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2 Oct 2012
The SNP have been challenged to publish by the end of 2012 a detailed breakdown of the costs of providing universal services for each of the next ten years.
The current costs of providing concessionary travel for th
ose aged 60 and above is £192million, while moving to free prescriptions is estimated to have cost £38million a year.
The cost of providing these and other universal benefits is expected to spiral over the next decade.
Holyrood will discuss a motion tomorrow on the funding of such services.
Ahead of the debate, the Scottish Conservatives have put down an amendment, calling on the SNP to give the most “accurate possible” forecasts on the costs of providing such services up until 2023.
Finance spokesman Gavin Brown MSP said:
“The SNP should have no problem getting this information together by the end of the year since they already have most of the information to hand.
“Most right-thinking people will see no reason why the Scottish Government should not make public information on how they intend to spend the taxes generated by hard-working Scots across the country.
“With Scotland facing major demographic and social pressure it’s impossible to have an honest and transparent debate on the future policy on universal services without these figures.
“Finance Secretary John Swinney now has some homework to do over the next few months and I look forward to seeing the full results.”
Notes to Editors
Please see an amendment to Labour’s motion.
Gavin Brown: Amendment to motion S4M-04340 in the name of Johann Lamont: Scotland’s Future – delete all and insert: “That the Parliament notes that demographic and social pressures are increasing; agrees with the Commission on the Future Delivery of Public Services that “Contentious issues such as the continuation of universal entitlements must be considered openly and transparently, rather than in the current polarised terms”, and calls on all members to consider how to fully fund and sustain high quality public services in Scotland that best support the needs of Scots now and in the future; and therefore calls on the Scottish Government to publish by the end of 2012 the most accurate possible forecasts for spending on Universal Services in Scotland for each of the next 10 years
S4M-04340 Johann Lamont: Scotland’s Future—That the Parliament notes that cuts are currently taking place at both national and local level and having an impact on people’s daily lives: recognises that it is those most in need that are often acutely affected by these cuts; notes that the Centre for Public Policy for Regions has calculated that over three quarters of the real-terms decline in resource spend has still to come; recognises that, at the same time, demographic and social pressures are increasing; agrees with the Commission on the Future Delivery of Public Services that “Contentious issues such as the continuation of universal entitlements must be considered openly and transparently, rather than in the current polarised terms”, and calls on all members to consider how to fully fund and sustain high quality public services in Scotland that best support the needs of Scots now and in the future.
