Ring-fencing NHS will mean harsh cuts in other services, report warns

SCHOOLS, roads and other key public services are facing "stark" consequences as a result of ministerial plans to spare the NHS from cuts.

A report by the Centre for Public Policy for Regions into SNP spending plans for the next four years finds that favouring health will "have a substantial, negative impact on all other public service budgets".

Real cuts of anywhere between 12 and 16 per cent will fall on all those other departments over the next four years, the report warns, as the 10 billion-a-year health service soaks up any spare funds.

The criticism comes a week after Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon launched the SNP election campaign by pledging to protect spending in the NHS for the next parliamentary term. Polls have shown that cutting spending on the NHS is the least popular option among voters in Scotland.

But the CPPR warns that all parties, not just the SNP, should "think seriously about the knock-on effects for other important public services" at a time of major budget cuts.

The paper is also critical of Finance Secretary John Swinney's plans for the next four years, saying there's no evidence to show that planned "efficiency savings" are not "simply cash-cutting measures". It also questions the SNP's ability to pay for a costly projects, such as the new Forth Road Bridge and the new Southern General hospital in Glasgow.

The report's author Jo Armstrong said: "Once you fund those two things then you are using up most of the funds."

She said the SNP's claims about paying for projects using a "non-profit" private finance scheme were "untested" in the current market conditions.

The authors also say that the lack of any concrete plan to handle the forthcoming budget cuts leaves all the parties at Holyrood "open to the challenge of being too focused on the May elections".

The doubts over the SNP's proposals come as Swinney prepares for a week of negotiations with opposition parties on his budget plans for next year, with a parliamentary vote on the 30bn spending plan due on 9 February.

Face-to-face talks with the Lib Dems will continue on Tuesday, amid growing expectation that the two parties will reach agreement. The Lib Dems want more funds for bursaries in Scotland's further education colleges.

. If backed, Swinney's budget will push through a pay freeze on most public sector workers and a freeze in council tax. However, it appears that he will have to find an extra 30m this week, with plans for a so-called "supermarket tax" expected to be voted down.

Also this week, Salmond will meet Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg in London to set out the case for a boost in spending.The First Minister claims the UK government's cuts are "too far and too fast".

Responding to the CPPR paper last night, a Scottish Government spokesman said: "The Scottish Government believes that protecting health spending is a priority, and the illustrative budget figures encompass that. Beyond that, the figures do not represent final decisions taken by the Scottish Government, but provide a framework within which public sector organisations can consider planning for the future."