Scottish government faces £177m spending cut
- Published
Chancellor George Osborne announced he would be cutting departmental budgets this financial year
The Scottish government will face a £176.8m cut in public spending this year as a result of a savings plan announced by the UK Chancellor.
George Osborne said departmental budgets would fall by £3bn in 2015/16.
However, Scotland's Finance Secretary John Swinney said that the cut was an "unexpected and unwarranted" imposition of further austerity.
Mr Osborne made the announcement ahead of his emergency budget which will take place on 8 July.
The Tory minister believed it was vital to tackle UK debt "as quickly as possible".
During a debate in the House of Commons the Chancellor also confirmed that the government's remaining stake in Royal Mail - currently valued at £1.5bn - would be sold when ministers could be sure they would get value for money.
'Ideological obsession'
Mr Swinney, who is due to meet Mr Osborne in London on Monday, said that the people of Scotland had clearly voted against austerity in the recent general election.
He explained that the billions the Chancellor planned to take from departmental budgets in the 2015/16 financial year would have a knock-on consequence of £176.8m in Scotland.
John Swinney said there was no prior discussion between the UK and Scottish governments ahead of Mr Osborne's announcement
George Osborne announced the billions in savings during a debate in the House of Commons
Mr Swinney said there had been no prior discussion with the Scottish government over the cuts.
He added: "The Scottish Parliament has already agreed our budget for this year and that should be respected, not slashed as part of George Osborne and David Cameron's ideological obsession with austerity.
"Scotland has already seen our overall budget cut by 9% and our capital budget cut by 25% since 2010.
"Further cuts risk more damage to public services and will hold back economic growth, as underlined in the latest report from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)."
ANALYSIS
By Brian Taylor, BBC Scotland political editor
Why now? Why cut now rather than wait for the coming Budget in a few weeks time? A range of motivations suggest themselves with, perhaps, two to the fore.
Getting out the bad news about spending now allows Mr Osborne, perhaps, to offer a few goodies to those who voted for the UK government and its policy programme.
Secondly, it is possible that the Chancellor anticipates that it might be even more difficult than previously thought to find the promised £12bn of savings in the welfare budget - particularly as the PM keeps denoting areas which he regards as sacrosanct, such as child benefit.
However, the Treasury insists that today's announcement is not designed to offset decisions on welfare.
The UK government has pledged to clear the deficit by 2018/19.
Mr Osborne must find a further £30bn of savings over the next three years, including £12bn from welfare spending and £13bn from government departments.
He told MPs: "We set out two weeks ago that we were going to find further efficiencies and savings in government. That is what we deliver today.
"Further savings in departments this year, selling our stake in the Royal Mail, getting on with what we promised, reducing the deficit, that is how you deliver lasting economic security for working people.
"As everyone knows, when it comes to living within your means, the sooner you start the smoother the ride.
"Sharing resources and risks across the UK is a much better idea than full fiscal autonomy that would cost Scotland £10bn a year."