Tag: devolution

Devolution: Work With Us

COSLA comments on the Prime Minister’s speech on devolution

Commenting on the Prime Minister’s speech on devolution on Friday, COSLA Vice President Cllr Steven Heddle stressed the need for early and meaningful engagement with Scottish Local Government around any significant proposals for a model of regional empowerment.

Cllr Heddle said: “The Prime Minister has set out UK Government’s thinking around greater devolution to Scotland and to Local Government in particular.  

“COSLA is strongly supportive of that principle of subsidiarity, and has been actively and positively involved in discussions around regional economic partnership working, albeit not the specifics of the Prime Minister’s speech today.  

“The development of any proposals such as this must be based around meaningful engagement.  COSLA stands ready to participate fully in any discussions with both UK and Scottish Governments around the future shape of local democracy in Scotland.

“Our position remains consistent – this must be about bringing decisions closer to communities, improving local democracy and delivering better outcomes for all.  This should not be devolution imposed from the top down.

“Communities and vital staff delivering services day-in-day out must meaningfully inform the future of local services and UK Government must work with COSLA on any future devolution proposals.”

PRIME MINISTER ANDY BURNHAM’s SPEECH IN FULL:

It’s great to be with you. Thanks to the college, as Douglas says, for having us. 

It’s good to be back in Scotland, to be here in Motherwell. 

And I should say – I’m going to say this now, but I might regret it – the true north!

Please don’t tell anyone in Manchester that I said that.

You know I’ve created Number 10 North? Are you aware of that? Have you heard of that?

I know here you’ll probably call it Number 10 South. 

And then you’ve got now Number 10 South South. 

So you’re going to have to have your own way now of describing it. 

But it is brilliant to be here. 

I was in Scotland for the Opening Ceremony of the Commonwealth Games in the summer and, can I say, what a job Glasgow did in stepping forward to host it. Really grateful to them, did it brilliantly.  

I’m actually here more than you might think. I sneak into Scotland without you knowing. I was here between Christmas and New Year last year for Hibs-Hearts and it has not escaped my notice that Motherwell are currently above the former in the SPL. 

Although, well I think there are some Motherwell supporters here, surely. I hope there are. 

I care about Scotland and I am coming today with a big offer and in search of common ground.

When I walked into Downing Street in July, I said I wanted to do politics differently. Place-first not party-first. 

Honestly, I meant it. I meant it and I arrive here in that spirit because people in Scotland, in my view, deserve better from politicians and politics, as they do all over the UK, to be honest.

So that’s why I’m here. I’m here in that spirit because I want to show that politics can be better and we can work in a different way, place first, not party first. 

And I want to say something so Scotland understands this. 

I left Westminster in 2017 to become the first Mayor of Greater Manchester because I had come to see quite clearly how Westminster didn’t work for the North of England, North West of England as well. 

My work on Hillsborough had brought me to the same conclusion that Scotland had reached many years before us.

And I felt the same frustrations as Scotland, Scottish ministers, in my ten years as the mayor, because often the way we were treated wasn’t right, it wasn’t good enough. 

So I want everyone in Scotland to know that my reason in going back to Westminster is not to carry on with the same old Westminster and Whitehall ways and go back to that, I’m going back to change all of that. That’s why I’m Prime Minister. 

When I say I want good growth in every postcode, that means every single postcode in Scotland as well.

And what that requires is giving more power to people and places everywhere to change more things for themselves.

One of the most important examples of this that I have seen came not from Manchester but from somewhere not so far from here. 

In August 2023, with the help of the ground-breaking Scottish Violence Reduction Unit, I visited FARE-Scotland at Bannatyne House in Easterhouse with the Greater Manchester Violence Reduction Unit.

And we went because we’d heard all of the reports about what was happening, and the innovation that they were doing in Easterhouse. 

Many of our communities had the same challenges – unfairly labelled and, you know, given a certain reputation – and that kind of hangs over. 

But we had picked up on the stories that were coming out of things that were being done to turn people’s lives around. 

So we went to see. 

I had expected to spend two hours there talking about policing, drugs and violence.

Instead, we only talked about empowerment and opportunity.

The need to stop communities being labelled and defined by the negatives and instead to celebrate their positives and the assets that they’ve got.

It was an amazing time. I’ll never forget it. 

And also we talked about how to create personal pathways, very personal pathways, for each young person, individually tailored for them, working with local employers.

And then to help those young people take those chances up to get them the right clothes so they didn’t feel out of place when they were going to those opportunities and those appointments, or those interviews, and have their travel covered as well. 

It was something I’d never really heard explained in quite that way before. 

It was true extra mile, bottom-up, person-centred support.

Rooted in local values.

Run by the local community and the people on the estate.

And it worked.

Well, why wouldn’t it work? It would work, wouldn’t it, if you run things like that. That’s how they should be done. 

So I took everything I heard that day from Easterhouse and I took it back to Greater Manchester and I used it to pioneer what we called the Live Well model in Greater Manchester.

It was all about moving away from top-down, tick box systems that no one trusts and sometimes can make people feel worse about themselves, not better, when they’ve interacted with that system. 

It was about moving away from the often patronising approach of public services so powerfully described by Darren McGarvey in his book Poverty Safari. And if you haven’t read it, I would recommend it to you. 

And it pointed towards a new approach based on trusting local communities, and let them sort things out for themselves, because they know the solutions that they need.  

And lo and behold, just as Easterhouse had done, we began to achieve more for people than we could have imagined before through Live Well. 

So I carry all of that learning with me into my time as Prime Minister, and I am really clear about the changes I want to see. 

When I walked up Downing Street and into No10, I was determined to push power out of it – and into the hands of local people. That’s what this country needs, in my view, all over it. In all of the regions, in all of the nations. 

To rewire the state, rewire it so that it works right across the UK, and every postcode is empowered to do more for itself. 

So I will do that because in the past we saw too many people, too many places written off, powerless to fight the effects of deindustrialisation. 

And I don’t think I need to say that in this room today, with the history that there is on this site with regards to the effects of deindustrialisation. 

I don’t want anyone ever to be in the position again that this community was in 30 or so years ago. 

And it’s the reason I wanted to come to Motherwell today.

The story of this area and this town gets to the heart of why I believe we need to do things differently.

You know, it’s important to talk to Pamela today as the local MP to understand that history, but also to understand how those challenges are still there, and we know they’re very real challenges, and we want to be able to empower people here to be able to do more, to soften the effects of those things, find new solutions.

What you have here is a proud manufacturing past, and the apprentices who are with us today are obviously taking that tradition forward, and we’re proud of you, and we know you’ll go on to do great things. 

But you’ve been let down. Certainly young people in all parts of the UK have been let down by political choices made far away from here. 

By people often who have no clue, really, about what life is like here. 

So that is basically the history. 

You know, in the past, if you think about this area, if Britain was building something big the fair chance was the steel would have come from here. 

You know, it was the heart of an industrial Britain. 

And this college, I think I’m right in saying, is on the very site where Ravenscraig once stood. 

And in my youth, if I go back to the 70s and 80s, you couldn’t not hear that name, Ravenscraig, on the news, such was its massive importance to the country. 

When it closed, it wasn’t just a works that shut.

It was a whole community which saw the pillars underneath it just taken away, collapse beneath it. 

And that was a decision taken hundreds of miles away by people, without any real consequences for what that would mean for people here. 

Taken by people who would never have to live with those consequences and see those consequences every day. 

And more than thirty years on, I know that work is still ongoing to fill the Ravenscraig site, such is the hole that it left.  

And I know that story myself, as well. 

Because I represented a former mining community, Leigh in the old Lancashire coalfield, and I was the MP there for sixteen years from the early 2000s, just after the pits had shut in the 1990s.

It broke my heart to see the old miners shuffling into my surgery every week carrying oxygen bottles still struggling to get compensation for the damage that was done to their lungs

It pained me to drive past the wasteland around Bickershaw Colliery, one of the last pits to close in Leigh.

Nobody asked Leigh what was going to come next either.

No one in Whitehall went to Leigh and said, “Here’s what we’re going to do with transition”. Just gone. 

And this is the way the UK has been run in our lifetimes, and it’s what needs to change.

It took so much, this country, from Motherwell and its people in terms of the building of Britain. 

And it took so much from Leigh in terms of the powering of Britain, and then just abandoned them when life moved on.

So I am here today to spell out how I plan to do things differently as Prime Minister in all parts of the UK.

Taking power out of the centre, and putting it into places like this, empowering people. 

Because that to me  is just as important in Scotland as it is anywhere else in the UK.

All of the nations that make up the UK, including Scotland, are too unequal internally. 

Like in England, public transport in Scotland is way better in the capital of Scotland than it is in any other city or town in Scotland. 

Or if you look at high streets. 

If you go to Edinburgh today, you’ll see around one in twenty shops lying empty.

But if you go to Dundee, it’s more likely one in five.

Again, not an accident.

It’s what happens when too many of the good jobs go.

When the spending power reduces, and then obviously the high streets suffer and the shops go. 

And people in Aberdeen are living through that now, and they’re very much on my mind, and I’ll have more to say about that in due course. 

If you look at population in Scotland, there are places that haven’t grown like the rest of Scotland, where if you say in the West like Inverclyde, the working population has shrunk.

And why? It’s because it’s what happens when young people can’t see a future for themselves in those areas, and then they move away to find it.

And this one should really give us pause for thought: life expectancy.

It’s wonderful to see the emphasis being put in this college, if I could say this to the principal, on brain health. 

Really asking every student to think about health. 

I think that’s such a powerful message that you’re sending. 

But the truth is we need to do that because the health inequalities are still far too wide. 

A man in East Renfrewshire can live, as I understand, on average seven years longer than a man in Glasgow, even though there is only ten miles between the two places. 

It’s the same elsewhere, in all parts of the country. 

You can just go a few miles and you can see the housing change, you can see the community change, and of course you can see then the health of the people is not what it should be. 

And when people live in a country like that, where it doesn’t feel fair place to place, that’s what then creates the divides that people see, and then it damages people’s trust, and they don’t feel the country is fair to all people and to all places. 

Because when you’ve watched the works go, when you’ve watched the jobs go, the high street become empty, and one government after another tell you that things will get better, why should anybody believe any of us?

And it means we’ve got to change first. Politicians have to change. 

Write a new script, do things very differently, because it’s not been working, what we’ve been doing. 

We spend a lot of time focusing on the differences between Scotland and England.

But what is perhaps more striking is how similar the problems in places across Scotland and England.  

The same cost-of-living pressures and lack of good jobs.

The same huge gaps between the regions.

The same decline sometimes seen on the high streets. 

And the same sense that where you live still has too much bearing on your life as a whole.

And the issue was never the regions themselves. 

They never lacked potential.

Ambition…

Talent…

Drive.

It’s just that the country, at a national level – UK level, Holyrood level – has not often shared the same ambitions of those places and empowered them to achieve those ambitions. 

For decades, the centre sown in London has looked past too many places.

And hasn’t trusted people in those places to make their own decisions about their future.

And that centre has also refused to give up power when it’s been asked to do so. It’s kept hold of the power even when places across the country have been desperate for more ability to do more for themselves. 

Twenty-seven years on, you led the way on devolution here in Scotland with the creation of the Scottish Parliament.

And that was absolutely right.

But devolution was never meant to stop there.

It was never supposed to stop at the doors of the Scottish Parliament.

Obviously, there’s huge progress to look back on. 

Public control of water…

Public ownership of rail…

Free personal care…

And these are all Issues very close to my own heart, and I applaud them…

But they were always meant – as I understand it, because I was in Parliament, as Douglas said, at the time with him – always meant to be the start of something deeper.

The foundations of a nation where communities had more of a say in their own future…

And where the norm was always to push power out until it reached every person and every post code.

Instead, we’ve ended up with the situation where Scotland, the most devolved nation in the UK, is itself one of the most centralised nations in Europe.

And I don’t say that to score points.

Genuinely, I don’t. 

I say that because I believe we need to be honest about that if we really want to get growth in every post code, if we really want to renew every part of the United Kingdom. 

That’s why one of the first things I did as Prime Minister was start shifting that power out of Westminster.

And already we’re giving local leaders in England more power and control over transport…

More say over skills and investment…

More freedom to build an economy around the strengths of their communities.

We’re finally making the centre work for people…

Rather than asking them to work around us.

And this is what I mean by devolution by default, and deep devolution. 

Not swapping power from one parliament to another…

But going deeper.

Putting power down into the regions…

Control back into the hands of the local people who know how to use it best.

And as our English regions see the benefits…

I want those same opportunities for Scotland and Scottish regions.

The chance to stop looking back what was once here…

And start looking forward to what’s coming next.

And that does mean something different for both governments, the UK government and the Scottish government. 

This is the heart of what I wanted to say to you today. 

It means working together in a different way and backing places in a different way across Scotland, and giving them the necessary investment to bring forward a new vision for the reindustrialisation of Scotland that these young people who are with us today can feel hopeful about. 

It is great that the Scottish government has this week agreed to match the UK government’s £10 million to create two defence technical excellence colleges, and Douglas informed me of that news today. 

So there will be one in the east and one in the west. 

That’s an example, I think, of how it should be done. 

The UK government and the Scottish government making something bigger than it might otherwise have been if one of them had done it alone. 

And credit to Douglas and John Swinney for working together on that. 

It means Scots trained for well-paid, skilled jobs in a defence sector that already supports 12,000 jobs here in Scotland

My government’s job is to do whatever we can to support more of those high ambitions in every part of Scotland.

It’s why we’re backing Scottish shipbuilding.

It’s why we’re working with the Scottish government to help secure new investment and new opportunities for the Grangemouth site. And we will keep working hard at that. 

And it’s why we are committed to ensuring the next generation of energy jobs, created right here in Scotland.

Because I know how much these industries matter to people.

To workers.

To their families.

And to the communities they have built around them.

It’s also why I am working on a new deal for food and farming at the EU-UK Summit on the 20th of November. 

I am working closely with our EU partners in relation to that. Why? Because it would have hugely beneficial impacts on the food industry and farming here in Scotland.

And it is why I want to see a change in public procurement across the UK and working with the devolved governments, the same there.

When I was Mayor of Greater Manchester, I put buses back under public control, and it meant I had the ability to choose where the buses we bought were built, and I chose Scotland.

I chose to back Scottish manufacturing. 

I rejected the old Whitehall way of always going to find the cheapest contract anywhere in the world, because I recognised if you paid even a little more, it would still have circular benefits for British communities. 

So I was determined that the buses on the roads of Greater Manchester today were built by Alexander Dennis in Falkirk. 

And I did that because I knew it would sustain those communities. And Euan was there with me when we announced some of those contracts. 

I want all public procurement in the UK to work like that, to follow the same approach and back a plan, a solid plan, to reindustrialise all of Britain. 

But, from there, we have to allow our own regions to forge their own future, and that means Westminster and Holyrood learning to let go and make decisions about what comes next themselves.

The good news is Scotland’s regions already have so many strengths to build on.

In Dundee, you’ve got a world-leading video games industry.

Across the Highlands and the Islands, you’re building a new space industry, with new launch sites emerging.

In Edinburgh, a thriving fintech sector.

The list goes on.

Imagine what more places could achieve if they had greater control and investment to help those businesses grow.

If the people who understood those industries best had more say over where the money went, and which opportunities they went after, they would be building more stronger technical education paths, education paths into their emerging sectors.

We’ve already seen glimpses of what that can look like.

An approach that puts local businesses, universities and councils in the driving seat has seen companies like Chemify turn groundbreaking research into real manufacturing jobs in Glasgow.

And that’s the sort of thing I want to see so much more of.

It’s why we’re putting a billion pounds into research and innovation across the UK in the coming years.

But I don’t want all the decisions about where that money goes being made in Whitehall.

We’re already giving English mayors more control over funding for local innovation.

And I want to explore now how Scotland’s regions can have the same powers to decide where more of that research and development investment goes. 

Because the people building these industries, they know where those industries can go in the future. 

Our job isn’t to stand in their way…

It’s to give them what they need to go after those opportunities.

And there’s one more thing.

Because none of this means very much if the people growing up in these communities don’t get the chance to take up the opportunities that come out of it.

We can announce all the investment we like and all of the big numbers. 

We can build factories…

We can win contracts…

We can create new businesses.

But if a young person down the road growing up here can’t get the skills or support they need to work there…

Then we haven’t got it right.

And right now, too many young people are missing out.

I mean, none of us feel comfortable about these statistics, and it’s the same in England, I’m not pointing the finger at Scotland. 

But the fact is around one in six young people here are not in education, employment or training.

It just isn’t right, is it? It isn’t good enough. 

All of those young people experiencing that feeling of less hope and not having a sense of direction for the future. 

I’ve been clear that care for people is at the heart of everything that I’m about and what my government will do.

And I won’t have a country where we get comfortable with the idea of kids in their 20s just being there on benefits. 

I won’t. I never will accept that some are just written off, given the feeling that they don’t matter or they’re not seen. 

I don’t believe the answer is another scheme designed in the centre – another top-down scheme – and then kind of imposed on every community in the way that we’ve done it in the past. 

It won’t work again. We’ve heard it before. 

The review led by Alan Milburn is challenging us to look at this very differently.

To build a system based on the Easterhouse principle of names not numbers.

Build it from the bottom up. 

Let communities build it. They know best. 

And this is what I’m here to say. I think the time has come for deeper devolution in Scotland to empower all of the proud places across this wonderful nation, every single bit of it. 

More power to do more, and that unlocks a feeling of positivity that you can do something to change the place where you live. 

That’s what I want to see. More power to give people the support they need to access opportunities as they become available in new industries.

And, crucially, treat them as an individual.

I come back to that phrase, names not numbers.

That’s what you can do when you work from the bottom up, as they did in Easterhouse. 

You can just think about the person in front of you, not sometimes the “computer says no” approach where you just give them bad news. 

Come at it a different way, see what they’ve got, and then help them unlock all of that potential.

Don’t see them as a problem to be managed via a programme designed and implemented from Westminster or Holyrood. 

Because the barriers a young person faces in Glasgow, they won’t necessarily be the same as someone growing up in the Highlands.

And the opportunities in Dundee won’t be the same as those in Lanarkshire. That’s just a fact. 

I want to work with the Scottish government and Scottish local government to join up colleges, employers, employment support and local services.

And just like Scotland did in Easterhouse.

And just like we did in Greater Manchester, let’s create a new way of supporting people. 

That’s the vision everybody. I hope it resonates: a revitalised Scotland in a reindustrialised UK, where every region plays their part, and there are new paths for people in every post code across the UK.

I want all areas of Scotland to be part of that and to feel the possibility that they can be part of that, to play their part. 

And I open out a hand to the Scottish government, perhaps not in a way that people in my job have come and done in the past, but I do. 

Because I am long in my political career now, and I know enough now to know that tribal politics and point-scoring in the end doesn’t get you anywhere  

Politicians like to do it, but the public can’t bear it because it just doesn’t work. 

Problem-solving, not point-scoring is what I said when I walked up Downing Street and I mean it, and I’m going to stick to it. And you can all hold me to account on it. 

I know progress has been made here over the last decade with the City Region Deals.

But it is time to think about what comes next.

And how we build on them for the next generation.

We need to look at the resources and decision-making powers that sit at the regional level in Scotland so that no Scottish city regions are left behind.

And I know the Scottish government has also announced a long-term programme for local government reform.

But, if you ask me, we’ve got to move faster and we’ve got to do more. 

Growth won’t wait. 

And if we don’t move now, Scotland could lose out. 

There is a risk that some of the towns and the cities become underpowered when some of the towns and cities of the North of England are going the other way and starting to power up, and I don’t want to see that as Prime Minister. 

I want everywhere to do well. And I think everywhere can do well. 

I do want good growth in every postcode here and the rest of the UK.

And I want to work with the First Minister to deliver it. 

Because, the fact is we won’t agree on everything and we’re not going to and we shouldn’t try because there are some things we will disagree on. 

But that does not mean just because you can’t agree on everything it doesn’t mean you can’t agree on anything. 

We can agree on some things, and I know that because I’ve worked with John over a long period of time as well. 

In my mind, the real question is not whether we should try and work together… 

The real question is why on earth we wouldn’t we?

It would only be party politics that would stop that, and that’s not a good enough reason not to try and work together. 

So today I want to make a serious and genuine offer to the Scottish Government.

I want to move on from the old politics of conflict…

To bring people together….

Across governments and in Scotland… 

Alongside Number 10 North….

Or Number 10 South to you…

And in the immediate months ahead, I want us to design a new model, together, of regional economic empowerment across all of Scotland. 

One that puts control where it should be, in the hands of local people.

And if it’s going to really mean something, it has to be thorough.

At the UK-level, we are looking at how we can devolve innovation, enterprise and employability funding so that that can be used to be matched to the strengths of Scotland’s people and places to create new industries and jobs.

And let me just be really specific about this.

It goes back to what I said about that book, Poverty Safari. 

Because I read that and it had a big impact on me. 

You know, it makes people feel really remote, doesn’t it, from the powers that be and those making decisions? 

So I’m going to be specific and make an offer today. 

An offer of DWP devolution. 

I want to offer Scotland a model of localised employment support, similar to the one in England but obviously shaped by Holyrood and one that’s right for Scotland, not repeating that. 

Because that’s a classic example of where the UK government should work with the Scottish government. 

If you want the best employment support, not a tick-box system, then it has to go deep. It has to go right down. In other words, it has to be based on the Easterhouse principle. Has to be. 

Names not numbers. If it’s not based on that, it won’t work. It will just be repeating the same system in a different way. 

But I want to give Scotland the power to take the Easterhouse model nationwide here 

Not a project on one estate, but the way we support everybody, everywhere. 

And we should absolutely explore how to give Scotland’s regions the ability to develop the skills, the transport systems and investment, the infrastructure, the housing, everything they need to make sure the areas here are set up to deliver their full potential.

So in a couple of weeks, the National Economic Council will meet with the First Ministers of Scotland and Wales, and the First Minister and Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland, and we will do that for the first time since I became Prime Minister to put that offer on the table and to see if we can work out a plan together.

I think that feels different. I hope you sense that too as you hear me lay it out. 

And my message to John is simple: 

I want to push economic power out into the regions of Scotland. 

Do you? Do you? 

Because, if you do, let’s agree on it. Let’s agree a new process, working with Douglas and working with John’s team. Let’s agree on a new proposal that’s right for Scotland, and we work together on it. 

Let’s have both of Scotland’s governments coming together with a joint ambition to push power out from the centre – from Westminster and Holyrood –  and put it into the hands of local people. 

And together, let’s reindustrialise Scotland.

Because I absolutely know that it can be done. 

And I’ll finish on this point, you’ll be glad to hear. I’ve had a lot to say, and I wanted to say it directly so you understood fully where I am coming from. 

Here’s the thing, how much time have we wasted – and I’m thinking about my visits as a politician to Scotland – how much time have we wasted just debating what differentiates us, rather than saying, right, what can we agree on and let’s talk about that, rather than talking about the other stuff. 

And I think the time has come for that. 

The country is not in a position to carry on putting politics before places and politics before people. 

It’s not in a position. We can all see and feel that. 

We need to build our prosperity everywhere. 

We need to get the growth going everywhere. 

And that’s the thing. If we get this right in this moment, we will all spend more time in the years ahead talking about the exciting things that are happening in all of the different places in Scotland, and less about politics and political dramas.

And after all, isn’t that the best thing of all that politicians could do for the people, to stop you having to worry about politics and all of us talking about how we build a better future together?

So thank you for listening, everybody. Thank you for letting me speak to you today. I am really taken by the fact that so many people are here, so many people are listening. 

Is there a feeling that we make this a moment of change? Is that what people want? 

And do you think you speak for people around Scotland? Does everyone want a moment of change? The two governments working together?

Well, let’s do it then.

Burnham offer to Swinney: Let’s work together to empower Scotland

BUT IS MORE ‘REGIONAL EMPOWERMENT’ ENOUGH FOR SCOTS?

In a speech today, the Prime Minister will invite Scotland’s First Minister to work with him on the common good of pushing more power out of both Westminster and Holyrood, unlocking jobs and opportunity in every region.

Delivering his remarks after speaking with young people today in Lanarkshire, Andy Burnham will emphasise the Scottish Government is one of the most centralised devolved administrations in Europe, with Holyrood not giving people who know their areas best enough of a say, despite significant devolution from Westminster over the last 27 years.

Because power was never supposed to stop at the doors of the Scottish Parliament, the Prime Minister will argue the next stage of devolution should place more decision-making in the hands of Scotland’s regions and cities to drive reindustrialisation.

As part of that offer, he will call on the Scottish Government to work with the UK Government through No10 North and the Scotland Office to develop a new model of regional empowerment for Scotland, ensuring communities with their own strengths, identity and ambitions can seize new economic opportunities and unlock their potential.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham said: “During my first week in office, I told the First Minister that I wanted to work with him to spread opportunities to communities across Scotland’s regions and cities.

“Through No10 North, we are rewiring the state and I want to make sure regions in Scotland are fully part of this.

“This is me making an offer to the Scottish Government. With us working together, there is no limit to what we can achieve for the Scottish people.”

The Scottish Secretary, Douglas Alexander said: “Devolution has done a great deal, but power was never supposed to stop at the doors of the Scottish Parliament. People in North Lanarkshire, in Fife or in the Highlands know what their communities need better than any minister, whether they sit in London or Edinburgh.

“The Prime Minister’s offer to the Scottish Government is a genuine one, and the Scotland Office is ready to roll up its sleeves alongside them to make it happen. Two governments, one goal – good jobs and real opportunity in every corner of Scotland”.

Latest poll suggest more Scots would vote for independence if another referendum was called today.

Cardiff Agreement signed

Scottish and Welsh Governments to collaborate on matters of shared interest

The Scottish and Welsh Governments have agreed to improve how they work together on areas of shared interest to strengthen democracy and deliver better outcomes for people in Scotland and Wales.

The Cardiff Agreement, which was signed by First Ministers John Swinney and Rhun ap Iorwerth, covers areas of common interest including:

  • tackling child poverty and improving outcomes for children and families
  • the cost of living and improving living standards
  • sustainable and inclusive economic growth
  • climate change and strengthening climate resilience
  • international engagement, including with the EU
  • recognising the importance of language, culture, media and sport

The Agreement will support more evidence sharing, partnership working on policy development and engagement at both ministerial and official levels.

First Minister John Swinney said: “The signing of the Cardiff Agreement is an important moment in the history of devolution. It will improve the way the Scottish and Welsh Governments work together on our shared priorities so we can deliver better outcomes for the people we serve.

“The Agreement reflects a relationship built on trust and mutual respect. Distinct approaches will still be necessary, but we share common goals and a commitment to learn from each other.

“The new era of co-operation represented by the signing of this Agreement will be underpinned by a shared belief that the people of Scotland and Wales are best placed to decide their own constitutional future and should not be held back by a UK system that does not work for our nations.”

First Minister of Wales Rhun ap Iorwerth said: “Today’s agreement sets out areas of shared interest on which we as First Ministers and our respective governments will collaborate in the coming years, to strengthen democracy and improve outcomes for the people of Wales and Scotland.  

“While Wales and Scotland are on different constitutional journeys, we both share a commitment to strong, accountable devolved government, and to a relationship between the governments of these islands built on trust and mutual respect.

“We share a belief that our people should decide their own future, and that the Union isn’t working fairly for either nation. We will use every opportunity available to us to press the case for greater fairness for Wales and Scotland and for powers over our constitutional futures.”

The Cardiff Agreement is available to read on the Scottish Government’s website.

Burnham hands England’s mayors share of income tax to make lives better ‘in every postcode’

The Prime Minister has launched ‘the biggest transfer of power from Westminster in a generation’, giving England’s communities greater control over the decisions that shape jobs, transport, housing and public services in their area

  • Biggest transfer of power, funding and responsibility from Westminster in a generation
  • Mayors to keep a share of income tax and business rates revenues so communities directly benefit when their economy grows, with new powers for communities still on the road to devolution
  • Taking a tried and tested approach nationwide – delivering better transport, more homes and skills training matched to local jobs

The Prime Minister yesterday launched ‘the biggest transfer of power from Westminster in a generation’, giving communities greater control over the decisions that shape jobs, transport, housing and public services in their area.

As part of the largest package of financial powers ever offered to English mayors, mayors will receive a share of income tax revenues for the first time.

This means when places create jobs and grow their economies, they will now keep more of the rewards – giving local leaders new powers to invest in what matters most locally.

The government wants every community to benefit from stronger local decision-making. Areas without a mayor will still be supported to establish strategic authorities and gain greater control over local priorities.

In his second week in office, the Prime Minister told his Cabinet that it is time to launch a new era of devolution – taking power and decision-making out of SW1 and putting it closer to people’s lives.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham said: “I said we’d take power out of Westminster and carry it into every postcode in the country. Today, we make good on that promise.

“Under our plans, more of the taxes raised in a community will stay in that community. Soon, every local leader will have the power and resources to improve public transport, build homes and create jobs.

“I know what it’s like to be ignored by politicians in Westminster. I’m not going to make that same mistake now I’m PM.

“The whole of government will now pull together behind the people and places that desperately need our support. This is how we’ll bring back hope and bring power home to you.”

The plans will end the Whitehall-first culture that has held back local areas for decades, forcing departments to justify why powers should stay in Westminster rather than be handed to local leaders.

By shifting power, funding and decision-making closer to people, the changes will give every part of the country the tools to create strong local economies, improve public services and shape its own future.

Chancellor of the Exchequer, John Healey MP said: “The people who best understand what skills employers want, what transport an area needs and where investment can make the biggest difference are those who live there.

“For the first time we’re giving Mayors a share of income tax so communities directly benefit when their economy grows – passing power out of Westminster and driving growth in every postcode. 

“This is the way we start to build new hope and advance the working people of this country.”

From next spring, mayors will begin retaining a greater share of locally generated revenues, starting with business rates. Further details on this and on income tax retention will be set out in a roadmap at the Budget and will be underpinned by the government’s firm commitment to fiscal discipline.

Over time, local areas will move away from dependence on Whitehall grants and towards funding that rewards local growth.

The ambition is to extend the benefits of devolution across the whole UK, working with devolved governments and local leaders to give communities more control over their future.

Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government Angela Rayner said:  “This is the first step in our plan to rewire this country and build a better future, where power is no longer hoarded in Westminster but is put back in the hands of local people – where it belongs.

“Our devolution revolution is about bringing an end to the begging-bowl culture of the past, and instead making sure our local leaders have the tools they need to drive the change that communities have been crying out for.

“We need every region to be firing on all cylinders if we want good growth in every postcode, and we will do everything in our power to make that a reality.”

The reforms will be driven by a strengthened No10 North operation, working with mayors, local leaders and other partners to remove barriers to growth, accelerate delivery and ensure government is better connected to communities across the country.

Local leaders will gain greater control over the services that shape people’s lives, including housing, transport, skills, employment support and public services.

This includes powers to:

  • Bring rail and bus services under greater local control, helping introduce integrated ticketing and more reliable services.
  • Build more homes where they’re needed and unlock stalled development sites by giving local leaders stronger planning and regeneration powers and more devolved funding.
  • Give more control over large local transport schemes, trams and metros to Mayors by removing and streamlining Whitehall.
  • Give mayors control over 16-19 funding and employment support, so young people can train for the jobs local employers need and people out of work can get tailored support back into employment.
  • Back local industries and innovative businesses, and attract investment, creating more well-paid jobs.
  • Where power is devolved, Whitehall resource will follow, giving devolved leaders the resources they need to drive change closer to home

Reforms will remove barriers that prevent locally led transport projects from going ahead, handing over new planning powers for mayors and give local areas greater flexibility over how funding is spent.

Under a new “local first” principle, ministers will be expected to justify why powers should remain in Whitehall rather than being devolved.

The United Kingdom has invested less in its future than any other G7 country over the past three decades. Giving local leaders greater control over funding and investment decisions will help unlock opportunities that have too often been overlooked by a Whitehall-led approach.

The Prime Minister believes the country’s towns, cities and communities can drive far more growth and opportunity if they are given the tools to do so.

Where local leaders have been trusted with greater responsibility, they have already delivered results:

  • In West Yorkshire, a Housing Investment Fund of up to £334 million is helping unlock land for development and bring forward stalled sites, supporting the delivery of thousands of new homes.
  • In the Liverpool City Region, local leaders are transforming transport through the rollout of Tap and Go ticketing on Merseyrail, bringing the bus network into local control later this year and taking rail services back into public ownership by 2028.
  • In the North East, 65,000 residents have been supported to gain qualifications, opening up new employment opportunities in sectors including construction and childcare.

The UK cannot rely on success in a small number of places alone. By giving more communities the tools to succeed, these reforms will help spread opportunity more widely, raise living standards and ensure more people feel the benefits of economic success in their everyday lives.

As powers move out of Westminster, the Civil Service will become smaller and more strategic, focusing on the responsibilities that are best exercised at a national level.

Making Britain Better, or just a gimmick? No10 North opens for business

Andy Burnham yesterday became the first Prime Minister to work from No10 North, declaring ‘the days of power being hoarded in SW1 are over’

  • Burnham throws open the doors to No10 North, marking a new era of power flowing out of Whitehall and into every postcode
  • PM revives the National Economic Council in Manchester, bringing ministers and regional mayors around the table to drive devolution from week one
  • Comes as PM gives families and business owners breathing space with VAT off electricity bills, £2 bus fare cap restored, and a 20% business rates cut for pubs, clubs and music venues

Andy Burnham yesterday became the first Prime Minister to work from No10 North as he declared the days of power being hoarded in SW1 are over.

Operating from Heron House in Manchester’s city centre, No10 North will be the government’s new situation room for growth. It brings the levers of local economic growth and devolution together under one roof for the first time.

The Prime Minister is expected to work from No10 North each week so that decisions about the country’s economic future will no longer exclusively be made in Westminster. Other ministers will also work from No10 North on a regular basis, underlining this Government’s determination to do things differently. 

The Prime Minister will chair the first meeting of the revived National Economic Council at No10 North today (Friday), bringing together senior ministers and regional mayors to put devolution at the centre of the Government’s mission to make Britian better. 

The National Economic Council was first established in 2008 to provide a national response to an economic emergency. Its revival reflects the Prime Minister’s belief that delivering economic growth now requires the same level of urgency, focus and collective action, bringing together other government departments and local leaders.

Regional mayors will be invited to sit around the table, cementing devolution at the centre of economic decision-making and backing the Prime Minister’s pledge to rewire Britain so that decisions are taken with local leaders, not just for them.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham said: “For 40 years, power and resources have been sucked into the centre, and too many communities have felt forgotten, without the attention and investment they deserve.

“No 10 North will change that by putting more power into every postcode across the entire country.

“It will be the situation room for making Britain better – the place we use to get power out of Westminster, into the hands of people at a local level, so that they can turn things around.

“The days of Whitehall resisting devolution are over, for good.”

Ahead of the first meeting of the National Economic Council, the Prime Minister will speak to leading Business Representative Organisations including the Federation of Small Business, CBI and the BCC to discuss how Government and business can work together to unlock growth, investment and create jobs across the country.

The NEC’s attendees will flex according to the issues under consideration, bringing together business leaders, trade unions and other partners where their expertise can help drive delivery.

Local economic growth, devolution strategy and local growth policy are being brought together so that government departments, mayors, combined authorities and business can work from a single plan rather than competing ones.

First Secretary of State Louise Haigh said: “Today marks a fundamental re-balancing of where power sits in our country. No10 North has been set up to drive economic growth in every postcode and put power in the hands of every community.

“Through this department, this Government will ensure that the places overlooked by Westminster for decades are given a real voice. No.10 North is open for business.”

Chancellor of the Exchequer, John Healey MP added:  “This is a new era for devolution. Never before has a government been so serious about passing on its own power from Westminster in favour of local areas.

“No10 North sits at the heart of that plan. This is the way we signal real change – and the way we get it done.”

The meeting comes off the back of a series of interventions made to ease the cost of living and back local high streets, setting the tone for the PM’s cost-of-living government.

This week the government has announced:

  • The removal of VAT from domestic electricity bills from 1 October, saving a typical household around £45 a year.
  • The £2 cap on bus fares in England will kick in from January 2027.
  • A 20% cut in business rates for pubs, social clubs and live music venues in England from April 2027, benefiting nearly 32,000 venues and worth around £1,100 a year to a typical pub, on top of the 15% relief already in place.

Burnham pledges ‘growth in every postcode’ as he visits Scotland

BUT YER NO’ GETTING ANOTHER REFERENDUM

  • Prime Minister vows to bring back hope ahead of first meeting with First Ministers of Scotland and Wales.
  • Andy Burnham will also attend the opening ceremony of the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
  • Will say devolution has to be about giving local communities power.
  • Comes as the Prime Minister gives families across the nations more breathing space with immediate action on the cost of living.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham will pledge to deliver growth in every postcode across the UK as he visits Scotland during his first week in office.

This afternoon [Thursday 23 July], the Prime Minister will hold meetings in Glasgow with the First Minister of Scotland John Swinney and the First Minister of Wales Rhun ap Iorwerth, before watching the opening ceremony of the 2026 Commonwealth Games later on. 

During his talks the Prime Minister will set out how he plans to work collaboratively with the heads of the Scottish and Welsh Devolved Governments – based on a genuine partnership.  

Prime Minister Andy Burnham said: “When I say we need good growth in every postcode, I mean every postcode across the whole of the UK. Every place and every person matters.

“I’m not focused on point scoring or discussing constitutional changes like referendums, I want practical measures to help people live well and bring back hope. 

“That’s why I’m giving families more breathing space with help on the cost of living, which I have started this week by taking VAT off electricity bills, saving money for millions of households.”

In his first week, the Prime Minister has taken action to give families more breathing space by cutting taxes on energy bills for tens of millions of families this winter.

But this is just the start. As the Prime Minister has said, we need to rewire the Westminster-centric system that has left too many people feeling disconnected from decision making. That’s why he has set up No10 North to spread opportunity and investment more fairly across the UK and put power closer to people’s lives. 

The government says they are building a new economy, re-industrialising the United Kingdom and using public procurement to back our industry and create jobs.

The Prime Minister is expected to meet with the First Minister and Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland on his tour of the United Kingdom in August, where he will visit places across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Through this tour, the Prime Minister will hear from people about what is needed in their communities as we restore hope that’s not been there in recent decades.

Reeves Budget ‘tackles cost-of-living and backs Scottish industry’

Scottish families will benefit from a Budget to cut the cost-of-living, create more high skilled jobs and invest in public services, as the Chancellor reaffirmed her commitment to drive economic growth.

  • Chancellor announces fair deal for working families with removal of two-child benefit cap, energy bill saving and fuel duty freeze 
  • Scottish industry backed by investments in Grangemouth, Greenock, Leith and Fife 
  • Public services backed with extra £820 million for Scottish Government

Rachel Reeves recognised Scotland’s huge £204 billion annual contribution to the UK economy with investments in Grangemouth, Greenock, Leith and Kirkcaldy, and provided long-term certainty to the oil and gas industry to support North Sea jobs and investment. 

Despite wages growing more in the first year of this government than at any point in the 2010s, the Chancellor was clear too many families are still struggling with the cost of living which is why the Budget included a range of measures to cut bills and boost pay packets.   

Saying that the fairest way to help people with the cost-of-living was to cut inflation and increase wages, Reeves announced £150 off energy bills, a fuel duty freeze, and national minimum and living wage rises. 

The Chancellor announced the removal of the two-child limit. 95,000 children in Scotland will benefit from this change. Funded by tackling welfare fraud and long-overdue reforms to the Motability scheme, it will result in the biggest reduction in child poverty at any Budget this century.

The Chancellor’s Budget also ensured that Scottish public services are fairly-funded, with an extra £820 million for public services in Scotland through the Barnett Formula, on top of a record settlement in June.

Secretary of State for Scotland, Douglas Alexander MP said: “This is a Budget which delivers for Scotland – raising children out of poverty and helping tackle the cost of living for working families with action on energy bills.

“Scrapping the two-child benefit cap will lift thousands of Scottish children out of poverty. Funded by raising online gambling taxes and tackling welfare fraud, it will result in the biggest reduction in child poverty at any Budget this century.

“The UK Government has backed Scotland’s public services with an extra £820 million — on top of the extra annual £9.1 billion already committed at the Spending Review.

“The £14.5 million announced for Grangemouth is also vital investment in Scotland.”

Ms Reeves also announced reforms to modernise the tax system, asking those with broader shoulders to contribute more through long-overdue fair reforms.

Backing Scottish industry 

  • £14.5 million will back Grangemouth’s transition to a hub for low carbon technologies as the UK Government cements Scotland’s place as the home of the UK’s clean energy revolution. 
  • A further £20 million for Inchgreen near Greenock will upgrade the port’s dry dock, creating up to 1,750 jobs.  
  • Up to £20 million will transform Kirkcaldy town centre and waterfront, including the creation of ‘Adam Smith Growth Works’, boosting local business and tourism.
  • £25 million will be released following the full sign-off of Forth Green Freeport – spanning Leith, Grangemouth and Fife.
  • To support oil and gas workers, the UK Government is introducing ‘Transitional Energy Certificates’ to manage existing North Sea fields for the entirety of their lifespan, and a new Jobs Brokerage Service – offering end-to-end career transition support.

Tackling child poverty, the cost-of-living and economic inactivity

  • 95,000 children in Scotland will benefit from the removal of the two-child limit. 
  • Raising the National Living Wage by 4.1% and the National Minimum Wage by 8.5% —building on April 2025 increases to the National Living Wage and National Minimum Wage that already directly benefitted 220,000 workers in Scotland. 
  • Uprating Universal Credit Standard Allowance by 6.1%, the first ever permanent real terms increase.
  • Increasing the State Pension by 4.8% from April 2026, directly raising incomes for 1.1 million pensioners in Scotland. 
  • Extending the fuel duty freeze and 5p cut, saving the average car driver £49 next year. 
  • Unleashing talent and opportunity with a Youth Guarantee package. This will include ensuring every eligible 18-to-21-year-old who has been on Universal Credit and looking for work for 18 months in Great Britain will get a six-month paid work placement.

Public services investment 

  • The Budget provides an extra £820 million for the Scottish Government to spend on its priorities such as education and tackling NHS waiting times— on top of the extra £9.1 billion already committed during the Spending Review.   
  • The Scottish Government continues to receive over 20% more funding per person than equivalent UK Government spending across the rest of the UK reflecting the real costs of delivering services across Scotland’s diverse geography, from the Highlands to the central belt.

Holyrood: ‘Chaotic’ UK Budget fails to deliver for Scotland

Finance Secretary responds to Chancellor’s statement

The UK Budget “fails to deliver” for Scotland and will not move the dial on the cost of living for squeezed households, according to Holyrood’s Finance Secretary Shona Robison.

Responding to the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s statement, Ms Robison said: “This Budget has been absolute chaos from start to finish. Westminster has been consumed with leaks, briefings and out and out incompetence – with Scotland left as an afterthought and families left to pay the price.

“We needed a step change from the UK Government with investment in public services, support for jobs and industry in Scotland and serious action on energy bills. Instead, we got a chaotic mess and the increase in funding for the Scottish Government will not even cover half the cost of the employer’s national insurance contributions brought in this year.

“With UK energy bills £340 higher than the Prime Minister promised even after today’s announcement, the UK Government are not even trying to deliver on the their promises. It is insulting to see the UK Government stand up and trumpet a proposed reduction that does not even cover the increase since they came to office.

“It does not come close to meeting the Prime Minister’s pledge on energy bills – they have not even attempted to keep their promises.

“The electric vehicle tax is the wrong decision for motorists, the climate and for Scotland given its disproportionate impact on rural drivers.

“And there is no serious support for jobs and industry in Scotland. The Energy Profits Levy is to remain in place – risking thousands of jobs in Scotland and in the North East in particular. Yet again, Scotland is an afterthought.

“And while the moves on the two child cap are welcome, they are long overdue and the UK Government has been forced into this position by the Scottish Government and other campaigners. And without a simultaneous change to the benefit cap it falls well short of the bold anti-poverty measures we have been calling for from the UK Government.

“But the complete chaos around this Budget gets to the heart of the fact that we should not be leaving crucial decisions around the economy, public finances and household bills in the hands of a deeply incompetent Westminster UK government.  We should take these decisions for ourselves with the fresh start of independence.” 

The impact of the increase Employers National Insurance contributions on public services is forecast to cost the Scottish Government at least £2 billion over the next five years.

Responding to the UK Government’s Budget, Poverty Alliance Chief Executive Peter Kelly said: “The Chancellor’s decision to fully scrap the unjust two-child limit is the right thing to do.

“For eight years, this cruel policy has severed the link between what families across the country need and the support they are entitled to, pushing children into poverty and limiting their potential. Our children deserve better.

“Campaigners across Scotland have been unified in their demand to scrap the two-child limit and we are pleased that the UK Government has listened, sending a strong message that every child in this country matters. The end of this policy must be the starting point of reform which ensures that our social security system truly provides security.

“This decision also frees up money earmarked for the mitigation of the policy in the Scottish Budget. Coupled with the additional £820 million allocated to the Scottish Government in this UK Budget, this will allow further investment in the action we know is needed to meet our child poverty targets, including increases to the Scottish Child Payment.”

Commenting on the UK Government’s Budget response, Debbie Horne, Scotland Policy and Public Affairs Manager for Independent Age said: “The Autumn Budget was an opportunity to address pensioner poverty across the UK. However, the UK Government has sadly missed the chance to take action on an issue that now affects almost two million older people across the UK, including 160,000 pensioners in Scotland. 

“While we welcome the retention of the Triple Lock, this measure alone does not go far enough for older people on the lowest incomes who are living across Scotland in cold homes and with not enough money to live on. 

“We continue to call on the UK Government to increase the Warm Home Discount to ease the burden of escalating bills, to support older private renters by uprating Local Housing Allowance so no one has to make dangerous sacrifices to pay their rent, and to boost income through a comprehensive take-up strategy for entitlements, including Pension Credit. 

“The absence of meaningful action to address later-life poverty will leave many older people on a low income in Scotland feeling forgotten and many will be worried about losing more of it in tax, because of the extension of the freeze on personal tax allowances to 2031, a year longer than was expected. 

“We estimate that without decisive government intervention almost 190,000 pensioners in Scotland could be in poverty by 2040. Worryingly, nothing in this Budget suggests we are being steered away from this frightening outcome.” 

Mary Glasgow, Chief Executive of Children First, Scotland’s national children’s charity said: “We welcome the UK Government’s decision to scrap the two-child limit as outlined in the Office for Budget Responsibility report. This is long overdue and frees up Scottish Government budget for other crucial support for children and families.  

“Poverty has a devastating impact on children’s mental and physical health, development, happiness and ability to learn that can last a lifetime.   

“Both governments must now work together to build on progress and meet the legal target to reduce child poverty in Scotland. Families need a stronger social security offer, for example, through the Scottish Child Payment and whole family support across Scotland to give every family the financial, practical and emotional help they need to tackle the root causes of poverty.  

“Children can’t wait. The Scottish Government must use this opportunity to go further and faster in their stated mission to eradicate child poverty.”  

Children First’s manifesto for the 2026 Holyrood elections calls on the next Scottish Government to deliver a comprehensive offer of whole family support to tackle child poverty and give every family the emotional, practical and financial support they need. 

Read the manifesto here: 2026 Holyrood Election Manifesto | Children First 

Helen Barnard, director of policy at Trussell, said: “Trussell is delighted to see the Chancellor take this bold step which will protect hundreds of thousands of children from growing up facing hunger and hardship. She has listened to the families and food banks across the UK who have been imploring her to act.

“The cruel two-child limit has driven countless families into hardship, forced to turn to food banks to survive. Today’s announcement of its full and swift removal will help ensure all our children have the best possible start in life, ease pressure on public services, and help to boost our economy.  

“This government came to power promising to end the need for emergency food and reduce child poverty. Removing the two-child limit will make a vital and significant contribution towards delivering on those manifesto commitments.

“This move will pull 470,000 children out of severe hunger and hardship by 2027 and ease pressure on food banks throughout the UK.

“The government has built on positive steps in strengthening support for people facing severe hunger and hardship. But this cannot be the end. Food bank need remains well above levels five years ago and many people are still struggling to afford the essentials.

“We need more bold choices to transform lives across our communities.”

The End Child Poverty Coalition commented:

Shona Robison: “Scotland must not be left as an afterthought yet again in the UK Budget”

Finance Secretary sets out UK Budget hopes

The UK Government must invest in public services, support economic growth and take action on the cost of living, Finance Secretary Shona Robison has said.

Ahead of the UK Budget on Wednesday 26 November, Ms Robison is calling on the Chancellor to:

  • deliver more funding for Scotland’s public services, infrastructure, and cost of living support – including actions to lower household energy bills
  • ensure that any major taxation choices do not see Scotland losing out on vital funding
  • completely reform the Energy Profits Levy and replace it with a sustainable system, to support jobs and investment across Scotland’s energy sector

Finance Secretary Shona Robison said: “The UK Budget process has been chaotic and mired in damaging uncertainty. It is disappointing that neither the Prime Minister nor the Chancellor were able to meet with the First Minister in London this week.

“Given the limited time to consider the implications of any major policy changes between the UK Budget and the Scottish Budget on 13 January, this lack of engagement is a particular concern.

“Last year, the UK Government increased employer National Insurance contributions without any consultation, which led to a funding shortfall of around £400 million for public services in Scotland and acts as a tax on jobs.  We cannot see a repeat this year.

“We need to see a change of course from the Chancellor – with investment in public services and infrastructure, which supports industry and jobs and delivers support on the cost of living challenges people across Scotland are facing.

“Energy bills in particular are a source of real worry for people this winter.  While the UK Government promised to cut energy bills by £300, they have actually risen by almost £200 – so this Budget must provide some relief for households who are struggling.

“The UK Government must also listen to industry concerns around the Energy Profits Levy. This was always supposed to be a temporary measure and it is now affecting investment and jobs in Scotland.

“The UK Government needs to set out how a stable and long-term fiscal regime will be used to treat the offshore energy sector fairly, alongside other parts of the UK economy, and deliver business and investor certainty.

“Scotland must not be left as an afterthought yet again in the UK Budget.”

The 2026-27 Scottish Budget will be published by the Finance Secretary on 13 January.

UK Government ‘must scrap punitive welfare policies’

Social Justice Secretary urges Chancellor to remove two-child limit and benefit cap

Ahead of a series of meetings in London today with child poverty charities, Social Justice Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville has urged the UK Government to take action to tackle child poverty in its forthcoming Budget, including immediately scrapping the two-child limit and the benefit cap.

Ms Somerville has called on the UK Government to fully scrap the two-child limit on benefits, which pulls 109 children into poverty every day, while also removing the benefit cap at the same time, which limits the total amount of benefit a person can receive.

Subject to parliamentary approval, the Scottish Government plans to mitigate the two-child limit from March next year, through a new Two-Child Limit Payment worth £292.81 a month for eligible recipients. Estimates show this will keep 20,000 children out of relative poverty next year. 

The Scottish Government is spending £100 million this financial year, through the Discretionary Housing Payment scheme, to mitigate the benefits cap as far as possible within devolved powers.

Ms Somerville said:  “Once again, I am making it clear that the UK Government must fully scrap the two-child limit and the benefit cap as soon as possible. These policies should be confined to the darkest days of austerity and the UK Budget must bring this period to an end.  

“In a country as rich as ours, no child should have to live in poverty. The UK social security system is supposed to be there to ensure a basic standard of living, reduce poverty and inequality and help people through the toughest of times.

“That is why the Scottish Government has made bold decisions – like introducing the Scottish Child Payment and investing in our devolved social security system. Child poverty rates are now lower in Scotland than the rest of the UK and relative child poverty rates in Scotland are at their lowest level in almost a decade.

“I call on the Chancellor to follow our example by scrapping the caps, match the Scottish Child Payment and introduce an essentials guarantee, which would ensure Universal Credit actually covers the costs of life’s essentials, such as food and fuel.”

There have been strong indications that the Chancellor will indeed scrap the Two Child Linit when she announces her Budget later this month.

John Swinney: A Fresh Start with Independence

FM: Scots should make choices that best serve Scotland’s interests

Independence would give the people of Scotland new opportunities to improve their standards of living, according to a new paper published by First Minister John Swinney.

‘A Fresh Start with Independence’ examines how an independent Scotland would be able to improve the economy and the NHS, and tackle issues such as household finances, pensions, social security, migration, energy and defence.

The paper states that the Scottish Government has worked hard to improve the lives of people living in Scotland using devolved powers but it would only be able to fully capitalise on the nation’s potential with independence.

The First Minister said: “I firmly believe that the people who live in Scotland are best placed to make decisions about Scotland. That is the fundamental democratic and practical argument underpinning the case that we make.

“Too many people in Scotland today do not have a decent standard of living and are finding it difficult to make ends meet. That is because standards of living in the UK have improved little in over 10 years, due to a failing economic system and Westminster decisions such as austerity and the disastrous decision to leave the European Union. Scotland did not support austerity and it did not support Brexit. The reality is Westminster is not working for Scotland.

“The Scottish Government works tirelessly to use the powers of devolution to deliver the very best for Scotland. Much good has been achieved through the expansion of early learning and childcare, the introduction of free university tuition, the expansion of the rail network, the introduction of Minimum Unit Pricing of alcohol, the creation of the Scottish Child Payment and many other measures.

“But Scotland needs to be able to improve the opportunities available to our people, our communities and our businesses. Scotland needs to build a stronger, more inclusive economy that works for all. Those possibilities would only be available to Scotland with the fresh start of independence.

“We have shown that when we have the power to decide for ourselves, we find solutions and make choices that best serve Scotland’s interests. I believe Scotland can and will become a successful independent country, with a more dynamic economy and a fairer society.”

The Scottish Conservatives don’t agree, oddly enough:

A Fresh Start with Independence – gov.scot