Lanarkshire politicians have given their reaction to Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ blockbuster Budget announcement.
The Chancellor announced tax rises worth £40 billion to fund the NHS and other public services.
However, companies will have to pay National Insurance at 15 per cent on salaries above £5,000 from April, up from 13.8 per cent on salaries above £9,100, raising an additional £25 billion a year.
There is also an extra £3.4 billion for the Scottish Government.
South Lanarkshire Council Leader Joe Fagan said: “This Budget delivers an end to austerity and a record financial settlement for Scotland.
“The Scottish Government, as South Lanarkshire Council’s principal funder, must now provide a fair share of that record settlement to our council and our communities.
“For years, the Scottish Parliament has passed Budgets that have reduced core council funding and the Scottish Government’s most recent financial strategy is predicated on real-terms cuts to councils.
“That is no longer remotely defensible, and it is imperative that the Scottish Government rethink their council cuts now, in light of the record settlement they have received from the Chancellor.
“After years of real-terms cuts to core council funding, it is time to reverse the decline and invest in our communities.
“South Lanarkshire Council is about to consult on options to close our financial gap for the year ahead and a fair share of the Chancellor’s record settlement for Scotland would help us take the worst of the cuts off the table entirely.”
However, Motherwell and Wishaw SNP MSP Clare Adamson said: “The Scottish Government and other devolved administrations are still facing huge funding pressures after years of UK public spending cuts.
“I am very concerned that the decision to hike employer National Insurance will have unintended consequences. We need urgent clarity on how this impacts devolved public employment.
“And economists have already warned that the effect of this kind of tax rise will be passed on in lower wages, disproportionately hitting low income workers. This conflicts with a welcome increase to the minimum wage.
“The Chancellor appears to have announced an increase in public spending this year but with a looming promise of belt tightening in coming years. That does not address chronic underinvestment in the UK and stagnant growth.
“Worse still, the Office for Budget Responsibility’s forecasts for continued low growth suggest that the budget fails to deliver on Labour’s own measure of success.
“It is hugely disappointing that there was no action on Labour’s cut to the winter fuel payment and no mention of the WASPI women.
“Meanwhile, the Institute for Fiscal Studies said that removing the two-child cap would be the ‘the single most cost-effective policy for reducing the number of children living below the poverty line’ but the Chancellor has kept this abhorrent policy.
“The best way for Scotland to manage its economy is for us to control our own spending decisions like any normal independent nation. That way, we are not left waiting on a distant administration to see which way the axe falls.”
The legal minimum wage for over-21s will rise from £11.44 to £12.21 per hour from April. The rate for 18 to 20-year-olds to go up from £8.60 to £10, as part of a long-term plan to move towards a “single adult rate”.
Ms Reeves also said she would increase the “windfall tax”, known as the energy profits levy, to 38 per cent from 35 per cent in the autumn Budget.
Central Scotland Tory MSP Graham Simpson said: “This tax-raising budget is a disaster for Scotland and will hammer hard-working Scots. It raises taxes by a record £40 million, hikes National Insurance and will stagnate economic growth.
“By increasing the windfall tax and decreasing investment allowances in the Energy Profits Levy, this Labour Government is putting jobs in Scotland’s oil and gas sector at risk.
“I was especially disappointed to see that the bus far cap has been increased to £3. I have long supported the £2 cap south of the border and called for it to be extended to Scotland.
“This decision may reverse the increases in bus journeys under the £2 cap and offers no certainty for operators or passengers beyond the end of this year.
“Most people in Scotland are already paying more tax than they would in the rest of the UK under the SNP. This Labour budget is yet another blow for Scottish taxpayers.”
South Lanarkshire Council’s Liberal Democrat Group Leader Councillor Robert Brown said: “First, the economy won’t grow strongly unless we repair our broken relationship with Europe, our nearest and biggest customer.
“Second the elephant in the NHS waiting room is the crisis in social care. We need a long term plan to fund local care services properly – and the SNP Scottish Government need to help by scrapping their expensive and struggling proposed central takeover of care services here.
“Thirdly, raising employer’s national insurance is a tax on jobs and high streets, and it will make the health and care crisis worse by hitting thousands of small care providers.
“Liberal Democrats have long argued that we should raise the necessary funds by reversing the Conservative tax cuts for the big banks and get the social media and tech giants to pay a bit more.
“And fourth, there was the opportunity to look again at the Winter Fuel Payment and restore much needed help to many poorer pensioners. The books cannot be balanced on the backs of pensioners.
“We have had years of chaos and decline under the Conservatives but the sense of hope, urgency and the promise of a fair deal will not be delivered by this Labour Budget.”
Motherwell, Wishaw and Carluke Labour MP Pamela Nash said: “Just as Labour promised in its manifesto, we have protected working people in Scotland with no increase in National Insurance or VAT.
“When residents of Motherwell, Wishaw and Carluke receive their pay slips, there will be no extra deductions. When they fill up their cars, there will be no change at the petrol pumps.
“And those receiving the National Living Wage, benefits or the state pension will have more money in their pockets.
“These measures are a deserved much-needed boost for hard-working local people right across the constituency and the country.
“This Budget signals a real commitment to protecting working families and rejecting the damaging austerity measures that have scarred our communities for far too long.”
She continued: “Scotland will also receive an additional £3.4 billion in Treasury funding – the largest real-terms funding settlement since devolution.
“For three years in a row, the SNP has had to make emergency in-year budget cuts, with its incompetence leaving a trail of chaos right through our public services.
“Working people in Scotland are paying more and getting less. The Scottish Government must ensure that it spends this money wisely, and gives public services in Scotland the upgrade they so badly need.”
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