The 2025-26 Scottish Budget has been approved by Parliament, including £21.7 billion for health & social care and more than £15 billion for local councils, alongside social security measures supporting an estimated two million people.
The Budget invests:
£21.7 billion in health and social care services, including almost £200 million to cut waiting times and help reduce delayed discharge
£6.9 billion in social security, expected to support around two million people in 2025‑26
£4.9 billion in climate-positive investment
more than £7 billion for infrastructure
more than £2 billion for colleges, universities and the wider skills system
an additional £25 million to support the Grangemouth Industrial Cluster, taking total investment to almost £90 million
Finance Secretary Shona Robison said: “I am pleased that Parliament has approved the Scottish Government’s Budget – confirming plans to invest in public services, lift children out of poverty, act in the face of the climate emergency and support jobs and economic growth.
“This is a Budget by Scotland for Scotland. It includes record NHS investment, social security spending to put money in the pockets of low income families and action to effectively scrap the two-child benefit cap next year. We are delivering a universal winter heating payment for the elderly, providing record funding for local government and increasing investment in affordable housing.
“This Budget has been developed through effective engagement and negotiation across Parliament to build broad support. It is through this compromise that we are delivering spending plans that will most effectively strengthen services and support Scotland’s communities.”
Statement on our letter of 22 December to Nicola Sturgeon MSP.
The text of the letter can be read here:
22 December 2024
Dear Ms Sturgeon
We are groups based in Scotland concerned about threats to women’s rights, as protected in domestic and international law. This time two years ago, many of us were sitting in the public gallery of the Scottish Parliament as MSPs voted for the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill.
In the run up to this, we engaged extensively and seriously with the government’s proposals to move to a system of self-declaration for gender recognition. We submitted detailed written evidence to the Scottish Government consultation. We also provided written and/or oral evidence to the parliamentary committee tasked with scrutinising the bill at Stage One.
Most of us wrote to and met with our MSPs in the months and years before the bill was introduced, and encouraged and assisted other women to do so. We undertook detailed work and analysis on the government’s proposals, highlighting the risks to women and girls. We organised meetings, street stalls and rallies with hundreds of other Scottish women, or attended those. In fact, this issue attracted some of the largest rallies that have ever been seen outside the Scottish Parliament in 25 years of devolution. Our campaigning efforts were widely covered in the Scottish press.
It was clear that getting the bill passed was a personal priority for you.
We watched as you dismissed concerns raised by women like us as ‘not valid’, comparing objectors to your proposals to racists and homophobes.
In the last week, you are reported to have said:
“There are people who have muscled their way into that debate no doubt because they are transphobic but also because they want to push back rights generally.” (Diva, 16 December 2024)
“There were forces that muscled into that debate who, I think, you know, had a bigger agenda in terms of rights more generally.” (The Guardian, 16 December 2024)
You are not the first politician to make such a claim. However, your prominence as Scotland’s longest serving first minister, and its first female first minister, mean that your comments carry weight. You have also intimated that you intend to write about this episode in your forthcoming autobiography.
If you believe that there are groups or individuals with an agenda to ‘push back rights generally’ who are ‘muscling in’ on Scottish politics, you have a duty to state who or what you believe they are, and how you believe they are operating in Scotland, as precisely as possible. Then, the influence of any such groups or individuals can be properly investigated and challenged, as necessary.
As it stands, regardless of your intentions, a person might reasonably believe you are referring to those groups or individuals who played a leading part in criticising the Scottish Government’s proposals.
We therefore invite you to move away from dropping broad hints of potential wide application, and to take the more responsible step of making clear who you do, and do not, mean in the comments above, and to put the evidence on which your comments are based into the public domain without delay.
First Minister writes to Scottish Labour Party Leader
Following news the UK Government will invest in Grangemouth’s future, First Minister John Swinney has written to Scottish Labour Party Leader Anas Sarwar inviting him to vote for the 2025-26 Scottish Budget in a “spirit of cooperation” and deliver investment worth almost £90 million to support jobs at the site.
I welcome the response from the Prime Minister to my call last week for the UK Government to provide support for Grangemouth.
I know you share my concern that the decision to close the Grangemouth refinery is premature and fundamentally short sighted and the UK Government’s commitment to additional investment is a step in the right direction. We all have a responsibility to work collaboratively to secure Grangemouth’s long-term future, its workforce and Scotland’s transition to net zero.
My announcement last week that the Scottish Government will make a further £25 million available to enable businesses to bring forward investable propositions for Grangemouth, will be put to Parliament as an amendment at Stage 3 of the Budget Bill tomorrow.
This funding will be made immediately available from the beginning of the next financial year without requiring match-funding.
I hope that when the UK Government provide more details on the announced £200 million being available through the National Wealth Fund that this will also be available for timely deployment on a similar basis as the funding I have set out and that these funds align to best support a just transition for Grangemouth.
In that spirit of cooperation, I trust that you and Scottish Labour colleagues will now be in a position to vote for the Budget at Stage 3 tomorrow and work constructively to deliver the nearly £90 million investment for Grangemouth, supporting the jobs, livelihoods and businesses which depend on it.
I, Dhruva Kumar, former MP Candidate for the ALBA Party, write with grave concerns to your readers regarding the profound risks posed by Green Freeports to Scotland’s economy, society, workers’ rights, and national sovereignty.
As Scotland stands at a crossroads between Westminster’s economic impositions and the promise of independence, the establishment of so-called “Green Freeports” demands urgent scrutiny.
The ALBA Party, alongside trade unions and communities, raises profound concerns about this deeply flawed policy that risks entrenching corporate exploitation, undermining devolved powers, and jeopardising Scotland’s future within the European Union.
The Scottish Government initially rejected the UK’s Freeport model, rightly wary of its historical links to tax avoidance and weakened labour protections. Yet under pressure from Westminster, Holyrood capitulated, rebranding these zones as “Green Freeports” with aspirational net-zero and fair work pledges.
The reality, however, is stark: these “green” labels are little more than cosmetic. As SPICe researchers note, the Scottish Government’s requirements for living wages and decarbonisation lack enforceability, leaving compliance to the “whim of corporations”.
Freeports create a two-tier workforce. While the Scottish Government “hopes” employers will adhere to fair work principles, the UK retains control over reserved employment laws. Trade unions warn of a “dangerous unregulated backdoor” diluting protections, with no guarantees on union recognition or health and safety standards. The Teesport Freeport scandal-a litany of environmental and labour abuses- offers a grim precedent.
Promises of 75,000 jobs and £10 billion in investment are illusory. As Peter Henderson, a customs expert, highlights, Freeports globally displace jobs rather than create them, siphoning economic activity from surrounding areas. Local authorities, already stripped of business rates revenue, face infrastructure strain without recourse.
The £52 million seed funding pales against the long-term fiscal cost. Tax exemptions-including employer NICs and stamp duty-deprive public coffers while enabling profit-hoarding by multinationals. This is not “levelling up”; it is a race to the bottom.
The European Parliament has condemned Freeports as hubs for illicit trade and tax evasion. For an independent Scotland seeking EU membership, these zones could prove a fatal liability.
Despite claims of “net-zero hubs,” the Forth and Cromarty Firth bids prioritise industries like fossil fuel logistics and hydrogen-a fig leaf for continued carbon dependency. The lack of binding environmental safeguards, coupled with Westminster’s control over regulations, renders “green” branding a cynical farce.
The ALBA Party condemns this collaboration between Holyrood and Westminster as a betrayal of Scotland’s economic sovereignty. The SNP’s acceptance of Freeports, a policy omitted from the Bute House Agreement, highlights a lack of coherent industrial strategy for coastal communities.
We urge the Scottish Government to: Halt all Freeport development pending independent impact assessments, Reject UK-imposed tax havens that undermine devolved powers, and Champion an industrial strategy rooted in fair work, local democracy, and renewable energy—not corporate handouts.
Independence requires foresight. By entangling Scotland with Westminster’s Freeport agenda, we shackle our nation to a legacy of exploitation. The time to resist is now.
“US now least reliable partner in NATO”, says MP Stephen Gethins
“The democracies of the world must work together”
SNP MP, and former professor of international relations at St Andrews University, Stephen Gethins says the USA is now the least reliable partner in the NATO alliance.
Speaking on Bylines Scotland Radio on 17 February, the MP said that the United States has dramatically changed the European security and defence environment.
He said there is a danger that Ukraine is hung out to dry by the US and Russia.
“The US is now the least reliable partner in NATO.”
Mr. Gethins compared current events in Ukraine with the appeasement of Germany in the run up to WW2, when the Nazis were allowed to take over large parts of what is now the Czech Republic.
Speaking about Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s forthcoming visit to President Trump, Gethins urged him to impress on Mr. Trump that the democracies of the world must work together.
“He should tell Donald Trump that if you believe you are a democrat you must work with your democratic partners. Not the Russians and the Chinese, who are bullies and aggressors. They don’t share our democratic values.“
Asked about Keir Starmer saying he was prepared to send UK troops to take part in peacekeeping in Ukraine, Gethins said: “You cannot possibly conceive it as the UK going it alone.”
Gethins believed it could not be a conventional peacekeeping force and argued it would have to act as a deterrent and be a multinational force. It could not be a NATO exercise. He suggested that putting together such an armed presence would have to overcome numerous political hurdles.
The MP argued that it is now imperative that the democracies of Europe, including the UK, Norway, and Ukraine who are not in the EU, unite to defend the continent from aggressors.
“No one individual state in Europe has the capacity to respond on its own to the threat from Russia. We must pull together as European democracies. That includes the UK getting over Brexit.”
He said Europe has the economic and manufacturing capacity to far outweigh that of Russia, but benefiting from those advantages means united action and the political and economic structures to enable that to happen.
The SNP politician argued that the UK can’t continue to be isolated from Europe, particularly given the unreliability of the US.
“The world of 2016, when the Brexit referendum took place, is not the world of today.”
He said security and defence are about much more than weapons and soldiers. There are vital issues like energy security and food supply.
“Because of EU cooperation, EU member states are now far more energy self-reliant.”
Gethins said that rising to the new defence challenges will be hard, but the UK rejoining the European Single Market and the Customs Union is the right thing to do.
“I’d rejoin the EU.” said the MP.
Towards the end of the interview, Gethins said we are now in a global political time when it is necessary that friends stick together.
“Ukraine is our friend. It is in desperate need of friends. We must stick with Ukraine.”
Stephen Gethins is a Vice President of the European Movement in Scotland and a Vice President of the European Movement UK.
Listen to the full interview on Bylines Scotland Radio.
Plans to transform the way social care is delivered are being progressed as part of the Scottish Government’s commitment to improve the experience of everyone who accesses social care, social work and community health services.
Ahead of Stage 2 proceedings of the National Care Service Bill later this month, a number of amendments have been lodged, all of which are subject to Parliament’s agreement.
As the National Care Service will now be established through both legislative and non-legislative means, with reform of social care at the centre it is proposed the Bill will be known as the “Care Reform (Scotland) Bill”.
If agreed by Parliament, as amended, the Bill will also bring forward significant reforms to social care, including:
Anne’s Law being enshrined into legislation to uphold the rights of people living in adult care homes to see loved ones and identify an essential care supporter
ensuring all those working in or supplying services to the health and social care sector follow the same information standards allowing easier communication
the creation of a National Chief Social Work Advisor post, in statute, to bring strategic leadership at a national level.
The Bill will also retain measures to establish a legal right to breaks for unpaid carers. Ahead of the legislation, the Scottish Government has identified an additional £5 million in the draft 2025-26 Budget to support 15,000 carers to take short breaks from their caring responsibilities.
Ministers announced in January that legislation to set up a new public body to oversee national improvements would no longer go ahead. However, work to establish a National Care Service Advisory Board is progressing and it is due to meet for the first time in March.
Social Care Minister Maree Todd said: ”Social care has the power to transform people lives, that is why it is so important that those accessing services receive the highest quality care, delivered consistently across Scotland.
“The amendments lodged in Parliament offer us the best opportunity to urgently get to work to reform the system and have a transformative impact on people’s lives.
“Positive progress is being made on establishing an advisory board that puts people with experience of the social care system at the heart of it, helping deliver the changes we all want to see.”
An essential care supporter is someone, for example close relatives or friends, who plays a vital role in providing their loved ones with regular care and support alongside staff. This includes companionship, personal support and advocacy.
Scottish Secretary confirms £2.6 million for V&A Dundee – investment on top of £20 million for Dundee regeneration projects
V&A Dundee is to receive £2.6 million in UK Government capital funding. The investment, to remodel and extend the Scottish Design Galleries, was announced yesterday by the Scottish Secretary on a visit to Scotland’s design museum.
Speaking after his visit, Scottish Secretary Ian Murray said: “It’s fantastic news that the UK Government is investing £2.6 million in V&A Dundee. It is a great attraction, right at the heart of Dundee’s waterfront, bringing great benefits to the city. This funding will help the museum celebrate the very best of Scottish design and make the experience for visitors even better.
“We have taken the necessary steps to mend our public finances in order to provide this funding and a record settlement for the Scottish Government, and I am very pleased that we are delivering this investment in this important national institution.
“At the Autumn Budget the Chancellor also confirmed £20 million for regeneration and growth projects in Dundee. In all, the UK Government is investing £1.4 billion in dozens of important local growth projects across Scotland over the next 10 years. This is a key part of the UK Government’s Plan for Change, growing our economy and improving living standards in all parts of the UK.”
Director of V&A Dundee, Leonie Bell, said: “We are delighted the UK Government has confirmed £2.6 million of funding for V&A Dundee, Scotland’s design museum, to undertake a bold transformation of the Scottish Design Galleries that will bring design to life for visitors, enabling even more people to engage with Scotland’s innovative design history and its continuing influence around the world.
“V&A Dundee is an incredible resource for people living in Dundee and Scotland, drawing visitors to the region, championing design and designers and helping to change the face of the city and contributing to economic, cultural and social growth.
“This new funding means we can expand the story of design from Scotland and celebrate the worldwide influence of Scottish design and designers, further enhancing the visitor experience at V&A Dundee.”
The Scottish Design Galleries are the heart of V&A Dundee. They feature more than 300 objects spanning around 500 years, telling the story of Scottish design’s enduring influence around the world. This additional investment, ahead of the museum’s 10-year anniversary in 2028, will help V&A Dundee boost its contribution to local economic growth, supporting jobs and driving visitors to Tayside.
In 2023 Dundee welcomed 1.35 million visits, an increase of more 50 per cent since before V&A Dundee opened. V&A Dundee is engaging with every school in the city and welcomed its two millionth visitor in 2024. The museum has created very significant economic impacts for the city.
Scottish politicians have been urged to listen to ‘marginalised’ voices within coastal communities, as part of a major multi-media touring exhibition showcased at the Scottish Parliament.
The Coastal Testimonies project features over 60 portraits of people all around Scotland about their first-hand experiences of Scotland’s inshore seas.
The exhibition has been commissioned and curated by the Our Seas Coalition, an alliance of 140+ coastal businesses, community groups, fishermen’s associations and environmental organisations who are campaigning for the environmental recovery of Scotland’s coastal marine environment and the revival of sustainable inshore fisheries.
The exhibition gives a voice to often marginalised and underrepresented perspectives, including a large proportion of fishermen, with an aim to uncover the issues that go unnoticed in areas of Scotland where the coast is not as engaged.
The exhibition also aims to give a platform to cultural knowledge on the coastal ecosystems and communities throughout Scotland. The exhibition which has so far toured venues in Stornoway, Eyemouth, Lochaline, Glasgow, Ullapool and Ardfern, arrives at Holyrood as the Scottish Government publicly consults on its Inshore Fisheries Management Improvement programme.
The Coastal Testimonies project has so far gathered testimonies from all eleven Scottish marine regions, including coastal businesses, marine conservationists, divers, commercial fishermen, sea anglers, local politicians, scientists, community groups, and those with recreational interests.
Portraits of each person are accompanied by a verbal testimony about their own connections to the sea, including moving witness-style accounts of environmental changes and reflections on sustainability and political decision-making.
Everyone in Scotland can participate in this #CoastalTestimonies project, by contributing a testimony of their own on the Our Seas website www.ourseas.scot.
A parliamentary reception featuring the exhibition was hosted by Rhoda Grant MSP and attended by politicians from all major parties, including acting Minister for Climate Action Alasdair Allan MSP. Copies of ‘Coastal Testimonies – Speaking up for Scotland’s seas’ were distributed to all 129 MSPs.
Speaking on behalf of the Our Seas Coalition at the Scottish Parliament, Alasdair Hughson, scallop diver and chair of the Scottish Creel Fishermen’s Federation said: “We need clear plans that acknowledge the public benefits and support for protecting our seas and safeguarding sustainable inshore fishing.
“This means urging government action and effective parliamentary scrutiny to make sure that such plans are implemented. This is why I implore our MSPs to take some time to read through the testimonies and consider the power of the voices within our own communities.
“There is bravery in these testimonies. It’s difficult to speak up. We must change. We are looking for you to make these changes and decisions for our future generations.”
Sponsor of the Coastal Testimonies event at Scottish Parliament, Rhoda Grant MSP said: “Community-led marine management leads to fair resource allocation and sustainability, and there’s many ways to help communities become involved and more active.
“There are groups of organizations…that we can learn from that are currently leading the way on this. Nobody wants to see fish numbers dwindle and habitats degraded, and equally, nobody wants to see livelihoods at risk with people leaving their communities due to a lack of opportunity.”
Acting Minister for Climate Action Alasdair Allan MSP said: “This exhibition showcases life at the water’s edge through striking photographs and moving testimonies, celebrating the interconnected roles of fishers, scientists, artists, and local communities in shaping Scotland’s coastal heritage.
“Fishing is an integral part of life in many of our coastal communities, and we all want a sustainable Scottish fishing industry; one with space to thrive alongside other users of the sea, and one that can fully capitalise on a healthy marine environment and improving fish stocks.
“Yet, we must also acknowledge that our seas are under pressure, placing unprecedented demands on marine ecosystems and the communities that depend on them. Challenges such as climate change and pressure from human activities calls for collective action, and they remind us that the responsibility to protect and enhance our seas lies with all of us.”
Scottish Labour MSP for Lothian Region, Foysol Choudhury attended the event, emphasising: “The current consultation for the National Marine Plan 2 needs to be comprehensive and the Scottish Government should not remove key sectors like fisheries.
“We need to protect our shores, from Portobello to Cramond.”
Hayley Wolcott, Coordinator of the Our Seas Coalition said: “The primary focus of the Coastal Testimonies project is to promote a better understanding of inshore environmental and fisheries issues through the collection of personal accounts and inspire greater dialogue and action within communities.”
“The testimonies speak for themselves and are now empowering people within their communities to speak up, share their first-hand experiences and talk with each other about how to safeguard their precious interconnections with our seas.
“We encourage anyone to get involved, be it a community organisation or local business, you can host an event or contribute a testimony of your own. Please get in touch.”
Local Scottish Green MSP Lorna Slater is calling on Edinburgh to bid to be one of the first councils to sign up for the expansion of free school meals for thousands more S1 – S3 pupils.
The Scottish Greens have recently secured money for the expansion of free school meals to thousands of S1-S3 pupils who receive the Scottish Child Payment (SCP), starting with eight council areas in August 2025.
This builds on the ongoing rollout to P6 and P7 pupils who receive SCP and the previous extension to all P4 and P5 pupils, both of which were secured by Green MSPs during past rounds of budget negotiations.
Edinburgh currently has a child poverty rate of 20.4% and around 4,500 of S1-S3 pupils who receive the Scottish Child Payment, a support payment for families on low incomes.
By signing up to be one of the first councils to receive more free meals for pupils, thousands of local children and families will benefit.
Eight councils will be chosen for the initial rollout and the Scottish Greens will be pushing the Scottish Government to extend the project to all 32 council areas as soon as possible.
Lorna Slater the Scottish Greens MSP for Lothian said: “Children can’t learn if they’re hungry. Problems like classroom hunger simply should not exist in a country as wealthy as Scotland.
“As a result of this work by Green MSPs, thousands more pupils in S1-S3 will now get a free school meal. I hope Edinburgh will volunteer to be one of the first areas to provide these lunches.
“The Scottish Greens have always championed free school meals. This high school expansion builds on the work we’ve already done to provide more meals in primary schools.
“No pupils should have to learn on an empty stomach simply because they cannot afford a school lunch. Each and every child in Scotland should have what they need to do well at school, including a free and healthy lunch.”
