The Alba Party is looking for voters in May’s Holyrood elections to cast their votes for them on the regional list. They say this will deliver a ‘supermajority’ for independence. How would this work?
‘The more success a party has on the constituency vote, the less well it does on the regional list vote. That’s why in 2016 #BothVotesSNP led to 1 million wasted pro-independence list votes.
‘Voting Alba Party on May 6th will make sure no pro-independence vote goes to waste by securing a #Supermajority for independence.
‘Let’s tip the balance in Scotland’s favour.
‘The Westminster Government has already said it will not allow another independence referendum in Scotland.
‘The #Supermajority will be the only mandate needed to begin negotiating Scotland’s independence as a parliament, rather than just a party.
‘On May 6th you have two votes. On your constituency ballot paper, #voteSNP for your local SNP candidate. On your regional ballot paper, #voteAlba Party to ensure an independence #Supermajority.
‘The weight of these two votes combined, will tip the balance in Scotland’s favour and guarantee a #Supermajority for independence in the Scottish Parliament this year.‘
However The Scottish National Party says that if you want independence, you must vote SNP:
‘The 2011 Scottish election produced a result that was never meant to happen.A majority pro-independence government, against all odds.So how did voters in Scotland do it?
‘At the elections, the SNP won 53 constituency seats on the first vote. But it was the 16 seats won on the regional list, with voters second vote, that got the SNP over the line.
‘It was with people voting Both Votes SNP that secured the first majority government.
‘Other parties say that you don’t have to vote Both Votes SNP in order to vote for independence. They say people should vote for them instead. But they said the same in 2016 – and the SNP lost its majority.
‘Holyrood got less pro-independence MSPs, and Westminster used it as an excuse to question Scotland’s pro-independence mandate.
‘Their tactical voting gamble has failed.
‘This election really comes down to one question. Do you want to put Scotland’s future in Scotland’s hands, or those of Boris Johnson?
‘If you want to help build a better, more progressive future for Scotland, then make it #BothVotesSNP on 6 May.
‘This will be the most important election in Scottish history. Every single vote will count.Scotland’s future is in your hands.‘
While their political priority remains the climate change and the environment, the Scottish Greens also support Scottish independence.
The Conservatives, Scottish Labour and the Lib Dems all oppose independence and say recovery from the pandemic must take priority over constitutional issues.
More than 200,000 additional children to receive free school meals
More than 200,000 additional primary school children will receive free school meals, including over 17,300 in City of Edinburgh, over 4,900 in East Lothian, over 4,400 in Midlothian and over 8,800 in West Lothian thanks to a budget deal struck between the SNP and the Scottish Greens.
The deal will see free school meals provision expanded to all primary children by next summer, phased in on a timetable agreed with local councils, and ensure that those currently eligible get free meals throughout the school holidays.
The agreement will ensure passage of the Scottish Government’s budget through parliament.
Finance Secretary Kate Forbes has struck a deal which guarantees the Budget Bill can clear its final stages.
It will see the phased introduction of free school meals for all primary pupils, an enhanced public sector pay deal, new Pandemic Support Payments and additional funding to support environmental, active travel and energy efficiency initiatives.
Talks are continuing ahead of tomorrow’s Stage 3 debate with the Scottish Liberal Democrats, who voted for the budget at Stage 1 in exchange for increased spending on mental health, business support and education recovery.
The new commitments build on the budget’s existing measures to address the challenges of the ongoing pandemic and lay the foundations for recovery. These include meeting the main ask of business by extending 100% rates relief for the retail, hospitality, leisure, aviation and newspaper sectors for a further 12 months – considerably exceeding the relief offered in England – supporting families by allocating money for a council tax freeze and providing record £16 billion to the NHS.
The new initiatives will be funded mainly from the unallocated balance of funding from last week’s UK budget.
They include:
Pandemic Support Payments of £130 to households receiving Council Tax Reduction and two payments of £100 to families of children qualifying for free school meals
the phased introduction of free school meals to all primary school children by August 2022
an £800 pay rise for public sector workers earning up to £25,000, and a 2% increase for those earning over £25,000 up to £40,000.
extending free bus travel to under 22s
£40 million to support the green recovery, including a further £15 million for active travel, £10 million for energy efficiency, £10 million for biodiversity and £5 million for agri-environmental measures
Ms Forbes said: “We continue to face unprecedented challenges and I have sought to engage constructively to deliver a budget that meets the needs of the nation.
“I would like to thank all parties for the positive way they have participated in this process. The budget addresses key issues raised by every party and I hope all MSPs feel able to support it. We have reached an agreement with the Scottish Greens and I am hopeful about the outcome of my continuing talks with the Liberal Democrats.
“Today I can announce that we are able to go further in offering a fair and affordable pay settlement to the public sector workers to whom we owe so much through the pandemic, particularly the lowest paid.
“The budget already contains measures to help struggling families, but in this deal we are also announcing details of a £100 million programme of one-off Pandemic Support Payments. And we commit to providing free school meals to every primary school pupil by August 2022, with expansion for P4s starting after this year’s summer holidays.
“A green recovery lies at the heart of the Scottish Government’s policies and today we are delivering significant new investments in energy efficiency and active travel, while providing additional funding to support biodiversity and make our agriculture more environmentally-friendly.
“And, as we rebuild from Covid, we will support our young people by extending our original commitment to concessionary travel for all under 19s to include everyone up to age 22, giving all 18-21 year olds free bus travel.
“Every penny made available to us to tackle the pandemic has been allocated. These remain difficult times, but this budget puts us on the path to a fairer, greener and more prosperous Scotland.”
Scottish Greens Lothian MSP Alison Johnstone said: “I am absolutely delighted that our budget deal ensures that all primary school children will receive free school meals from the summer of 2022, with p4 pupils getting them from this summer and p5 from January.”
“I know this news will be welcomed by the families who will benefit from this forward-thinking policy. Knowing that every primary school child will benefit from a healthy meal every day will make a huge difference to families’ finances and wellbeing.”
All P1-P3 pupils currently get free school meals. The Green deal will expand this to P4 in August 2021, P5 in January 2022, and P6 and P7 children in August 2022.
£49.5m has been allocated to fund this this year, and £112m next year.
Scottish Government ‘no longer clapping for carers’
Responding to the Finance Secretary’s comments to the Finance and Constitution Committee meeting this morning on social care pay, Rhea Wolfson of the GMB Scotland Women’s Campaign Unit said: “On International Women’s Day Kate Forbes has cut a budget deal with the Greens that sells short tens of thousands of women across the social care sector – and what’s worse is the Finance Secretary used our NHS nurses as a reason for not delivering a £15 an hour minimum.
“The fight for a £15 social care minimum hasn’t been “plucked out of a hat”. What our members are asking politicians to do is support the objective of bringing social care pay into line with the average hourly rate of pay, to help tackle the recruitment crisis in care and to ensure a chronically exploited workforce are properly valued for the work they do.
“The Scottish Government claimed it wanted to put social care on an equal footing with the NHS and the Feeley Review has shown that a significant investment in social care and its workers could have a transformative effect on our economy and society.
“After the tragic events of the last year, a golden opportunity was there to do the right thing by our care workers but instead the Finance Secretary has chosen to pit key worker against key worker to keep one group mired in low-pay.
“It’s clear the Scottish Government is no longer clapping for our carers.”
Responding to the amended Scottish Budget with improvements in public sector pay policy, expanded access to free school meals and additional payments to less well-off households, STUC General Secretary Roz Foyer said:“We have strongly pressed the Scottish Government to reject the real terms pay cuts approach of the Tories at Westminster and we recognise the different course that the Finance Secretary has taken on Public Sector Pay Policy in Scotland.
“We welcome the Scottish Greens’ intervention to press for a better deal for public sector workers, the expansion of free school meal to all primary children and additional payments to poorer households.
“But revising public sector pay policy is less than half of the story. We remain deeply concerned that pay commitments must be funded across the public sector. Local councils continue to be starved of funding despite delivering so many of our essential public services and with so many workers who deliver those services being underpaid and undervalued.
“Nowhere is this more the case than for our social care workers in the public, third and private sectors. The Cabinet Secretary indicated that this will not be the final budget revision of the year and that she will respect the outcome of a collectively bargained pay deal for the care sector.
“To make this commitment meaningful and to address the scandal of low pay, the Government must commit to fund that deal and we intend to campaign hard to hold them to this.”
“The proposed extension of free schools meals to all primary aged children is an important step towards our campaign goal of achieving universal provision for all secondary school, primary school and nursery children. We intend to continue that campaign.”
Former First Minister Alex Salmond will give evidence to the Committee on the Scottish Government’s Handling of Harassment Complaints at Holyrood this afternoon.
The Committee’s remit is to consider and report on the actions of the First Minister, Scottish Government officials and special advisers in dealing with complaints about Alex Salmond, former First Minister, considered under the Scottish Government’s “Handling of harassment complaints involving current or former ministers” procedure and actions in relation to the Scottish Ministerial Code.
In a formal submission to the committee, Mr Salmond maintains that senior members of the SNP colluded with civil servants in an orchestrated campaign to damage his reputation.
He also accuses First Minister Nicola Sturgeon of both misleading parliament and breaking the Ministerial Code. If this is proven, Ms Sturgeon would be expected to resign.
Ms Sturgeon yesterday dismissed Salmond’s claims as ‘a litany of nonsence’.
This is much more serious than a ‘he said, she said’ internal SNP stooshie: the allegations go right to the heart of Scotland’s democratic structures.
So the stakes couldn’t be higher. It remains to be seen whether today’s session will see us inch any closer to the truth …
INDEPENDENCE ‘THE ONLY WAY’ TO SECURE SCOTLAND’S PLACE IN THE EU
The SNP has challenged Willie Rennie to say whether he backs his London bosses, after UK Lib Dem leader Ed Davey confirmed that his party would abandon any attempts to rejoin the EU, joining Labour and the Tories in becoming a pro-Brexit party.
In an interview with the BBC’s Andrew Marr, he said that the Lib Dems are “not a rejoin party” – despite promising to voters in their 2019 General Election manifesto that every vote for the party was a “vote to stop Brexit and stay in the European Union”.
The move confirms the SNP as the only major party committed to reversing Brexit and securing Scotland’s membership of the EU.
SNP candidate for Edinburgh Western, Sarah Masson, said: “The Lib Dems have firmly joined the Tories and Labour in becoming pro-Brexit parties, making it crystal clear that the only way to protect Scotland’s interests and secure our place in the EU is to become an independent country.
“With the Lib Dems delivering another trademark U-turn, Willie Rennie must end the silence and clarify whether he stands by his previous pledge to ‘pursue re-entry’ to the EU – and if so, how he squares that with his UK colleagues’ policy – or if it was all hollow rhetoric and he will simply now fall into line and accept the devastating impact Brexit is having on Scottish businesses, including our vital fishing communities.
“The SNP is now the only major pro-EU party committed to rejoining the EU. With the main Westminster parties all signed up to Brexit and the damaging consequences it brings – even in the event of a change in government – there is no route back to the EU through Westminster.
“Scotland can do so much better than a Westminster system acting against our interests. Only by becoming an independent country will we be able to work to rejoin the EU, protect our vital industries and economy, and be part of the world’s largest single market.”
“PROGRESSIVE VISION TO TACKLE POVERTY IN THE FACE OF TORY CUTS”
SNP MSP Gordon MacDonald has welcomed the announcement that every primary school pupil in Edinburgh will be eligible for free school meals, all year around, if the SNP is re-elected in May.
Deputy First Minister, John Swinney, set out this latest step in the drive to tackle child poverty and make Scotland the first nation in the UK to offer universal free primary school meals at the SNP annual conference at the weekend.
The SNP previously extended eligibility for a free school lunch to all P1 to P3 pupils while P4 to P7 pupils are eligible based on a range of income and benefits criteria.
Now, in the face of predictions that Westminster cuts will drive child poverty rates even higher, the expansion – estimated to cost around £230 million per year in additional expenditure – will introduce a free year-round breakfast and lunch for all primary school pupils from August 2022.
SNP MSP for Edinburgh Pentlands, Gordon MacDonald, said: “The Covid-19 pandemic has put real financial pressure on families, and it’s right that the Scottish Government ensured that children in Edinburgh would continue to receive free school meals over the holidays.
“But I am happy that we are not stopping there. If the SNP is re-elected in May, every single primary school pupil in Edinburghwill be eligible for free breakfast and lunch, all year round.
“And unlike the Tories, we didn’t have to be publicly shamed and condemned into choosing to feed hungry children – that is the basic duty of any government.
“This ambitious expansion of the free school meals scheme is the next step in our battle to stop the Tories forcing more and more kids into poverty, support families, and make Scotland the best place to grow up.
“That progressive vision, underpinned by human rights, equality and wellbeing, is exactly why people in Scotland continue to put their faith in the SNP.”
Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak’s Summer Statement speech to the House of Commons this afternoon:
Mr Speaker,
I stood here in March saying I knew people were worried. And I know they’re worried still.
We have taken decisive action to protect our economy.
But people are anxious about losing their job, about unemployment rising. We’re not just going to accept this.
People need to know we will do all we can to give everyone the opportunity of good and secure work.
People need to know that although hardship lies ahead, no one will be left without hope.
So, today, we act, with a Plan for Jobs.
Our plan has a clear goal: to protect, support and create jobs.
It will give businesses the confidence to retain and hire.
To create jobs in every part of our country.
To give young people a better start.
To give people everywhere the opportunity of a fresh start.
Where problems emerge, we will confront them.
Where support is justified, we will provide it.
Where challenges arise, we will overcome them.
We entered this crisis unencumbered by dogma and we continue in this spirit, driven always by the simple desire to do what is right.
Mr Speaker,
Before I turn to our Plan for Jobs, let me first outline the nature of the challenge.
Our economic response to coronavirus is moving through three phases.
In the first phase, beginning in March, the government announced social distancing measures and ordered businesses to close, halting the spread of the disease.
We put in place one of the largest and most comprehensive economic responses in the world.
Our £160 billion plan protects people’s jobs, incomes and businesses:
we supported more than 11 million people and jobs through the job retention and self-employment schemes, alongside billions of pounds for the most vulnerable
we supported over a million businesses to protect jobs, through tax cuts, tax deferrals, direct cash grants, and over a million government-backed loans
and we supported public services, with new funding for the NHS, schools, public transport, and local authorities
In total, we have now provided £49 billion to support public services since this crisis began.
Analysis I’m publishing today shows our interventions significantly protected people’s incomes, with the least well off in society supported the most.
And this crisis has highlighted the special bond which holds our country together.
Millions of people in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have been protected by the UK government’s economic interventions – and they will be supported by today’s Plan for Jobs.
No nationalist can ignore the undeniable truth: this help has only been possible because we are a United Kingdom.
Mr Speaker,
Four months on, as we carefully reopen our economy, we are entering the second phase of our economic response.
Despite the extraordinary support we’ve already provided, we face profound economic challenges:
world economic activity has slowed, with the IMF expecting the deepest global recession since records began
household consumption – the biggest component of our economy – has fallen steeply
businesses have stopped trading and stopped hiring
taken together, in just two months our economy contracted by 25% – the same amount it grew in the previous eighteen years.
And the independent Office for Budget Responsibility and Bank of England are both projecting significant job losses – the most urgent challenge we now face.
I want every person in this House and in the country to know that I will never accept unemployment as an unavoidable outcome.
We haven’t done everything we have so far just to step back now and say, ‘job done’. In truth, the job has only just begun.
Mr Speaker,
If the first phase of our economic response was about protection…
…and the second phase – the phase we are addressing today – is about jobs…
…there will come a third phase, where we will rebuild.
My Right Honourable Friend the Prime Minister has set out our vision to level up, unite the country, spread opportunity, and repair and heal the wounds exposed through this crisis.
I can tell the House we will produce a Budget and Spending Review in the autumn.
And, we will deal too, with the challenges facing our public finances.
Over the medium-term, we must, and we will, put our public finances back on a sustainable footing.
In other words, our Plan for Jobs will not be the last action – it is merely the next – in our fight to recover and rebuild after coronavirus.
Mr Speaker, Let me now turn to the detail of our plan for jobs.
Central to our economic response has been the Jobs Retention Scheme.
Furlough has been a lifeline for millions, supporting people and businesses to protect jobs. But it cannot and should not go on forever.
I know that when furlough ends it will be a difficult moment. I’m also sure that if I say the scheme must end in October, critics will say it should end in November. If I say it should end in November, critics will just say December.
But the truth is: calling for endless extensions to the furlough is just as irresponsible as it would have been, back in June, to end the scheme overnight.
We have to be honest.
Leaving the furlough scheme open forever gives people false hope that it will always be possible to return to the jobs they had before.
And the longer people are on furlough, the more likely it is their skills could fade, and they will find it harder to get new opportunities.
It is in no-one’s long term interests for the scheme to continue forever … least of all those trapped in a job that can only exist because of a government subsidy.
So the furlough will wind down, flexibly and gradually, supporting businesses and people through to October.
But while we can’t protect every job, one of the most important things we can do to prevent unemployment is to get as many people as possible from furlough back to their jobs.
So, today, we’re introducing a new policy to reward and incentivise employers who successfully bring furloughed staff back – a new Jobs Retention Bonus.
If you’re an employer and you bring someone back who was furloughed – and you continuously employ them through to January – we will pay you a £1,000 bonus per employee.
It is vital people aren’t just returning for the sake of it – they need to be doing decent work.
So for businesses to get this bonus, the employee must be paid at least £520 on average, in each month from November to January the equivalent of the lower earnings limit in National Insurance.
The House should understand the significance of this policy. We will pay the bonus for all furloughed employees.
So if employers bring back all nine million people who have been furloughed, this would be a £9 billion policy to retain people in work.
Our message to business is clear: if you stand by your workers, we will stand by you.
Mr Speaker, The furlough was the right policy to support people through the first phase of this crisis.
But now, in this new phase, we need to evolve our approach.
Today, I want to set out for the House a new three-point plan for jobs.
We need to:
first – support people to find jobs
second – create jobs
and third – protect jobs
Mr Speaker,
Let me start with supporting jobs, and in particular the help we want to provide for those who will be hardest hit by this crisis: younger people.
Over 700,000 people are leaving education this year.
Many more are just starting out in their careers.
Coronavirus has hit them hard – under 25s are two and a half times as likely to work in a sector that has been closed.
We cannot lose this generation, so today, I am announcing the Kickstart Scheme:
A new programme to give hundreds of thousands of young people, in every region and nation of Britain, the best possible chance of getting on and getting a job.
The Kickstart Scheme will directly pay employers to create new jobs for any 16 to 24-year-old at risk of long-term unemployment.
These will be new jobs – with the funding conditional on the firm proving these jobs are additional.
These will be decent jobs – with a minimum of 25 hours per week paid at least the National Minimum Wage.
And they will be good quality jobs – with employers providing Kickstarters with training and support to find a permanent job.
If employers meet these conditions, we will pay young people’s wages for six months, plus an amount to cover overheads.
That means, for a 24-year-old, the grant will be around £6,500.
Employers can apply to be part of the scheme from next month, with the first Kickstarters in their new jobs this autumn.
And I urge every employer, big or small, national or local, to hire as many Kickstarters as possible.
Today, I’m making available an initial £2 billion; enough to fund hundreds of thousands of jobs.
And I commit today: there will be no cap on the number of places available.
We can do more for young people:
traineeships are a proven scheme to get young people ready for work. We know they work, so for the first time ever we will pay employers £1,000 to take on new trainees, with triple the number of places
to support 18-19-year olds leaving school or college to find work in high-demand sectors like engineering, construction and social care, we’ll provide £100 million to create more places on Level 2 and 3 courses
and the evidence says careers advice works, so we will fund it, with enough new careers advisers to support over a quarter of a million more people.
We will also expand our universal skills offer:
Sector-Based Work Academies provide training, work placements, and a guaranteed job interview in high-demand sectors.
The evidence shows they work, so we will expand them – tripling the number of places.
And we know apprenticeships work, too – 91% of apprentices stay in work or do further training afterwards.
So for the next six months, we’re going to pay employers to create new apprenticeships.
We will pay businesses to hire young apprentices, with a new payment of £2,000 per apprentice.
And we will introduce a brand-new bonus for businesses to hire apprentices aged 25 and over, with a payment of £1,500.
And let me thank my Right Honourable Friend the Education Secretary for his support and commitment in developing these measures.
Mr Speaker,
We know the longer someone is out of work, the harder it is to return. Millions of people are moving onto Universal Credit – they need urgent support to get back to work.
So, we are:
doubling the number of Work Coaches in Job Centres
increasing the Flexible Support Fund
extending the Rapid Response Service
expanding the Work and Health Programme
and developing a new scheme to support the long-term unemployed
The academic and economic evidence tells us these are among the most effective things we can do.
So I’m investing an extra billion pounds in DWP, to support millions of people back to work.
And I’m grateful for everything my Right Honourable Friend the Work and Pensions secretary, and her incredible team, have done.
£1 billion of support for the unemployed; more money for skills, traineeships, and apprenticeships; and a new, good quality job for hundreds of thousands of new Kickstarters – the first part of our plan for jobs.
Mr Speaker,
The second part of our plan is to support job creation.
That begins with historic investment in infrastructure – creating jobs in every region and nation of the UK.
At Budget, I announced £88 billion of capital funding this year; and last week the Prime Minister announced our plans to accelerate £5 billion of additional investment projects.
We are doubling down on our ambition to level up…
…with better roads, better schools, better hospitals, better high streets, creating jobs in all four corners of our country.
Mr Speaker, As well as investing in infrastructure, we want to create green jobs.
This is going to be a green recovery with concern for our environment at its heart.
As part of that, I’m announcing today a new, £2 billion Green Homes Grant.
From September, homeowners and landlords will be able to apply for vouchers to make their homes more energy efficient and create local jobs.
The grants will cover at least two thirds of the cost, up to £5,000 per household.
And for low income households, we’ll go even further with vouchers covering the full cost – up to £10,000.
On top of the £2 billion voucher scheme, I am releasing £1 billion of funding to improve the energy efficiency of public sector buildings…
…alongside a £50 million fund to pilot the right approach to decarbonise social housing.
Taken together, we expect these measures to:
make over 650,000 homes more energy efficient
save households up to £300 a year on their bills
cut carbon by more than half a mega tonne per year, equivalent to taking 270,000 cars off the road
and, most importantly right now, support around 140,000 green jobs
A £3 billion green jobs plan to save money; cut carbon; and create jobs.
Mr Speaker, One of the most important sectors for job creation is housing.
The construction sector adds £39 billion a year to the UK economy;
House building alone supports nearly three quarter of a million jobs;
With millions more relying on the availability of housing to find work.
But property transactions fell by 50% in May.
House prices have fallen for the first time in eight years.
And uncertainty abounds in the market – a market we need to be thriving.
We need people feeling confident – confident to buy, sell, renovate, move and improve.
That will drive growth. That will create jobs.
So to catalyse the housing market and boost confidence, I have decided today to cut stamp duty.
Right now, there is no stamp duty on transactions below £125,000.
Today, I am increasing the threshold to half a million pounds.
This will be a temporary cut running until 31st March next year.
And, as is always the case, these changes to stamp duty will take effect immediately.
The average stamp duty bill will fall by £4,500.
And nearly nine out of ten people buying a main home this year, will pay no stamp duty at all.
Stamp duty cuts; A £5,000 Green Homes Grant; And tens of billions of pounds of new capital projects.
We are creating jobs, the second part of our Plan for Jobs.
Mr Speaker, The final part of our plan will protect jobs that already exist by helping some of our highest-employing but hardest-hit sectors: hospitality and tourism.
Our economy relies on consumption, especially social consumption:
The pubs, cafes, restaurants, hotels and B&Bs that bring life to our villages, towns and cities.
Taken together these sectors employ over 2 million people disproportionately younger, women and people from Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities.
And many rural and coastal communities rely on these industries.
80% of hospitality firms temporarily stopped trading in April and 1.4 million workers have been furloughed, the highest proportions of any sector.
So the best jobs programme we can do is to restart these sectors and get our pubs, restaurants, cafés and B&Bs bustling again.
I know people are cautious about going out.
But we wouldn’t have lifted the restrictions if we didn’t think we could do so safely.
And I’ve seen in the last few weeks how hard businesses are working to make their premises safe.
And if we follow the guidance, and respect what they ask us to do, we can all enjoy summer safely.
In turn, we need to give these businesses the confidence to know that if they open up, invest in making their premises safe, and protect jobs, demand will be there, and be there quickly.
So today, I’m announcing two new measures to get these sectors moving and protect jobs.
First, at the moment, VAT on hospitality and tourism is charged at 20%.
So I’ve decided, for the next six months, to cut VAT on food, accommodation and attractions.
Eat-in or hot takeaway food from restaurants, cafes and pubs;
Accommodation in hotels, B&Bs, campsites and caravan sites;
Attractions like cinemas, theme parks and zoos;
All these and more will see VAT reduced from next Wednesday until January 12th, from 20% to 5%.
This is a £4 billion catalyst for the hospitality and tourism sectors, benefiting over 150,000 businesses, and consumers everywhere – all helping to protect 2.4 million jobs.
But, Mr Speaker, we will go further. The final measure I’m announcing today has never been tried in the UK before. This moment is unique. We need to be creative.
So, to get customers back into restaurants, cafes and pubs, and protect the 1.8 million people who work in them, I can announce today that, for the month of August, we will give everyone in the country an Eat Out to Help Out discount.
Meals eaten at any participating business, Monday to Wednesday, will be 50% off, up to a maximum discount of £10 per head for everyone, including children.
Businesses will need to register, and can do so through a simple website, open next Monday.
Each week in August, businesses can then claim the money back, with the funds in their bank account within 5 working days.
1.8 million people work in this industry. They need our support and with this measure we can all eat out to help out.
A VAT cut to 5%;
And a first-of-its-kind government-backed discount for all;
That’s the third part of our Plan for Jobs.
So, Mr Speaker,
A £1,000 Jobs Retention Bonus.
New, high quality jobs for hundreds of thousands of young Kickstarters.
£1bn to double the number of work coaches and support the unemployed.
More apprenticeships; more traineeships; more skills funding.
Billions of pounds for new, job creation projects around the country.
A £3 billion plan to support 140,000 green jobs.
And in this vital period, as we get going again:
VAT cut.
Stamp duty cut.
Meals out cut.
Mr Speaker, all part of our Plan for Jobs worth up to £30 billion.
Mr Speaker,
Governments, much less people, rarely get to choose the moments that define them. What choice there is comes in how we respond.
For me, this has never just been a question of economics, but of values:
I believe in the nobility of work.
I believe in the inspiring power of opportunity.
I believe in the British people’s fortitude and endurance.
And it is that value, endurance, more than any other, we need to embody now.
A patience to live with the uncertainty of the moment…
…to find that new balance between safety and normality.
We will not be defined by this crisis, but by our response to it.
It is an unambiguous choice to make this moment meaningful for our country in a way that transcends the frustration and loss of recent months.
It is a plan to turn our national recovery into millions of stories of personal renewal.
Mr Speaker, it is our Plan for Jobs and I commend it to this House.
Anneliese Dodds MP, Labour’s Shadow Chancellor, responding to the Government’s ‘Plan for Jobs’, said:“Labour has repeatedly called on the government to match the ambitions of Labour’s Future Jobs Fund, to rise to the youth unemployment challenge.
“To the extent that the ‘Kickstart’ programme is based on the Future Jobs Fund model, it should help many young people to access work.
“However, the Government are yet to rise to the scale of the unemployment crisis. The urgent priority right now is to prevent additional unnecessary unemployment in the first place by abandoning the Government’s ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to the removal of the Job Retention and Self-Employed schemes.
“In addition, older people who become unemployed, and those living in particularly hard-hit areas, will also need tailored support.
“Government also urgently needs to get test, track and isolate right, as ultimately the biggest drag on our economy has been the slow public health response, which threatens additional localised lockdowns and which has reduced consumer confidence.”
Responding the UK Chancellor’s Summer Statement today, Finance Secretary Kate Forbes said: “We called for an £80bn stimulus package to build a strong, green and inclusive economic recovery and while there are elements in this announcement to be welcomed, in particular the measures on VAT for tourism and hospitality, overall this package is a huge opportunity missed. It falls well short of delivering what is needed to boost the economy and protect jobs.
“There is no new capital spend, no extension to the furlough scheme for hard-hit sectors and no further support for households in financial difficulty. A half price meal out does not help those struggling to put food on the table.
“Many of the initiatives are short-lived and do not provide long term certainty for business or households. Instead they will simply push the problems back to the end of the year when we will also have to deal with the end of the transition period with the EU.
“Despite announcing new funding measures worth up to £30bn today, most of it bypasses devolution and does not provide the Scottish Government with the funding we need to enable us to tailor an economic response that meets Scotland’s needs.
“Like all governments, we are facing huge spending pressures but we do not have the tools that others have to meet them. Along with the Governments of Wales and Northern Ireland, we set out a reasonable, proportionate set of new financial powers that would enable the Scottish Government to respond effectively. Regrettably, the UK Government has turned a deaf ear to those needs.”
Also responding to measures announced today by the chancellor in his summer statement, TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said: “Mass unemployment is now the biggest threat facing the UK, as shown by the thousands of job losses at British Airways, Airbus and elsewhere.
“The government must do far more to stem the rising tide of redundancies. We can’t afford to lose any more good skilled jobs.
“The chancellor should have announced targeted support for the hardest-hit sectors like manufacturing and aviation. Struggling businesses will need more than a one-off job retention bonus to survive and save jobs in the long-term.
“Unions campaigned for a job guarantee scheme. Kickstart is a good first step. But if the government allows vital industries to go the wall, unemployment will surge and the recession will last far longer.
“The more people we have in decent work, the faster we can work our way out of recession. We must create jobs through more new public investment in new homes, childcare, faster broadband, better transport and green tech.
“The government should have announced extra investment in jobs across all public services – starting with filling the 200,000 vacancies in the NHS and social care. And if the chancellor wants people to have the confidence to eat out, he should have announced a pay rise for hard-pressed key workers rather than dining out discounts for the well-off.”
On sick pay, Frances added: “The government missed an opportunity to strengthen their faltering Test and Trace programme.
“Statutory sick pay is too low for anyone to live on. It’s not viable to ask people to self-isolate if they will be pushed into financial hardship.
“We had hoped ministers would listen, raise the rate and change the rules so low-paid people could afford to do the right thing and comply with self-isolation. Once again, this government fails to understand the real lives of low-paid workers. It is clear that poverty wages and insecure contracts are a public health hazard.”
Finance Secretary Kate Forbes has reached an agreement with the Scottish Green Party to ensure the passage of the Scottish Government’s budget.
The final agreement will increased support for young people, police, climate action and local government.
Thanking all who took part in discussions, Ms Forbes said that while she had reached agreement with the Scottish Greens, the budget delivered on key issues raised by all parties in the parliament and called on all MSPs to unite behind the budget today (Thursday).
The agreement which builds on key Scottish Government commitments to invest £15 billion in health and care services, deliver a child poverty payment and to expand early learning and childcare, will:
deliver a National Concessionary Travel scheme offering free bus travel for 18s and under. The Scottish Government will undertake work on design and due diligence with a view to introducing such a scheme in January 2021
ensure a total uplift for the police service of £60 million in the next financial year with £13 million of additional investment in frontline services and a further £5 million of additional capital investment, on top of the £42 million already committed
support local services with £95 million of further funding for local government, taking total additional Scottish Government support for local authorities to £589 million
To further support Scotland’s efforts to end our contribution to climate change a £45 million package of investment in low carbon projects has been agreed including:
£25 million of additional investment in local energy efficiency projects
£15 million for local authority investment in active travel, taking the total investment in active transport in the next financial year to £100 million
£5 million to further develop options for enhanced rail services
As part of the agreement, the Scottish Government has confirmed that the Infrastructure Investment Plan, which will be published later this year, will be aligned with the Infrastructure Commission’s call for all future projects to be compatible with the Scottish Government’s net zero target and the Climate Change Act.
Confirming the agreement, Ms Forbes said: “I am pleased to have reached an agreement to pass the Scottish budget and deliver certainty for communities, businesses and our vital public services – especially in face of the uncertainty created by the UK Government’s decision to delay its budget.
“I want to thank all parties for the constructive way in which they have approached this year’s discussions. While it is not possible to meet every party’s demands in full, I believe in reaching formal agreement with the Green Party, I am also delivering on key asks from every party and I encourage all MSPs to consider giving their support to Scotland’s budget.
“This budget invests a record £15 billion in health and care services, delivers Scotland’s unique child payment to lift our youngest out of poverty, transfers £3 billion of social security spending, supports our efforts to tackle the climate crisis and the creation of a Scottish National Investment Bank.
“The Scottish Government had already backed Police Scotland with a budget increase of £42 million. We will now increase that support to £60 million overall with £50 million of investment for frontline services.
“And we will deliver in full the support Cosla and others have asked for with £95 million for local government.
“We have made significant investments to tackle the climate crisis, with funding for a green deal, low carbon travel and £1.8 billion of low carbon infrastructure.
“To further increase our action to tackle climate change and to support young people across Scotland, we will take steps to introduce a National Concessionary Travel scheme providing free bus travel for Scotland’s 18s and under.
“We will begin the work now to ensure such a scheme is legally compliant and that it meets young people’s needs with the aim of introducing it from January 2021. Alongside the £500 million bus infrastructure fund, this will help deliver a step change in the use of public transport.
“I will also increase funding for walking, cycling and safer streets to £100 million for the first time and boost support for energy efficiency measures as part of our focus on reaching net-zero.
“When I presented the budget I said that every penny had been spent and that remains the case. In the absence of proposals to change spending, this additional investment will be funded through limited amounts of underspend, taking a multi-year approach to issues around non-domestic rates without impacting on local authority revenues, and additional consequentials from the fossil fuel levy. While this increases the financial exposure of the government it ensures that social security payments can be made and public services properly funded.”
The Scottish Greens say free bus travel for young people is a ‘transformational step’ towards tackling the climate emergency.
Young people aged 18 and under are set to get free bus travel in Scotland, thanks to the Scottish Green Party.
The Scottish Government has agreed to work to implement free bus travel for young people in Scotland, in a major win for the Scottish Greens as part of the Scottish budget process.
This means from 2021 young people across Scotland should be able to travel for free on bus routes, in a similar way to the entitlement currently held by over-60s.
The budget deal also puts an additional £95m towards local services across Scotland such as schools and libraries.
Scottish Green co-leader Patrick Harvie said: “Free bus travel for young people is a transformational step towards tackling the climate emergency. This scheme will benefit young people starting college and families, some of whom stand to save thousands of pounds a year, and encourage whole generations of public transport users.
“Buses are the backbone of local public transport and the key to employment and training opportunities for so many of those starting out in life.
“Yet again it’s the Scottish Greens who have engaged constructively in the budget process to deliver for communities in Scotland.
Clearly, a Green budget would do even more to tackle the climate emergency, but securing this important free bus travel deal for the next generation builds on the powers we won for local councils to take control of local bus services. It is the Scottish Greens who are leading the change.
“And as we have done in every year we have struck a deal, the Greens have prioritised funding for local government, securing an additional £95m for libraries, schools and other local services.”
As part of the deal, Scottish Greens have also secured additional funding for vital low carbon capital projects across Scotland, including commitments to explore reopening the Dunfermline to Alloa rail link and improve the Milngavie rail line, increasing the cycling and walking budget to £100m and £13m for community safety and crime prevention.
Widening free bus travel to those 18 and under is estimated to cost around £60m a year from 2020:
– A student travelling from Castle Douglas to study at Dumfries College is set to save around £1,231 per academic year
– A student travelling from Bathgate to Edinburgh College’s Granton campus is set to save around £1,216 per academic year
– A student going the Moray campus of the University of the Highlands and Islands from Inverness is set to save around £945 per academic year
– A family in Edinburgh can save £304 a year on their child going to and from school if they need to take the bus
– It will save a family of four £22.70 on a trip from Keith to Inverurie Trampoline Park.
Scottish Green MSPs, Alison Johnstone and Andy Wightman, have also hailed the deal struck by the party to deliver free bus travel for young people aged 18 and under as “transformational”.
Alison Johnstone MSP said: “Free bus travel for young people is a transformational step towards tackling the climate emergency. This scheme could save young people and families thousands of pounds a year, and encourage whole generations of public transport users.
“Buses are the backbone of local public transport and the key to employment, training, sports and social opportunities for so many young people.”
The Scottish Greens have also secured an additional £95 million for vital local services, and an additional £13 million for community policing and prevention work.
Andy Wightman MSP added: “Since the 2016 election the Scottish Greens have pushed the Scottish Government to provide councils with a fairer share of funding.
“I’m delighted that this year Greens have been able to deliver over £7.4 million more for Edinburgh, £1.5 million more for Midlothian, £1.8 million more for East Lothian, and £3.2 million more for West Lothian, to help protect vital local services like community centres, and speed up the delivery of much-needed new schools.
While the Greens hail their contribution to tackling climate change, the local government umbrella body COSLA says the budget will do NOTHING to tackle the environmental emergency.
The Scottish Government’s 2045 Climate Change Targets will not be met as local authorities will be forced to use ageing, high-emission vehicles on a daily basis, councils have warned.
The Scottish Government draft budget falls far short of what COSLA considers a fair settlement for Local Government. It results in a £95m (£300m real terms) cut to revenue and £117m (£130m real terms) cut to capital budgets. The impact of these cuts will continue to be felt.
COSLA Environment and Economy Spokesperson Councillor Steven Heddle said: “This budget in no way recognises that we are facing a climate emergency nor the role of Local Government in addressing the challenges.
“The risks are clear. This is a budget which heavily impedes our ability to help Scotland meet these targets. If the Government are serious about addressing climate change then protecting services such as school and community transport, waste collection, gritting, and roads maintenance should be top of their agenda.
“Cuts to council budgets means cuts to public transport – forcing more people to travel by car and an end to critical investment in active travel.
“To truly tackle the climate emergency, we need to provide services in a different way, Local Government is eager to be a leader in the fight to tackle climate change, but resources are needed.
“Instead of additional resource to allow investment in emission-reducing infrastructure, energy efficiency measures and digital services delivery, we have seen a cut to the Local Government budget. This must be addressed if we are serious about tackling climate change.
“We are calling on the Government and the Parliament to address these concerns, listen to our asks and allow investment in essential council services which can make a real difference in the fight against climate change.
Edinbirgh SNP MSP Gordon MacDonald has welcomed an agreement to pass the Scottish Government that will see the capital receive an additional £7.43 million in the next year.
Police will benefit from a total uplift of £60 million in the next financial year, with £13m of additional investment in frontline services and a further £5m of additional capital investment, on top of the £42m already committed.
SNP MSP for Edinburgh Pentlands, Gordon MacDonald, said: “This budget invests a record £15bn in health and care services, delivers Scotland’s unique child payment to lift our youngest out of poverty and supports Scotland’s world-leading efforts to tackle the climate crisis.
“The Scottish Government had already backed Police Scotland with a budget increase of £42m. That will now increase that support to £60m overall with £50m of investment for frontline services.
“Edinburgh will benefit from our share of an extra £95m for local government – with an extra £7.43 millon of investment.
“We have made significant investments to tackle the climate crisis, with funding for a green deal, low carbon travel and £1.8bn of low emission infrastructure.
“The introduction of free bus travel for those aged 18 and under will make an enormous difference to young people – and alongside the £500 million bus infrastructure fund will help deliver a step change in the use of public transport.
“This budget is a good deal for Edinburgh and a good deal for Scotland – and I’m delighted it is now set to receive the support of the Scottish Parliament.”
Councillors will meet tomorrow to discuss six steps for boosting sustainability, tackling poverty and improving residents’ wellbeing over the course of the next decade. The meeting comes a week before the city council sets it’s budget – a budget which UNISON says will slash council services with another £33 million in CUTS in the year ahead.
Designed to secure Edinburgh’s spending priorities, in the context of increasingly challenging financial circumstances, the six programmes of work are contained within a report detailing the next phase of the Council’s Change Strategy.
Members of the Finance and Resources Committee will consider the suggestions alongside detailed proposals for agreeing the city’s annual budget next week (20 February) and planned savings of £87.3m over the next three years.
One year into a four-year plan, the Change Strategy has already achieved savings of over £30m for the Council, while delivering improvements to frontline services across the city and major investment towards health and social care, the building of new schools and thousands of affordable homes.
Since last year’s budget, the Council has made significant progress against its target to deliver 10,000 new affordable homes by 2022, with 2,000 homes currently under construction across 35 sites.
A £153m improvement is making upgrades to nearly 600 buildings, with £67m spent building new or refurbishing schools, while an additional £15.7m has been put towards health and social care.
The start of the tram to Newhaven extension is underway – we’ll have to wait and see what the final cost of that particular project will be – and more than £7.4m has been invested into active travel and cycling around the city, alongside an £11m street lighting upgrade to LED.
The next phase of the council strategy builds on this work, identifying six programmes with practical steps for continuing to achieve Edinburgh’s spending priorities in this year’s Council budget and beyond.
The six programmes are:
Prioritising poverty and wellbeing
Developing a long-term Prevention Strategy based on the results of the Edinburgh Poverty Commission and the findings of the Homelessness Taskforce, and redesigning Council services which maximise residents’ wellbeing.
Working to reach net zero carbon
Co-sponsoring the establishment of the Edinburgh Commission for Climate Action – an independent body that will advise and support the whole city to play its part in protecting our environment for future generations – and building on the city’s Net Zero short-term improvement plan with a City Sustainability Strategy.
Building an inclusive city
Finalising and actioning a new City Plan and City Centre Transformation strategy to guide the future shape of the city and fulfilling the ambitions of Edinburgh’s 10-year City Mobility plan to change the way that people move around the city.
Operating a 21st Century estate
Launching a new Land and Property Commission to better identify sites for new housing, release depots and yards for redevelopment and capital for investment, reduce costs and carbon emissions – complemented by a new Estate Strategy examining all aspects of how the Council runs and maintains buildings and land.
Being an efficient and modern Council
Paying the baseline Living Wage to all employees, working to close the gender pay gap and improve diversity, and breaking down stigma associated with mental health conditions. We will also be reviewing senior management structures and costs.
Empowering citizens and empowering colleagues
By introducing new standards for consultation and co-designing services across the Council and fulfilling our commitment of 1% of council budgets being invested through participatory budgeting by 2021.
Council Leader Adam McVey said:“We need to think big and be bold to become the type of city people have told us they want to live and work in – an inclusive, sustainable and progressive city which prioritises frontline services and its most vulnerable citizens, puts an end to poverty and acts now against climate change – and we shouldn’t be afraid to make challenging decisions in order to get there.
“That’s why we’re changing the way we do things, committing to a longer term, three-year budget plan, paving the way for record capital investment in areas like new schools, new affordable new homes and sustainable transport. The six steps outlined in this report will make sure we remain focused on our key aims while providing the best services possible for the people of Edinburgh.”
The SNP can’t run the city on their own, of course, and they are supported by Labour in a ‘Capital Coalition’ which has been coming in for increasing criticism.
Capital Coalition Depute Leader, Labour’s Cllr Cammy Day, said: “Like all Councils, we’re facing unprecedented levels of financial uncertainty and we’ll need to make tough choices in order to prioritise the big changes Edinburgh wants and needs.
“The six areas have been shaped by many years of feedback, through our budget consultations with tens of thousands of Edinburgh residents. This is about focusing on frontline services which lift people out of poverty and support Edinburgh’s ambitious sustainability goals.
“Most councils will currently be considering how to set a one-year budget. We’re going further by looking at how we will balance our budgets over the next three years. We’ll do this while also continuing to push for the powers we need to introduce innovative new funding mechanisms for Edinburgh, such as the tourist tax and workplace parking levy.”
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH
Local government trade union UNISON is urging it’s members and the general public to say ENOUGH IS ENOUGH and stand up for our local jobs and services.
The union is holding a Council Budget Day Lobby from 08.30 – 10:00 at the City Chambers on the High Street
The city council has announced a new timetable to enable councillors to agree a three-year budget on 20 February.
Following confirmation from the Scottish Government that the Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Economy and Fair Work intends to outline his spending plans on 6 February, a special Finance & Resources Committee has been added to the council diary on 14 February, where proposals for spending and investing will be considered in more detail.
A series of proposals developed by Council officers, which have been shared with all political groups in the City Chambers, will be developed into Coalition proposals and published on 10 February.
No decisions have yet been made and officers continue to explore a number of options based on previous feedback from residents and council employees.
However whether the budget is for one year or three, one thing is inevitable: communites face yet more cuts to services.
Council Leader Adam McVey said: “Despite the uncertainty brought about by delays to the UK Government’s budget announcement, we’re committed to setting a balanced three-year budget for Edinburgh – paving the way for record capital investment in our schools and transport over the next 10 years.
“We’ve already started outlining our long-term plans for making the city more sustainable and accessible while managing our city’s growth more fairly and effectively. But to reach these goals, we need to act now and make the smartest use of the resources we have available.
“Yes, there will be some difficult decisions we’ll need to make – that’s no secret. But it’s extremely disappointing that budget information, much of it inaccurate, has found its way into the public domain, causing unnecessary alarm in our communities.
“We won’t let this cloud the process or stand in the way of our priority, which is to agree the best budget for the people of Edinburgh; one that supports people out of poverty, responds to the climate crisis and allows our residents to share in our city’s success.”
The ciy council is currently run by a SNP – Labour ‘Capital Coalition’ – the majority SNP group supported by Labour’s twelve councillors.
Council Depute Leader, Labour’s Cammy Day, added: “While many Councils across the country will be meeting next month or even later to set a one-year budget, we’re going further, outlining our spending plans until March 2023.
“Despite challenging budgets and continued pressure on local government finance, we will set a three year budget to allow the Council, partner organisations and our residents some certainty for the next few years.
“We will prioritise and invest in the areas our citizens have told us really matter to them, with a focus on poverty and sustainability. I’m confident that our future planning will see the capital city with a positive and progressive outlook for the future.”
