Leaders clash over Scottish budget 'con' claims

Nicola Sturgeon said the budget for day-to-day spending was being cut

Nicola Sturgeon has repeated claims that the settlement for Scotland in the Autumn Budget is a "con".

Chancellor Philip Hammond set out an extra £2bn in funding for the Scottish government in his speech on Wednesday.

Ms Sturgeon told MSPs at her weekly question session that the announcement "is accurately described as a con" and would see day-to-day budgets cut.

But Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson said the first minister was "acting like somebody has stolen her scone".

Scottish and UK ministers have traded claims about the true value of the settlement for Scotland in the budget, with SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford telling the BBC's Good Morning Scotland programme it was "dismal".

However, Treasury minister Andrew Jones told the same programme that the budget was "extremely positive for Scotland".

• Look back on FMQs on Holyrood Live

A report on the budget by the Scottish parliament's information centre notes that Holyrood's block grant will increase in cash terms over the next two years.

However, when translated into real terms - taking inflation into account - this amounts to a 0.1% increase in 2018-19 then a decline of 0.1% the following year.

And within that, the revenue budget for day-to-day spending for 2018-19 is set to fall by £199m in real terms in 2018-19, and £320m in 2019-20 - although this is largely offset by increases in the capital budget.

Financial transactions

The report also underlines that £1.1bn of the cash highlighted by the chancellor comes in the form of "financial transactions" funding - money for loan and equity based projects, which Finance Secretary Derek Mackay has called "money with strings attached".

Ms Davidson pointed out that the Scottish government has used financial transactions cash on many occasions in the past - such as £50m in the Scottish Growth Scheme, which Ms Sturgeon welcomed at the time as a "vote of confidence" in the economy.

The SNP leader responded that the money "can't be used to support day-to-day spending on public services" and "has to be repaid by the Scottish government to the UK government".

Ruth Davidson said the first minister should "spend less a little time complaining"

Ms Davidson said the SNP generally complained it was "not getting enough money", but was now contending that it was "the wrong kind of money that is being given".

She said: "Only this first minister could be handed an extra £2bn in spending power and still sound like somebody has stolen her scone.

"Should the first minister not spend a little less time complaining about where the money is coming from and a bit more time thinking about the positive things that she can do with it?"

Ms Sturgeon said it was wrong to talk about scones in parliament "given the number of Scottish families who are being forced to food banks because of the policies of the Tory government".

She said: "Even if everything that she is saying about yesterday's budget is true, this government's day-to-day spending budget will be £200m less in real terms next year.

"I invite Ruth Davidson to tell us where she thinks we should take that £200m from? Should it be taken from the health service or education?"

'Further assistance'

Green co-convener Patrick Harvie also asked Ms Sturgeon about the budget, voicing hopes that the Scottish government would not follow the chancellor's "foolish decision" to scrap stamp duty for first-time buyers of properties worth up to £300,000.

Ms Sturgeon said the Scottish system of land and building transaction tax, is "more progressive" than stamp duty, noting that 65% of first-time buyers north of the border do not have to pay as the tax only kicks in at transactions of £145,000 or more.

However she said that while finalising the Scottish draft budget, ministers would "consider whether it is appropriate to give any further assistance to first-time buyers", citing that a property selling for £300,000 would likely sell for £175,000 in Scotland.

The Scottish government's draft budget will be set out by Mr Mackay on 14 December, with ministers currently in talks with opposition parties particularly focused on whether to increase income tax.