Tag: Politics

House of Lords to consider landmark reforms to mental health care 

Mental Health Bill will give patients enhanced rights to make decisions regarding their own care, ensuring their voice is heard throughout the treatment process

  • Landmark reforms to better care for mental health patients one step closer to becoming law, with Second Reading of the Mental Health Bill in the House of Lords today  
  • The Bill will also address inadequate care of people with a learning disability and autistic people, as well as reducing the number of unnecessary detentions 

Long awaited legislation to reform care for mental health patients is one step closer to becoming law, as the Mental Health Bill has Second Reading in the House of Lords today (25th November 2024).  

The Mental Health Bill, introduced earlier this month, will modernise the Mental Health Act, giving patients a greater say in their care, along with bolstered support from family and friends as part of treatment to ensure that their interests are protected and that their voice is heard throughout the treatment process.  

Last year, over 50,000 people were detained under the Mental Health Act, but an independent review of the Mental Health Act, chaired by Professor Sir Simon Wessely, President of the Royal Society of Medicine, found rising rates of detention under the act, along with racial disparities, and poor patient experience especially for autistic people and those with a learning disability, with patients being detained unnecessarily and for longer than needed. 

Alongside making it legal requirement for each patient to have a care and treatment plan, the Bill will also give patients the right to an Advance Choice Document, which can be used by patients to set out what they want their care to look like in the event of a mental health crisis.  

These changes will ensure that care is tailored to individual needs and encourage patients to remain in contact with health services and continue to engage with treatment.  

Police and prison cells will also no longer be used to place people who need care under the Mental Health Act. Instead, patients will be supported to access a suitable healthcare facility that will better support their needs.  

Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Wes Streeting, said: “The Mental Health Act is there to protect people when they’re at their most vulnerable, and in many cases, it has saved lives. But it is hugely outdated, depriving people of their liberty, especially autistic people and people with a learning disability. 

“We are now one step closer to bringing forward the essential reforms that will transform the care of some of our most vulnerable people, meaning patients receive the right care in the right place. 

“Modernising the act will strengthen the decision-making processes, helping to better support people, and giving them the appropriate and compassionate care they need.”

The Bill will help deliver the government’s commitment to transform mental health care, giving it the same focus and attention as physical health. 

It will also address unnecessary detentions for people with a learning disability or autistic people. At the end of October 2024, 1,880 people with these conditions were detained in hospital under the Mental Health Act, and research suggests that some would be better suited to care in the community. 

If passed, the Act will limit the length of time that they can be detained under the Act if they do not have a co-occurring mental health condition that needs hospital treatment and have not committed a criminal offence. 

Claire Murdoch, NHS national mental health director, said: “This Mental Health Bill is a once in a generation opportunity to ensure that patients experiencing serious mental illness and crises receive safe, modern, evidence-based care, and that the needs and wishes of patients and their loved ones are central to their care and better mental health outcomes.

“This comes alongside the NHS’s work to transform mental health services which are treating record numbers with existing resources – either through intervening earlier with hundreds of NHS teams working in schools, or trialling new 24/7 crisis mental health hubs to prevent people needing hospital care in the first place, and if an admission to hospital is needed the health service is working with local services to ensure this is delivered in a safe and therapeutic environment close to people’s homes.

Dr Layla McCay, director of policy at the NHS Confederation, said: “This marks another important milestone towards the long overdue reforming and updating of the Mental Health Act to ensure people with severe mental illness are given greater control over their treatment and are not subjected to unnecessary detentions.

“Our members have long called for these reforms to address the unacceptable disparities in rates of detention for people from some ethnic minority backgrounds.

“The Bill should also stop patients with a learning disability and autistic people from being detained long-term, unless they also have a severe mental illness for which detention may be needed.

“This is a welcome step towards these vital reforms, and we look forward to working with the government to ensure there is enough capacity to implement the Bill’s plans.”

Mark Winstanley, Chief Executive, Rethink Mental Illness: “In the depths of a mental health crisis, everyone deserves care that respects their rights and gives them a say in their treatment. Today marks another milestone in the journey to reform the Mental Health Act, bringing us closer to vital legislation that’s fit for the 21st century.

“After years of tireless campaigning, we’re determined that this legislation fulfils its potential. We will support efforts to ensure the Bill passes through parliament to deliver meaningful, positive change for the tens of thousands of people detained under the Mental Health Act every year.

“In tandem, we will look to the new Ten Year Plan for the NHS to provide the resources and support necessary to ensure people receive the right care and treatment at the right time, to prevent people from experiencing a mental health crisis.”

Measures in the Bill will ensure patients, staff and the general public are better protected, through improved decision making and new processes requiring clinicians to seek a second opinion before discharging a patient. Discharge processes will also be reviewed more broadly and will include a safety management plan for the patient, to keep them and others safe.

Swinney to set out his vision for Scotland in St Andrew’s Day speech

FM’s pledge to ‘create the conditions for every person in Scotland to thrive’

First Minister John Swinney will this week pledge to ‘create the conditions for every person in Scotland to thrive’, as he urges the country to pull together in a spirit of collaboration to remove barriers to economic and social progress.

In a major speech to representatives from organisations across the public and private sectors ahead of St Andrew’s Day, Mr Swinney will reflect on his approach to leadership and why challenges must be ‘understood and solved from the bottom up’.

In the speech – which will be delivered one week before the publication of the 2025-26 Scottish Budget – the First Minister will say he is “here to do the hard work” in finding lasting solutions to improving people’s lives.

The First Minister is expected to say: “Every single day, I meet inspirational people from all walks of life – people who are doing their bit to make their community, their business or their country that wee bit better today than it was yesterday.

“When added together, those efforts form the engine of progress that is driving our country forward. For me, unlocking that potential is what government is about – it is about creating the conditions for every person in Scotland to thrive.

“I do not believe in trying to solve problems from the top down. Rather, I believe they need to be understood and solved from the bottom up. I am not here to dictate from on high to those on the front line.

I am prepared to roll my sleeves up every single day to properly understand barriers to their progress and to find solutions. And in identifying those solutions, I am not looking for quick-fixes or sticking plasters.

“I am here to do the hard work, to lay the foundations for lasting improvements to our country, our economy, and our society. I do not pretend that this style of government is always headline-grabbing, but I do believe it is effective. And, in the long run, I know the results will speak for themselves.”

Joint working to support communities

Marking first year of Verity House Agreement

A report has shown how partnership working between the Scottish Government and councils is helping to deliver on community priorities.

Signed in June 2023, the Verity House Agreement sets out principles for the Scottish Government and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA), the representative body of all 32 councils, working together to empower local communities, tackle poverty, transform the economy and provide high-quality public services.

The Verity House Stocktake report highlights joint work on local government pay, enabling councils to double the full rate of council tax on second homes, delivering a new national allowance for foster and kinship carers, and close engagement around the Circular Economy Bill.

Finance and Local Government Secretary Shona Robison said the stocktake illustrated the value of the Agreement in its first year and how early, open and regular dialogue has helped to navigate challenges.

Ms Robison said: “The Verity House Agreement has built the foundations for us to work alongside local government in a more positive and proactive way, which enables meaningful and effective delivery of our shared priorities for the benefit of our communities.

“A key priority for Scottish Government and COSLA over the coming year will be to identify opportunities to improve our partnership approach, to fully reflect our shared ambitions such as tackling child poverty and improving public services.”

Councillor Shona Morrison, President of COSLA, said: “During the first year of the Verity House Agreement whilst we have seen some significant challenges, there have been positive results in many areas where adherence to the VHA principles have proved their worth.

“It is for this reason that COSLA welcomes publishing this joint review and why we remain firmly committed to those principles.  We believe that embedding the principles will not only help us overcome the challenges that remain but will continue to enhance and improve the critical relationship between both spheres of government in Scotland.”

Verity House Agreement – Stocktake One Year On – gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Child Poverty Taskforce holds first Scottish summit

Ministers hear from families, public bodies and charities to tackle issues including wages, work and welfare and help those most in need

The UK Government’s Child Poverty Taskforce was in Scotland for the first time on Thursday, hearing from child poverty charities, experts, parents and children in Glasgow as it develops plans for an ambitious, cross-Government strategy to drive down child poverty.

Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall, who co-chairs the Taskforce, said that tackling child poverty is back where it should be – at the top of the UK Government’s agenda – and that driving down child poverty across Scotland was a key priority.

The visit comes following last month’s Budget announcement of a new ‘Fair Repayment Rate’ in Universal Credit, making 110,000 of Scotland’s poorest households better off from next April.

On average, households will each benefit by £420 a year. The new rate means Universal Credit deductions will be capped at 15 per cent, down from 25 per cent.

This move comes alongside the rise in the Minimum Wage, which will benefit 3 million of the lowest paid workers by up to £1,400 year, and wider action the UK Government is taking to Make Work Pay and create more good jobs in every part of the country including in clean energy and through its modern industrial strategy.

With more than 200,000 children living in poverty in Scotland, and over 33,000 in Glasgow City, Liz Kendall MP heard the vast scale of the challenge facing communities and what is already being done locally to tackle the issue, including two child poverty ‘pathfinders’ in Glasgow and Dundee aiming to provide joined up support for families.

After hearing from families, leading organisations, the Scottish Government and public bodies with vital roles in children’s lives spanning from health to housing, including Public Health Scotland and the Scotland’s Children Commissioner, shared their insight and learnings with the Secretary of State at a roundtable discussion.

Charities including Aberlour, Joseph Rowntree Foundation Scotland and One Parent Families Scotland attended the event, as did the Scotland Minister for Equalities Kaukab Stewart MSP, the UK Minister for Employment Alison McGovern MP, and the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Scotland, Kirsty McNeill MP.

Both governments have pledged to work closely together to achieve the common aim of making sure every child in Scotland has the support they need to reach their full potential.

Secretary of State for Scotland Ian Murray is part of the Child Poverty Taskforce, which met earlier this week on the theme of increasing parents’ earned incomes, building employment stability and enabling progression in work.

Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall MP: “Tackling child poverty is a priority for the UK Government, and a personal priority for me.

“It is a moral stain on this country that there are now over 4 million children in the UK living in poverty, including 200,000 in Scotland.

“That is why the work of our Child Poverty Taskforce is so urgent. We will look at all the levers available at our disposal across Government to drive down poverty and drive-up opportunity for children and families in every corner of the UK.

“Scottish families and organisations are at the heart of our ambitious plans. The experiences and ideas they shared today are critical to our work to give all children in Scotland – and across the UK – the very best start in life.”

https://twitter.com/i/status/1859952534770893088

UK Government Minister for Scotland Kirsty McNeill: “Hearing such stark and painful accounts from families about their daily struggles has been hugely humbling but a vitally important reminder about why we must and will reduce child poverty across the whole of the UK.

“It’s a national shame that more than 200,000 children are living in poverty in Scotland. We are taking action – the UK Budget progressed our commitment to transforming the lives of Scottish children facing poverty, and we’re making work pay to improve living standards by raising the minimum wage and making the biggest improvements to workers’ rights in a generation.

“But we know there’s much more to be done and the testimonies of these families is key in shaping our next steps. By joining together with the Scottish Government and with other agencies and charities we will work to boost incomes, improve financial resilience and ensure better local support.”

Aberlour, CEO, SallyAnn Kelly OBE: “We welcome the UK Child Poverty Taskforce coming to Scotland to hear about and better understand the impact of poverty on the lives of children and families.

“We hope the Taskforce has heard what Aberlour has to say, and more importantly what families have told them, and will take away those calls on how to reduce and tackle child poverty.

“We know that this will require urgent action to respond to what children and families need to alleviate the impact of poverty in their lives right now, as well as long term actions to achieve our shared ambition to end child poverty for good.” 

Fellow co-chair, Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson, met with the Minister for Northern Ireland, Fleur Anderson, in Belfast, along with several key poverty organisations including Action for Children NI and Save the Children NI, as the Taskforce brings in voices from across the UK.

As part of the regular and widespread engagement on developing the Child Poverty Strategy, for the first time all the devolved governments and the UK Government met together on this issue last week.

This comes as the Government prepares to launch the Get Britain Working White Paper including plans to overhaul Jobcentres and join up work, health and skills plans to help people get back into work and get on in work, so they can build a better life for them and their families.

PM at G20: ‘We need renewed, resolute global leadership to tackle poverty and hunger’ 

Keir Starmer’s remarks at the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil:

Thank you, President Lula – you know, I’m a great admirer of Brazil. It’s not just the football, it’s also your culture and your commitment to working people.

More than just their right to be free from exploitation, but their right to be lifted up, to enjoy greater opportunities, and to enjoy life. We share that passion. It fuels our politics. And it is a great pleasure to be here with you.

This is my first G20. So I want to take the opportunity to say that under my leadership the UK will always be at the table, Listening, upholding our values, ready to work with you as a responsible global partner. 

I want work together on the huge challenges before us, like conflict and climate change, because these forces work against everything we want to achieve. 

They destroy economic growth, undermine security and opportunity, and generate migration at a level that we can’t sustain. 

But if we can find solutions to these problems then there are also real opportunities here for growth and for investment, to cut the cost of living at home and improve the lives of those we are here to represent. 

So I want to build the partnerships we need to support progress. And that includes in the fight against hunger and poverty. I want to thank President Lula for putting this on the agenda.

We look back on a lost decade in the fight against poverty due to Covid, climate change, and rising levels of conflict. It can’t go on. 

We need renewed, resolute global leadership to tackle poverty and hunger. 

President Lula’s Global Alliance will help us to meet that challenge. And I am pleased that the UK is playing its part. 

We’re not just joining the Alliance, we’re joining its Board of Champions to help steer this work.

And we’re delivering practical support for communities to keep food on the table, helping to build climate resilience and protect harvests in countries across Africa and Asia.

We’re also launching a new partnership to combat child wasting with UNICEF, the World Food Programme and the WHO. And we are doubling our support for those displaced by the war in Sudan.

The suffering from that conflict is horrendous. And it highlights a crucial point: that famine is man made. 

The greatest step in the fight against hunger today would come from resolving conflicts. And so we call again for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. 

For the hostages to be released. We are deeply concerned about the plight of Palestinian civilians, facing catastrophic hunger and starvation – particularly in northern Gaza. 

In defending itself, Israel must act in compliance with international humanitarian law and do much more to protect civilians and aid workers.

The UK has provided £100 million of humanitarian aid but we also need to see a massive increase in the amount of aid reaching civilians in Gaza. UNRWA must be able to carry out its mandate, particularly at the onset of winter.

Finally, it is important in this room that we address Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine. Tomorrow marks the 1,000th day of their invasion of a peaceful, sovereign state. 

And they have inflicted damage on the wider world, including on food and energy security. 

So we call, again, for a just and durable peace, consistent with the UN Charter. 

Thank you, Chair.

Call to scrap UK voter ID requirements

Policy ‘creates barriers’ in democratic process

Requirements for voter identification brought in by the previous UK Government should be scrapped, Holyrood’s Minister for Parliamentary Business has said.

Jamie Hepburn has highlighted evidence from the Electoral Commission that the new requirements kept potential voters away from the ballot box at the recent UK Parliamentary election, and fears misunderstanding around the need for ID could have a similar impact in Scotland.

In a letter to Rushanara Ali MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government), he asked for the UK Government to consider scrapping voter ID requirements.

Background

Letter to Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

Westminster: Biggest overhaul in a generation to children’s social care

The UK Government will today embark on major reform to end years of neglect of the children’s social care support system – breaking the cycle of late intervention and helping keep families together wherever possible so every child has the opportunity to thrive.

A wide range of new reform measures will be set out in Parliament to deliver better outcomes and a more secure life for children across the country. The government will empower social workers, and all those that work with children, to take action against children’s placements providers that deliver subpar standards of care at sky-high costs to councils and focus the system on early intervention.

It comes as local government spending on looked after children has ballooned from £3.1 billion in 2009/10 to £7 billion in 2022/23, with social workers all too often burdened by heavy caseloads, struggling to deliver the help that children and families need before problems escalate.

Bridget Phillipson, Education Secretary, said: “Our care system has suffered from years of drift and neglect. It’s bankrupting councils, letting families down, and above all, leaving too many children feeling forgotten, powerless and invisible.

“We want to break down the barriers to opportunity and end the cycle of crisis through ambitious reforms to give vulnerable children the best life chances – because none of us thrive until all of us do.

“We will crack down on care providers making excessive profit, tackle unregistered and unsafe provision and ensure earlier intervention to keep families together and help children to thrive.”

One of the most entrenched challenges facing children and social workers is some private providers, that are siphoning off money that should be going towards vulnerable children, making excessive profits or running unregistered homes that don’t meet the right standards of care. 

According to analysis by the Local Government Association, there are now over 1,500 children in placements each costing the equivalent of over £0.5 million every year, while the largest 15 private providers make an average of 23 per cent profit.

New rules will require key placements providers – those that provide homes for the most children – to share their finances with the government, allowing profiteering to be challenged. Increasing financial transparency will ensure the providers that have the biggest impact on the market don’t unexpectedly go under and leave children without a home.    

There will also be a “backstop” law to put a limit on the profit providers can make, that the government will introduce if providers do not voluntarily put an end to profiteering. 

Not-for-profit providers and those backed by social investment are being called on to come forward to set up homes to strengthen the system. 

To protect quality and safety in children’s homes, Ofsted will also be given new powers to issue civil fines to providers, working more quickly to deter unscrupulous behaviour than with existing criminal powers. 

More widely, the government is beginning the process of rebalancing the whole children’s social care system in favour of early intervention, giving every family the legal right to be involved in decisions made about children entering the care system. 

Further plans for funding for children’s social care including investment in preventative services, are set to be laid out in the coming weeks in the upcoming Local Government Finance Settlement.

Cllr Arooj Shah, Chair of the Local Government Association’s Children and Young People Board, said: “It is positive to see the Government building on recent progress following the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care, and pursuing an approach rooted in what we know works for children and their families.

“We are particularly pleased to see an ongoing focus on early help and family networks, and a strong commitment to tackling profiteering and other problems in the market for children’s social care placements. 

“Moving forward, progress will be limited by the significant funding and workforce challenges within children’s social care, councils and amongst partners more widely.

“It is vital that the Government uses the forthcoming Spending Review to ensure that all those working to keep children safe and to help them thrive have the resources they need to do that well.”

Children’s Commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza said: “Every child deserves to grow up safe, happy, healthy and engaged in their communities and in their education. With this Bill we have an opportunity to repair how we treat childhood in this country.

“Children are paying the price of a broken social care system that allows profits over protection. They are enduring things no child should ever have to: living in isolation in illegal children’s homes, often at enormous cost, deprived of their liberty without due process, often surrounded by security guards instead of receiving love and care.

“Children in the social care system today are living week to week in limbo. They need action without delay, not plans or strategies, so I welcome the urgency with which this government is setting out plans to tackle some of the most entrenched challenges. There must be no limits on our ambition for these children and I will look forward to working closely with ministers to push for radical reform.”

Sir Martyn Oliver, Ofsted’s Chief Inspector said: “These new powers will allow Ofsted to do more to make sure all children’s homes are safe and nurturing places, and to combat illegal and poor-quality homes quickly and effectively.

“We welcome these reforms and stand ready to deliver the Government’s new asks as soon as possible.”

Sarah Cardell, CEO of the CMA, said: “We are pleased to see the government taking this next step towards reforming the children’s social care market, in line with our recommendations.

“Our market study found multiple concerns – including a shortage of appropriate places – which need to be tackled to ensure vulnerable children and young people are getting the homes they need. We will continue to work with the government to make sure the plan delivers longstanding improvements.”

Other key measures set to be announced today include: 

  • New powers for Ofsted to investigate multiple homes being run by the same company, acting on the recommendations made in response to the vile abuse uncovered at the Hesley group of children’s homes. 
  • Delivery of the manifesto commitment to introduce a consistent child identifier, making sure information can be shared between professionals so they can intervene before issues escalate.  
  • The requirement for every council to have ‘multi-agency’ child safeguarding teams, involving children’s schools and teachers, stopping children from falling through the cracks. 
  • The requirement for all local authorities to offer the Staying Close programme – a package of support which enables care leavers to find and keep accommodation, alongside access to practical and emotional help, up to the age of 21, ending the cliff-edge of support many experience at 18.  
  • A new duty on parents where if their child is subject to a child protection enquiry, or on a child protection plan, they will need local authority consent to home educate that child.

The government will continue to work closely with the sector and local authorities as these changes are introduced to ensure the best possible outcomes for all children and young people, and their families.

Home Secretary to announce major policing reforms

A new Home Office unit to monitor performance of police forces will be announced by the Home Secretary this week

A dedicated government unit to improve performance across policing and make our streets safer will be announced by the Home Secretary this week. 

In a speech at the annual conference hosted by the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) and Association for Police and Crime Commissioners on Tuesday, Yvette Cooper will outline the new unit as part of a roadmap for major reform that will create a new partnership between the Home Office and police.  

To ensure communities can have confidence in their local police force, the unit will harness national data to monitor performance and direct improvements, building on the existing work of the College of Policing, policing inspectorate (HMICFRS), NPCC and Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs).   

For the first time in over a decade, a dedicated Home Office unit will be introduced to directly monitor police performance, including in high-priority areas such as tackling violence against women and girls, knife crime and improving neighbourhood policing.  

Officer time spent on the frontline will be monitored as part of the intelligence drive, drawing on local police data. Police response times will also be standardised and measured, a key issue for the public that is currently not consistently monitored and managed. Through the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee, the government is committed to ensuring officers are spending more time being visible and accessible in our communities, and minimising administrative tasks.

The Home Office will use police-recorded data on child sexual abuse to help forces understand and tackle the hidden harms in their areas. This will support forces in identifying how they can do more to build victim confidence, draw offending out of the shadows and bring perpetrators to justice.

There will also be a focus on police standards, with data on misconduct, vetting and disciplinary procedures collected, monitored and acted on to ensure forces are rooting out those who are not fit to serve and help restore the public’s trust in their local officers. 

With a more comprehensive picture of how policing is delivering for its communities, the Home Secretary will take a more hands-on approach to driving improvements, working with policing partners to ensure that the appropriate support, and where necessary, direct intervention is being identified and delivered.  

The new performance unit will complement the current system, with PCCs taking on a renewed focus on strengthening local policing and preventing crime in their areas.

In her speech, the Home Secretary is expected to say: “This is a critical juncture for the future of policing. And if as a country we are to remain equipped to fight the fast-changing challenges of today and tomorrow, then we know policing must evolve.

“We have a huge opportunity ahead of us to reset the relationship between government and the police, to regain the trust and support of the people we all serve and to reinvigorate the best of British policing.

“Strong and consistent performance is critical to commanding public confidence. I truly believe that working together we can mobilise behind this mission – and deliver a fairer, safer country for all.”

The Home Secretary is expected to set out her vision for policing, and how this focus on data and performance is just part of an ambitious programme to bring the founding principles of policing by consent and preventing crime to the 21st Century.  

The need for reform has the backing of police leaders, with the government committed to working with them to bring the change needed to reconnect policing with the communities they serve. 

It builds on a government manifesto commitment to give the policing inspectorate (HMICFRS) greater powers to intervene in failing forces and on the important work that they, the College of Policing and PCCs are doing to boost standards and drive improvement.

Lorna Slater: Watered down rent controls would be disaster for tenants in Edinburgh

The Scottish Government will be betraying households and families across Edinburgh if they go ahead with plans to water down rent controls and impose above inflation rent hikes, says Lorna Slater MSP the Scottish Green MSP for Lorna Slater MSP. 

Earlier this year legislation was introduced by then Scottish Greens minister Patrick Harvie to finally bring rent controls to Scotland, which would help keep costs down for tenants. 

The Scottish Government supported this legislation in March, but has since announced proposals that would lock-in above inflation increases and by up to 6%, even in rent control areas.  

Scottish Government statistics show that between 2010 and 2023 average rents for a newly-let 2 bedroom flat in Lothian reached £1,192, an increase of 79%. 

Lorna Slater, the Scottish Green MSP for Lothian said: “This would be a shameful betrayal of households and families in Edinburgh. It would lock-in above inflation rent hikes at a time when far too many are struggling to make ends meet.   

“Everyone should have a warm, secure and affordable place to call home, but what the SNP is proposing flies in the face of that aspiration.  

“If the SNP goes ahead with these disastrous plans they will be selling-out renters in communities like Edinburgh and entrenching a broken and unfair system.   

“Homes should be for living in, not for profiteering. The SNP must not cave in to the landlord lobby and introduce legislation that would impose above inflation rent hikes.  

“I hope the SNP will rethink their proposals and work with us to deliver a rent control system that truly transforms our broken housing market and gives tenants in Lothian the security, stability and peace of mind that everyone deserves.” 

Scotland’s Budget Report Preview 1: What might the Scottish Government do on Business Rates?

In the Budget, the Chancellor announced that Retail, Hospitality and Leisure (RHL) businesses would receive 40% rates relief in England next year, following a 75% relief in the current year (write Fraser of Allander Institute’s MAIRI SPOWAGE and JOAO SOUSA).

RHL businesses in Scotland have had no such relief since 2021-22, which (as you can imagine) has led to many businesses saying they are at a disadvantage to their counterparts South of the Border. Given this extension in relief in England, businesses in the RHL sector are likely to be calling on the Scottish Government to follow suit.

Such a decision by the Chancellor does generate Barnett consequentials for the Scottish Government, because the UK Government compensated English councils for the lost revenue. Business rates are devolved to all three devolved nations, and there is no obligation for any of the devolved governments to replicate measures in their jurisdiction.

Last year, we looked at the 75% relief announcement in England and tried to estimate how much it would cost to replicate. This analysis concluded that it was likely to cost considerably more in Scotland to replicate the relief than was provided through Barnett, because:

  • The business rates system is just differently structured in Scotland; but mainly;
  • RHL businesses make up a larger share of the property tax base in Scotland.

What about the 40% relief?

As we did last year, we have looked at the data available on the tax base for business rates to try to estimate how much it might cost to replicate the 40% relief in Scotland.

We must emphasise that this is not completely straightforward from the publicly available data. Whilst the Valuation Roll (which lists all properties and their rateable value) is a public document, the extent to which different properties attract reliefs is not on this database, so we have to make some assumptions about the extent to which properties may already be receiving reliefs. Obviously, for example, if a property is already receiving 100% relief (e.g. through the Small Business Bonus Scheme), then they cannot receive any more relief from the 40% measure, even if they are in RHL.

This is important because 100% relief for property is actually quite common: 48% of properties receive this.

Chart 1: Proportion of properties that receive 100% relief, selected property classes

Proportion of properties that receive 100% relief, selected property classes

Source: Scottish Government

The second challenge is that there is a cap on the amount of relief that an individual company can receive, which limits the amount of relief paid, but requires a property-by-property analysis (and some assumptions about multi-property companies) to understand the impact this has on the overall cost.

All of these assumptions mean our analysis will not be as accurate as a proper costing by the Scottish Fiscal Commission if the Scottish Government were to introduce this measure (given the additional data they have access to): and our attempt to account for multi-property enterprises is likely to be imperfect which might mean we are underestimating the impact of the cap (so slightly overestimating the cost of a new relief).

Having said all that (sorry for all the caveats), our analysis suggests that it will cost roughly £220m to replicate this relief in Scotland, compared to the £147m that was generated by the decision in England through Barnett.

[For those who are interested, you will note that this is not a linear reduction on our estimate for the 75% relief. This is because of the cap for each company again: companies are more likely to hit the cap with a higher level of relief so it is not as simple as it appears, unfortunately!]

Look out for more analysis

We will be producing Scotland’s Budget Report 2024 on 29 November, which will set the context for the Scottish Budget on 4 December. In the run-up, we will continue to publish blogs with new analysis to add to the discussion!