The SNP Government’s Budget will clear its first hurdle today after opposition parties agreed deals with John Swinney.
The Scottish Greens and the Lib Dems have reached separate agreements to back the spending plans for the year ahead, while Alba MSP Ash Regan has also confirmed she will vote for it.
Scottish Labour has said it will abstain on the tax and spending plans while the Conservatives vote against.
The tax and spending plans will face a final vote in Holyrood later this month.
Shona Robison claimed the money will be used to bring down waiting times in the NHS. She said: “The Scottish Budget targets funding at measures to improve the lives of Scottish people, with record investment in the public services on which we all rely.
“Scotland’s NHS is one of our most cherished institutions, which is why the Budget provides £21.7 billion for health and social care, including £200 million to reduce waiting times and help tackle delayed discharge.
She added: “We know the NHS is still under considerable pressure due to lingering effects of the pandemic. Relieving this pressure is one of our main objectives.
“To that end, we have committed to a substantial increase in capacity to ensure no one waits more than a year for treatment by March 2026.
“The changes we propose will deliver more than 150,000 extra appointments and procedures in the coming year.”
The deals struck by the Greens and Lib Dems cost a total of £16.7 million.
The Lib Dems secured increased investment for drugs services and hospices, while the Greens were given a pledge for a regional scheme to cap bus fares at £2.
Ministers have also pledged to mitigate the effects of the two-child benefit cap, though opponents point out no money has been set aside for this in the 2025/26 spending plans.
The Scottish Tories have repeatedly voiced their opposition to the Budget, with leader Russell Findlay telling the PA news agency on Monday that his party put forward “common sense proposals” – which included a £1 billion income tax cut.
“In addition we put forward a range of measures that would have helped businesses,” he said.
“The hospitality industry, in particular, is on its knees in Scotland because this Government has done everything in their power to make life hard for them.
“We are pro-business, we are low taxation and that’s why we cannot support this Budget.”
Speaking during a visit to defence firm Thales in Glasgow, Mr Findlay later told journalists his party got nothing out of the Budget negotiations with the Government.
“What we got out of the Budget in terms of material gains for hard-working Scots – zero,” he said.
“The SNP came forward with a Budget that’s going to further harm economic growth and further harm the interests of Scottish workers.”
Scottish Labour finance spokesman Michael Marra said the Government was “failing” and had “no plan for change and no vision for the future” as his party is set to abstain in the vote.
“The Labour Government decisively ended the era of Tory austerity and delivered the largest budget settlement for Scotland in the history of devolution, boosting funding by £5.2 billion,” he said.
“This funding should be transformative, but in reality our public services will continue to be held back by SNP mismanagement.
“Right now almost one in six Scots are on an NHS waiting list, our schools are tumbling down the international league tables, and public services are stretched to breaking point.
“The SNP’s Budget was always going to pass, but it will not deliver the change in direction Scotland really needs.”
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