Retail trade union Usdaw has a delegation of members, reps and officials attending the annual conference of the Scottish Trade Union Congress (STUC) in Dundee, which started on Monday and concludes tomorrow.
Moving the composite motion about childcare, Elaine Dennis – Usdaw delegate said: “In recent years working parents across Scotland have come under huge strain due to the growing lack of affordable, flexible and accessible childcare.
“Undoubtedly, the cost of living crisis has intensified this problem, with women often bearing the brunt. Childcare is not just an equality issue and a trade union issue, it’s key to economic growth and essential to tackling child poverty.
“Despite childcare being so crucial to working families and women’s equality.
“The current system is failing parents who are struggling to find good quality affordable childcare, failing childcare workers, who are often underpaid, and underappreciated, and failing children across Scotland, who are missing out on vital opportunities with one in four living in poverty.
“Most Usdaw members work in lower paid sectors like retail and warehousing; the majority are women, so childcare is a huge issue for our members. The costs of childcare and nursery fees are simply unaffordable for many parents in lower paid jobs and even where free hours are available, the system is complicated and difficult to navigate. Many families don’t know what they are entitled to and many more are left with huge gaps in provision.
“Balancing work with childcare in a sector like retail is not easy and women are often the primary carer. It is so often invisible to employers and managers, yet it shapes working lives.
“We know from supporting many of our women members with children, the effort they put in to making themselves available for work is enormous. It often means getting up very early or going to bed very late and regularly arriving at work on very little sleep.
“It means putting a lot of effort into scheduling childcare around work, creating a complicated patchwork of support. Working out when grandparents, neighbours or older siblings are available to look after young children in the morning, evening or for a few hours after school. This is why good wraparound childcare provisions are so important to working parents.
“We know that many parents work ‘opposite shifts’, with families barely able to spend a minute of quality time together. Workplace policies help and unions do a great job negotiating flexible working agreements that make a real difference to women’s working lives, but women working in part-time, low hours and low paid jobs, who are worried about holding onto them, are often too afraid to ask their employer for help.
“A successful childcare system should enable parents to work the jobs and the hours that they choose to. Instead, it is a barrier to work for those in lower paid jobs.
“It prevents women from progressing, trapping families in poverty and ingraining inequality. We desperately need a childcare system that supports working parents and grandparents, valuing these dedicated workers and supporting families in Scotland.”
Continued delays to the updated climate change plan and further slippage in promised climate policies mean that the Climate Change Committee no longer believes that the Scottish Government will meet its statutory 2030 goal to reduce emissions by 75%.
There is no comprehensive strategy for Scotland to decarbonise towards Net Zero.
The Scottish Government delayed its draft Climate Change Plan last year despite the 2030 target only being six years away. This has left a significant period without sufficient actions or policies to reach the target; the required acceleration in emissions reduction in Scotland is now beyond what is credible.
Professor Piers Forster, interim Chair of the Climate Change Committee, said: “Scotland has laudable ambitions to decarbonise, but it isn’t enough to set a target; the Government must act.
“There are risks in all reviewed areas, including those with significant policy powers devolved to the Scottish Government.
“Scotland’s Climate Change Plan needs to be published urgently, so we can assess it. We need to see actions that will deliver on its future targets.”
Scotland missed its annual target for 2021. This is the eighth time in the past 12 years that they have missed a target. The only sectors to reduce emissions in 2021 were electricity supply and industry. Most key indicators of delivery progress, such as tree planting, peatland restoration rates and heat pump installations are off track.
There is a path to Scotland’s post 2030 targets, but stronger action is needed to reduce emissions across the economy.
The transport and buildings sectors will require a particularly rapid increase in the rate of emissions reduction to meet the targets set out in the last Climate Change Plan update (2020 CCPu).
Buildings. The 2020 CCPu requires emissions from heating buildings to decrease by 71% by 2030, meaning the annual emissions reduction rate must increase by almost a factor of ten. There are welcome bold proposals in the Heat in Buildings consultation, which if implemented could become a template for the rest of the UK. But these proposals must be delivered in practice and the planned rate of decarbonisation will not achieve those promised in 2020.
Transport. The 2020 CCPu requires Scotland’s transport emissions to decrease by 44% by 2030, meaning the annual emissions reduction rate must increase by almost a factor of four. Scotland has an extremely stretching target to reduce car-kilometres by 20% on 2019 levels by 2030, but a clear strategy on how this will be achieved is still missing. Practical delivery plans must focus on deploying and improving electric car charging infrastructure – and developing plans for aviation.
Agriculture and land use. The 2020 CCPu requires this to decrease by 11% by 2030 – a reversal of recent emissions increases is needed. On woodland creation, Scotland needs to double its recent rate. On peatland restoration a tripling of Scotland’s rate is required to reach its own target, which remains less ambitious than the CCC’s.
Engineered greenhouse gas removals. The Acorn carbon capture cluster has received ‘Track 2 status’, which is positive progress for engineered removals in Scotland. But the Scottish Government should assess Acorn’s deployment potential against its own aim to achieve -3.8 MtCO2 engineered removals by 2030. A feasibility study published by the Scottish Government estimates potential for only 2.2 MtCO2 by 2030 in Scotland.
This is a crucial time for Net Zero in Scotland. The handling of plans to close the Grangemouth refinery underlines the risk of omitting meaningful dialogue between communities, industry and government and the important role for the Scottish Government in ensuring a just transition towards Net Zero.
Further delay to the Scottish Government’s draft Climate Change Plan will prevent further progress on these strategic issues.
The STUC commented: “This is a hammer blow and cannot go unchecked. It’s the working class who bear the brunt of climate change and a lack of action from government has let them down.
“If the Scottish Government can’t meet their climate targets, then we cannot plan and manage a just transition.”
Commenting on the Climate Change Committee’s new report, which warns that “Scotland’s 2030 climate goals are no longer credible”, Convener of Holyrood’s Net Zero, Energy & Transport Committee, Edward Mountain MSP, said: “This report is a reality check for us all. Reaching Net Zero means drastic measures need to be taken across all sectors and amongst every community.
“To make this happen, the Scottish Government must lead from the front.
“Clearly insufficient action has been taken to date. We urge the Scottish Government to present, as soon as possible, a coherent and practical delivery plan.”
Legislation which will see the introduction of a National Care Service for Scotland (NCS) has passed Stage 1 in Parliament.
MSPs have voted for the general principles of the National Care Service (Scotland) Bill which will ensure greater transparency in the delivery of community health and social care, improve standards, strengthen the role of the workforce and provide better support for unpaid carers.
The proposals include establishing a National Care Service Charter, rights to breaks for carers and provisions to enact Anne’s Law so people in care homes have the right to be visited by their families.
Social Care Minister Maree Todd said: “We need long-term, widespread transformation to fix some of the ingrained issues within the system and ensure sustainability for the future.
“We have spent considerable time working with people with lived experience on how to reform social care for the better. I’m grateful to the thousands of people who have lent their voices and I am determined to ensure the Bill delivers the positive change needed.
“Today’s vote shows that the Scottish Parliament also recognises this and I am grateful to them for bringing us one step closer to this urgent reform.
“This Bill is the biggest public sector reform since devolution and it is our chance to make meaningful change that we all agree is needed to the social care system. I know the people of Scotland will see huge benefits.”
Scotland’s largest trade union bodies have condemned the Scottish Government’s proposed National Care Service Bill as ‘not fit for purpose’ as MSPs approve the legislation at Stage 1.
The Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) alongside the three biggest social care unions in Scotland – UNISON, GMB SCOTLAND and UNITE – have written to the Cabinet Secretary for NHS Recovery, Health and Social Care Neil Gray outlining their shared concerns on the Bill.
The letter states that social care workers’ concerns have been ‘widely ignored’ by the Scottish Government and that, at this stage of proceedings, the Bill as drafted remains ‘firmly unacceptable’.
Last week the Scottish Parliament’s Health, Social Care and Sport Committee’s report into Stage 1 drew criticism from trade unions who outlined the ‘glaring deficiencies’ of the proposals on costs and operation of the service.
Commenting, STUC General Secretary Roz Foyer said: “It beggars belief that, despite repeated warnings to the Scottish Government, Scotland’s social care workers are still in the dark on the basic fundamentals of the new National Care Service.
“Our social care sector already suffers from insecure conditions and low pay. We cannot risk those weaknesses being carried over into any new system of nationalised care.
“We must see the Scottish Government take seriously the recommendations of the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee’s report into the Bill. This would include improving pay, terms and conditions for social care staff, including a £15 per hour minimum wage. We also need to see Scottish Government guarantees on Fair Work and sectoral bargaining in addition to full sick pay from day one of employment.
“Our social care staff are the lifeblood of our system. We value their work and it’s high time the Scottish Government does likewise.”
COSLA: “SIGNIFICANT CONCERNS” ON NATIONAL CARE SERVICE PLANS
Speaking ahead of the Stage 1 debate for the National Care Service Bill in the Scottish Parliament on Thursday 29th February, Councillor Paul Kelly, COSLA’s Health & Social Care Spokesperson, commented:“Councils have expressed significant concerns regarding current National Care Service plans and believe there is still work to do to ensure proposals can meet aspirations.
“In particular, Council Leaders are disappointed in the decision of the Scottish Government to continue to push through legislation where a power will be given to Ministers to delegate children and justice services, despite the potential disruption to services and extensive negotiations and concessions from Local Government.
“Council Leaders remain concerned that such a move risks excessive centralisation of decision-making away from local people and areas. Leaders did agree that COSLA should continue to work closely with Scottish Government to address these concerns.
“COSLA welcomes the progress which has been made in reforming some National Care Service proposals, including that local authorities will continue to play a central role in the delivery of, and accountability for care.
“There is a pressing need to improve people’s experiences of accessing and delivering care in Scotland. Although legislative and governance reform may be part of that, the reality is that national funding decisions – including the proposed council tax freeze which has not been fully funded – will further squeeze local care and social work services which are already under incredible pressure.
“Investment in social care must be seen as a priority which can enhance the wellbeing of people, of society and of Scotland.”
Having passed Stage One, the National Care Service (Scotland) Bill moves into Stage 2 where amendments will be considered by the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee before Stage 3, when the full Parliament makes a final vote on whether to pass the Bill.
The Scottish Budget has been approved by Parliament, ensuring funding can be targeted towards the missions of supporting public services, growing the economy and tackling poverty.
MSPs have passed the 2024-25 Scottish Budget Bill, with spending commitments including:
£13.2 billion for frontline NHS boards, over £1.5 billion for policing and nearly £400 million to support the fire service
Over £5 billion to help create jobs, support businesses, aid the transition to net zero and fund public transport to provide viable alternatives to car use
£6.3 billion for social security benefits, £200 million to help tackle the poverty-related attainment gap and £1.5 million to cancel school meal debt
Over £14 billion for local authorities – the highest settlement yet delivered for local government
At the heart of #ScotBudget is the social contract between this government and the people of Scotland.
Deputy First Minister and Finance Secretary Shona Robison said: “I am pleased that Parliament has approved our Budget, allowing us to enact our spending plans in the face of a deeply challenging financial situation.
“This is a Budget which stays true to our progressive values: investing in services, growing our economy, protecting vulnerable people and tackling the climate emergency.
“We have taken decisions which prioritise funding in the areas that have the greatest impact on the quality of life for the people of Scotland – despite the challenges caused in large part by the UK Government’s failure to invest in public services and infrastructure.
“Our block grant funding from the UK Government has fallen in real terms since 2022-23. Our capital spending power is due to contract by almost 10 per cent in real terms over five years – that’s around £1.6 billion in total, equivalent to the cost of building a large hospital.
“I have written to the Chancellor urging him to change course, using next week’s Spring Budget to increase funding for public services and infrastructure instead of cutting taxes.”
Scotland’s local government umbrella body Cosla fears the Budget will mean more misery for cash-strapped councils.
A £6.3 billion investment in social security and more than £19.5 billion for health and social care form the heart of the Scottish Budget for next year, alongside record funding for local authorities and frontline police and fire services.
With targeted funding to invest in public services and protect the most vulnerable, the Budget underpins the social contract with the people of Scotland, Deputy First Minister and Finance Secretary Shona Robison told Parliament. She also outlined policies to grow the economy and progress the commitment to deliver a just transition to net zero.
Difficult decisions have been required to prioritise funding for the services people rely on in the face of a deeply challenging financial situation, Ms Robison added.
The 2024-25 Scottish Budget includes:
£6.3 billion for social security benefits, which will all be increased in line with inflation. This is £1.1 billion more than the funding received from the UK Government for devolved benefits in 2024-25
£13.2 billion for frontline NHS boards, with additional investment of more than half a billion – an uplift of over 4%
record funding of more than £14 billion for local government, including £144 million to enable local authorities to freeze Council Tax rates at their current levels
more than £1.5 billion for policing to support frontline services and key priorities such as body-worn cameras
almost £400 million to support the fire service
£200 million to help tackle the poverty-related attainment gap, almost £390 million to protect teacher numbers and fund the teacher pay deal, and up to £1.5 million to cancel school meal debt
almost £2.5 billion for public transport to provide viable alternatives to car use, and increased investment of £220 million in active travel to promote walking, wheeling and cycling
The Finance Secretary said: “It is an enormous privilege to present my first Budget. A Budget setting out, in tough times, to protect people, sustain public services, support a growing, sustainable economy, and address the climate and nature emergencies.
“At its heart is our social contract with the people of Scotland, where those with the broadest shoulders are asked to contribute a little more. Where everyone can have access to universal services and entitlements, and those in need of an extra helping hand will receive targeted additional support.
“This Budget is set in turbulent circumstances. At the global level the impacts of inflation, the war in Ukraine, and the after-effects of the pandemic continue to create instability. In the UK the combined effects of Brexit and disastrous Westminster policies mean that we are uniquely vulnerable to these international shocks.
“We cannot mitigate every cut made by the UK Government. But through the choices we have made, we have been true to our values and rigorous in prioritising our investment where it will have the most impact.
“We choose investment in our people and public services. This is a Budget that reflects our shared values as a nation and speaks to the kind of Scotland that we want to be.”
RESPONSES:
Responding to the Scottish Budget, STUC General Secretary Roz Foyer said: “With Westminster induced pressure on public spending in Scotland, we’re pleased that the Scottish Government has listened to the STUC and introduced a higher rate of tax for those on higher incomes.
“This represents a markedly positive approach which should be recognised. Equally, taking a more proportionate approach to rebates for business speaks to a Government which recognises the importance of the public sector to growing the economy.
“However, the Scottish Government’s Council Tax freeze and its unwillingness to countenance more ambitious tax reform has left a hole it was never going to be able to fill. High-quality, fully funded public services must be at the heart of a well-being economy and we cannot countenance any cuts – spun and packaged up as ‘reforms’ – which act as a barrier to that goal. Government should be under no illusions on this. The continuation of the regressive council tax simply damages our ability to support local government and those most in need.
“It is disappointing to see opposition parties failing to make any demands of government save for calling, impossibly, for more services but lower taxes. To this extent the whole of the Parliament is letting people down. We have to start of using the full powers of our Parliament to deliver tax reforms aimed at wealth and property, reforms which if implemented could raise £3.7 billion tax.”
Responding to the 2024/25 draft Budget, SCVO Chief Executive Anna Fowlie. said: “The draft Budget represents a missed opportunity to set out vital support for Scotland’s voluntary sector – at a time when it is being squeezed by the cost-of-living and running costs crises.
“While we welcome the Scottish Government’s commitments to move towards Fair Funding for Scotland’s voluntary sector by 2026, there was little evidence of that today.
“The UK Government delivered a modest but welcome package of running costs support for voluntary organisations in England – as part of the Spring Statement. Today, at the very least, the Scottish Government could have committed to doing the same here in Scotland. The sector is still waiting on any such commitment.
“While we recognise the challenging financial environment, the sector needs more than warm words and missed opportunities. Just last month the First Minister told assembled voluntary organisations at the Gathering that he’ll move beyond warm words and put money where his mouth is. Today we didn’t see that.
“We need to see meaningful support for the sector, with urgent progress on Fair Funding to safeguard essential services. We stand ready to support the Scottish Government to deliver that progress.”
Joanna Elson CBE, Chief Executive at Independent Age: “We welcome the Scottish Government’s greater focus on older people in poverty in today’s Budget. The news that all devolved social security payments, including the Winter Heating Payment, have been uprated by inflation and that the fund for Discretionary Housing Payment has been increased will be a welcome relief to those struggling financially in later life.
“However, these measures do not go far enough for the 150,000 older people now living in poverty in Scotland, a figure that has risen by a quarter in the last decade alone, now affecting 1 in 7. Today they really needed the Scottish Government to announce a clear, long-term strategy with legally binding targets and ambitions action to tackle pensioner poverty and reverse this frightening trend.
“Older people in Scotland, including those in financial hardship, urgently need greater representation. We were disappointed that the Scottish Government didn’t use today’s announcement as an opportunity to announce funding for an Older People’s Commissioner.
“A Commissioner would give better representation across policy making and provide a crucial independent voice for people in later life. With 1 in 4 of us projected to be over 65 by 2040, there’s no time to waste.
“While we welcome the measures announced today that will improve life for older people on low incomes, the Scottish Government need to go further and faster to address rising pensioner poverty in Scotland. Both a long-term solution to financial hardship in later life and an end to older people feeling ignored by those in power is needed. The time is now for Scotland to have a pensioner poverty strategy and an Older People’s Commissioner.”
Jonathan Carr-West, Chief Executive, LGIU Scotland,said: “With one in four Scottish councils warning that they may be unable to balance their books next year, today’s budget will not offer much reassurance.
“The Verity House Agreement promised early budget engagement, and it promised ‘no surprises.’ This financial settlement does not meet either of those promises or provide councils with the funding they have told us they need.
“A council tax freeze funded as though council tax were increased by 5% is equivalent to the rises that councils were planning for this year, but it denies them the increase in their tax base and thus undermines their finances next year and for years to come.
“The “additional support” promised all appears to be ring fenced to Scottish Government priorities rather than enabling democratically elected councils to make decisions about priorities in their areas. Again, this goes against the Verity House agreement.
“Before the budget, every council told us they were planning cuts to services, 97% that they were planning to increase charges, and 89% that they would have to spend their reserves. The funding announced in the settlement will not alleviate the need for these biting budget measures.
“The council tax freeze this year will not help residents affected by councils’ inevitable spending cuts and it will not help residents next year, when councils’ spending power is reduced further because their council tax base can’t increase in line with the amount they need.
“Our recent survey shows just how strong the concerns are across local government. Only one respondent to our survey said they were confident in the sustainability of council finances. Not a single person said they were happy with the progress that had been made on delivering a sustainable finance system.
“Senior council figures widely condemned how limited their involvement in the pre-budget process was, and this funding settlement confirms the suspicions that led to only 8% of respondents believing the Scottish Government considers local government in wider policy decisions.
Most worryingly, 8 separate councils (25% of all local authorities) warned us that they could be unable to fund their statutory services – the services they have to provide by law. The funding announced today will be no comfort to these struggling councils, who will now have to make even more difficult choices to make up for their funding shortfall.
For the average resident, this means their life will get more expensive and their services will get worse. For some of the most vulnerable members of society, as councils warned us, it may mean that if nothing changes then there is not enough money to fund the services they rely on.
“The funding settlement is not enough for councils to provide the services that millions of people across Scotland rely on. More than that though, it demonstrates that annual funding settlements of this type are not the right way to fund councils or to empower councils to tackle their long-term challenges.
“Councils should be given more powers over how they raise and spend their own money. This means ring-fencing and directed spending need to be reduced, as agreed at Verity House, and councils need to be free to set their own council tax.”
Commenting on the budget, UNISON’s Scottish Secretary Lilian Macer, said: “Today’s budget is a bad day for local services and deals a further financial blow to local councils who are already struggling to balance the books and to deliver the vital services our communities rely on.
“Our public services are on their knees due to years of underinvestment and the Scottish government’s council tax freeze will be a disaster for local services. We need to see investment in public services and a council tax freeze stops investment in public services, in schools and in the NHS.
“The Scottish government had the chance to make big choices to raise more money for Scotland’s public services but while the measures on income tax are welcome, much more could and should have been done. We still have a government boasting of low business taxes at the same time that they are delaying urgent improvements to public services.
“The Deputy First Minister spoke of cutting the public service workforce – people need to be aware that job cuts mean service cuts. What communities across Scotland need is investment, not abandonment.
“While we welcome investment in the NHS, the Scottish government failed to say how this would be targeted to tackling the staffing crisis and ensuring proper funding so the safe staffing act can make the improvements the NHS so desperately needs.
“Given the Scottish government’s commitment to become a fair work nation by 2025, it’s concerning that there was no mention of fair work anywhere in the budget statement, particularly in social care, a sector in crisis.”
Responding to the Scottish Government’s Budget Stuart McMahon, Scotland Director of consumer group CAMRA whose members had been lobbying MSPs asking for a 75% business rates discount to help save pubs and breweries, said:
“Pubgoers will be deeply disappointed by the lack of help for most of our locals today. Whilst 100% rates relief for hospitality businesses in island communities will be welcomed, failing to pass on extra money from the UK Government to help with business rates for the rest of our hospitality businesses is undoubtedly a blow and puts many of our pubs at risk of permanent closure.
“Yet again it seems that the Scottish Government just doesn’t understand the importance of our pubs, social clubs and breweries as a vital part of our social fabric – bringing communities together and providing a safe, regulated environment to enjoy a drink with friends and family. Our locals are community hubs that need and deserve help to make sure that they survive and thrive.
“With reports that pubs are closing at a faster rate here than elsewhere in the UK, Scottish Government ministers urgently need to re-think the decision not to give our locals the 75% discount with business rates bills that pubs south of the border are receiving. The Scottish Government also needs to support consumers, pubs and breweries in the new year by ditching any plans to bring back restrictive bans on alcohol advertising.”
In response to the Scottish Budget, Stephen Montgomery, Director of the Scottish Hospitality Group said: “We are sorely disappointed that the Scottish Government has not delivered new emergency support for Scottish hospitality.
“Unless a hospitality business is located on the islands, this Budget offers no new support to Scottish hospitality to survive the unprecedented challenge of rising costs, inflation, and the legacy of the pandemic.
“The very real implication is that many Scottish hospitality businesses will struggle to survive, and customers will see prices increase. This will be a bitter pill to swallow for thousands of Scottish hospitality businesses, given English hospitality businesses will be benefitting from a 75% business rates discount for the next year. Our attention will now be focused on helping those hospitality businesses survive what will be a very challenging year to come.
“However, we welcome the Scottish Government’s commitment to exploring a long-term, fairer deal for hospitality on business rates. It is a ray of hope in an otherwise disappointing day for Scottish hospitality.
“This is a golden opportunity to deliver a fairer deal for Scottish hospitality once and for all. We have been engaged with the New Deal for Business Group for a number of months and it is time that the Scottish Government’s actions matched their words.
“The Finance Secretary has committed to introducing a long-term, fairer deal for Scottish hospitality at next year’s Budget. We will hold her feet to the fire to make sure she delivers on this promise.”
While all households benefit from public services – some benefit more than others
Research from 2007-08 found that the average cash benefit to households from public services was more than £21,400 per year – but that those on low and modest incomes gain especially.
Spending on public services is particularly valuable for families with children.
We know that women use and depend upon public services more than men. This is because women are more likely to be on low wages, more likely to experience poverty, more likely to have unpaid caring responsibilities for children, elderly, and disabled people, and far more likely to experience domestic abuse and gender-based violence. Services that support families on low incomes including free school meals and childcare are vital to women in Scotland.
In contrast, men disproportionately benefit from tax cuts, such as cuts to national insurance, as they earn more. Across the UK, 26% of men are classed as high earners, but only 18% of women.iii
As well as being more likely to benefit from receiving public services, women are also more likely to work in public services. In Scotland, 40 per cent of female employees are public sector workers compared to only 23 per cent of male employees.
Research from last year found that a 12% increase in public sector pay would reduce Scotland’s earnings gap between men and women by about 2 percentage points.iv
The STUC Women’s Committee is calling for tax raising measures to be put in place to protect our public services. This includes increases in income taxes for high earners, as well as wealth and property taxes.
Lorna Glen, Chair of the STUC Women’s Committee said: “If the Scottish Government are serious about tackling gender inequality, then they need to invest in our public services.
“STUC’s tax report shows that is within the powers of our parliament – through income and property taxes – to raise £1.1 billion from April next year. Coupled with longer-term wealth, property and aviation taxes, the Scottish Government could raise a further £2.6 billion.
“Rather than threatening cuts to public services, these are the measures that we need to see if we are to reduce gender inequality.
“It is women who both power our public services and depend on them.”
Scotland’s largest trade union body has implored the Scottish Government to “step up for Scotland” as the STUC launches their 2023 tax report showing an extra £3.7 billion could be raised per year using Scotland’s existing powers.
The report: ‘Raising tax to deliver for Scotland’ demonstrates how changes to income and property taxes from April next year could raise an additional £1.1 billion for Scotland’s public services.
Longer term, the introduction of wealth taxes, replacing the council tax with a proportional property tax and introducing a super tax on private jets, amongst other measures, could raise an additional £2.6 billion per year for Scottish public finances.
The STUC claim the tax measures are progressive and would reduce both income and wealth inequality. The updated report follows a similar paper from the STUC last year, demonstrating the full powers of the Scottish Parliament to raise public revenue through progressive taxation. The report also contains detailed analysis of how the council tax could be replaced in a way that ensures low-income households don’t lose out.
https://twitter.com/i/status/1731646493407232454
The move comes as a direct response to Deputy First Minister Shona Robison’s warnings of public sector workforce cuts ahead of the Scottish budget this December.
If fully implemented the £3.7 billion raised could fund 82,000 public sector workers. STUC General Secretary Roz Foyer has implored government ministers to “rise to the challenge” of protecting public services and reducing inequality, as increased funding pressures on the Scottish Government continue as a result of the UK Government’s autumn statement.
Commenting, Ms Foyer said: “Our updated tax report makes clear that the Scottish Parliament has the power to make a real difference to our communities and raise over £3.7 billion of additional revenue for our public services.
“The Scottish Government must step up for Scotland. It’s clear that, with one foot out the electoral door, the Tories are hellbent on saddling any future UK Government with devastating public sector cuts.
“We can choose a different path. It’s within the powers of our parliament – through income, land and additional dwelling taxes – to raise an initial £1.1 billion from April next year. Coupled with longer-term wealth, property and aviation taxes, the Scottish Government can raise another £2.6 billion.
“At a time when workers are suffering the biggest drop in living standards since records began, and our public services need investment more than ever, it would be a chronic dereliction of duty for government ministers to sit back and let workers suffer Tory-inflicted austerity.
“They must rise to the challenge. For the sake of our workers, communities and public services, there is simply no other option.
Almost 1.6 million people have already been displaced
First Minister Humzah Yousaf and Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) have jointly called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and Israel during a bi-annual meeting yesterday.
The meeting was an opportunity for the Scottish Government and STUC to re-iterate solidarity with the Jewish and Muslim communities in Scotland, and commit to working in collaboration to ensure that antisemitism, Islamophobia, or any form of hatred or prejudice has no place in Scotland.
First Minister Humza Yousaf said: “We unequivocally condemn the terrorist atrocities committed by Hamas almost six weeks ago, and call for all hostages to be immediately, unconditionally, and safely released.
“What we are witnessing in Gaza is a humanitarian disaster. More than 11,000 men, woman, and children have lost their lives, and almost 1.6 million have been displaced. The people of Gaza are in desperate need of water, shelter, food, and safety.
“We must stand together and united, join with international organisations and aid agencies like the United Nations and World Health Organisation, and continue to lend Scotland’s voice to the growing international calls for an urgent ceasefire.
“The way forward is clear, and I hope that others across Scotland will add their voices to our calls – which build on Scotland’s proud history of supporting and promoting peace across the world.
“Working in solidarity with trade unions and others to combat antisemitism, Islamophobia, and all forms of hatred in Scotland is crucial, and I am absolutely committed to sending a clear message that hatred or prejudice directed at any community has no place in our modern Scotland.”
Commenting, STUC General Secretary Roz Foyer: ““The STUC is unequivocal: there must be an immediate ceasefire. We reiterate our utter condemnation of the Hamas attack on innocent Israeli citizens and call for the release of all hostages without delay.
“However, just as there can be no historical justification for such acts, neither is there any justification for the indiscriminate killing of innocents who are subject to terror and barbarism whilst the world looks on.
“We join with the First Minister and the Scottish Government, in addition to the United Nations, the World Health Organisation and international agencies across the world, in demanding a ceasefire and to end the killing of innocent men, women and children within the region.
“Collective punishment is a war crime. International law must be upheld. Peace must reign. However distant it may seem, a political solution can be found that guarantees peace and statehood for all peoples in Israel and Palestine.”
“Today I visited the Gaza Strip to meet with children, their families and UNICEF staff. What I saw and heard was devastating.
“They have endured repeated bombardment, loss and displacement. Inside the Strip, there is nowhere safe for Gaza’s one million children to turn.”
Read the full statement by UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell on her visit to Gaza: https://uni.cf/40Fliqv
STUC: ‘Today’s announcement will only make situation worse’
COSLA: ‘We were unaware of it in advance‘
Council tax rates will be frozen in the next financial year to support people struggling with the effects of high inflation, the First Minister has announced.
The freeze will benefit every Council Tax-payer in Scotland at a time when rising prices are putting significant strain on household finances. The Scottish Government will fully fund the freeze to ensure councils can maintain their services.
First Minister Humza Yousaf said: “Today’s announcement will bring much needed financial relief to those households who are struggling in the face of rising prices. Council tax is already lower in Scotland than elsewhere in the UK, and some 2.5 million households will now benefit from this freeze.
“Of course, the public sector across the UK is facing budget pressures as a result of UK Government austerity, and we know councils are facing financial challenges themselves. That’s why the Scottish Government will be fully funding this freeze to ensure they can continue providing the services on which we all rely. This is on top of the real-terms increase to local government revenue funding this financial year.
“The Scottish Government remains wholly committed to the Verity House Agreement, and as part of that are continuing work with COSLA on a new fiscal framework for local authorities.
“We are also working on longer term reforms to the council tax system, which are being considered by the working group on local government funding that we are chairing jointly with COSLA.”
A COSLA Spokesperson said: “We have just heard the announcement made at the SNP Conference in relation to freezing council tax. We were unaware of it in advance.
“This has longer term implications for all councils right across the country, at a time when we know there are acute financial pressures, and where we are jointly looking at all local revenue raising options.
“We will need to consider the implications for COSLA and Local Government with our members when we get more of the detail.
“This will also need to be examined against the principles of the recently signed Verity House Agreement.”
COSLA arranged an emergency meeting of their Executive, who issued the following statement:
There is absolutely no agreement to freeze Council Tax next year COSLA’s Presidential Team said today (Wednesday 18th October).
“The announcement of a council tax freeze as we said yesterday was made completely without reference to Local Government and there is no agreement to freeze council Tax next year, the decision to freeze council tax is one which can only be made by Councils.
“Our Cross-Party Group Leaders held an emergency meeting first thing this morning on the back of the announcement and there is real anger at the way this has been handled and what it puts at risk.
“On the back of this our Political Group Leaders also asked us to seek an urgent meeting with the First Minister.
“We deplore the way the announcement was made and its substance, both of which fly in the face of the Verity House Agreement which we all recently signed.
“It has been shown that previous council tax freezes have been regressive, having no impact for the poorest in society and eroding the council tax base, compounding councils’ ongoing underfunding.
“We will explore the implications arising and what the Scottish Government might propose when we meet with the Deputy First Minister later today – but we are clear that local taxation and particularly Council Tax should be left for democratically elected councils to determine.”
THE STUC responded swiftly to the First Minister’s announcement of a council tax freeze:
https://twitter.com/i/status/1714597373681279306
THE Scottish Greens, the SNP’s partners in government, have also expressed concerns. Scottish Greens finance spokesperson Ross Greer MSP said: “We are concerned about the effect this freeze could have on already-strained frontline public services if it is not properly funded.
“Our local councils and people who rely on services like social care, schools and early years centres must not lose out as a result of this announcement.
“Green MSPs will now work with our government colleagues in the SNP to work through the details, ensure that their decision is sustainably financed and that the most vulnerable people in our communities do not see the services they rely on being underfunded as a result.
“The First Minister is right to want to support those who are struggling the most through the cost of living crisis, but the way to do that is to completely replace the deeply unfair Council Tax with a more progressive system.
“As we have repeatedly highlighted, council tax is a ludicrously broken system. It hasn’t been accurate since before I was born, with most people now paying the wrong rate as a result of those 1991 valuations.
“The Scottish Greens have ensured that Scotland’s income tax system is the fairest in the UK, raising a billion pounds more every year for essential services like the NHS and our schools by asking those earning the most to pay a bit more.
“That is the progressive approach we will take once again as we work with SNP colleagues to agree the national budget for 2024-25.”
Jonathan Carr-West, Chief Executive, LGIU Scotland, said: “LGIU Scotland is deeply concerned by yesterday’s announcement from the First Minister to freeze council tax.
”The lack of consultation with local government demonstrates a failure of the principles of trust and respect that should be the foundation of the working relationship between the Scottish Government and local authorities and which are at the heart of the Verity House Agreement.
“Our research shows how important it is that local government is empowered to make decisions regarding its financing. International comparisons clearly show the detrimental impact that undermining the financial independence of local authorities has on the financial sustainability of the sector and the delivery of essential local services.
“Freezing council tax should be a decision for councils, not for central government. Even where those freezes are funded by grants, the loss of growth in the council tax base undermines the council’s finances for years to come. Many councils in England are still recovering from this nearly a decade on.
“Everyone aspires to a sustainable, stable future for local government finances but this can only be achieved by giving councils control, not by imposing decisions upon them.
“Scotland had seemed to be making good progress in this regard with the Verity House Agreement and commitments to empowering local government. So it’s disappointing to see this backward step.”
The STUC has published new ‘Public Power League’ showing the progress made by local authorities across Scotland to develop their own energy projects.
The league tables, which show Aberdeenshire topping the capacity chart with 226 megawatts of energy, aim to show the progress made by local authorities in creating local municipal energy projects.
The data, which further shows Stirling Council leading on the number of installations at 2,420, builds a picture of Scotland’s energy network as progress is made towards delivering a just transition to net-zero by 2045.
Municipal energy can increase revenues for local authorities or be targeted to reduce energy bills and tackle fuel poverty. At the same time, public control can support a Community Wealth Building approach, ensuring new energy projects prioritise local economies and supply chains with significant multiplier effects for jobs and greater accountability in the energy system.
The STUC, Scotland’s largest trade union body, is calling on all councils to redouble their efforts to capture the opportunity of public energy in their area. The move comes as intensified campaigning begins from the union to highlight private companies lining their pockets from people’s energy bills soaring.
STUC General Secretary Roz Foyer, said: “In 2022, we’ve seen Aberdeenshire and Stirling Councils leading the charge with their energy projects including heat pumps, solar PV and onshore wind.
“These projects have helped local authorities to tackle fuel poverty in their areas and retain vital income in their communities.
“More public energy is essential as people in Scotland watch their energy bills soar while private companies make billions from our natural resources. By holding power in our hands, we can prioritise lower bills and investment into communities, decent jobs, and meeting our climate targets.
“The People/Public Power League shows which local authorities are grasping this mantle. Every councillor in Scotland should be redoubling their efforts towards greater local authority ownership of energy and heat projects for the good of people in their area.”
