have free bus travel and fewer bus routes in the communities most reliant on public transport. We can have free school meals of poorer nutritional quality alongside the virtual disappearance of support for vulnerable children in their own homes. We can freeze council tax and watch as services falter.

“The truth is that a decent case can be made for almost all of these universal offers. But politicians have backed away from debate. It is as vacuous as it is maddening.”

The changes will come into effect for the 2026 Scottish Parliament elections | Getty Images

Ms Lamont, who was an MSP from 1999 until 2021, said the current approach “encourages people to accept decisions that in reality are not in their interest”, adding: “This cannot go on. There needs to be a renewed commitment to rigour and rational policy and decision making.”

She said it is “not right wing or unprogressive to test all options and be frugal in decisions”.

Ms Lamont led Scottish Labour from 2011 until 2014, during which time she questioned universal benefits.

"What is progressive about judges and lawyers earning more than £100,000 a year, not paying tuition fees for their child to follow in their footsteps at university, while one in four unemployed young people in Scotland can't get a job or a place at college?” she said in 2012.

A Scottish Government spokesman said: “Scotland has the most comprehensive social contract in any part of the UK. This includes free tuition, free prescriptions, and the Scottish Child Payment – which is estimated to keep 60,000 children out of relative poverty this year, according to modelling published in February 2024.

“Ministers have made clear, following the UK Chancellor's July statement, that the Scottish Government continues to face the most challenging financial situation since devolution.

“This requires tough choices to ensure available funding can be directed towards the priorities of eradicating child poverty, building prosperity, improving our public services and protecting the planet.”