The SNP is under pressure to fix Scotland’s NHS after Rachel Reeves handed it an extra £5bn

SNP ministers are under pressure to start fixing Scotland’s NHS and public services after Rachel Reeves handed him nearly £5 billion in extra spending.

The Chancellor said the Scottish Government would receive a £3.4 billion Barnett top-up next year, with £2.8 billion going towards day-to-day spending and £610 million for capital projects such as new roads. and buildings.

Besides, she handed over the SNP administration to John Swinney an extra £1.5 billion in the current financial year as she introduced a series of emergency tax rises to boost revenue.

Ms Reeves told the House of Commons that Scotland received the biggest real terms funding settlement since devolution, with the Scottish National Party government receiving 20 per cent more funding per person than the equivalent UK spend.

In a direct challenge to Mr Swinney, she said “the funding that now needs to be used effectively in Scotland to achieve the public services that the people of Scotland deserve“

The extra money forced the SNP to backtrack on Labor’s repeated warnings of “austerity” and the Scottish Government said the budget represented a “step in the right direction”.

Shona Robison, financial secretary of the Scottish National Party, is now under pressure to spell out in the Scottish Budget on December 4 how the funds will be used to reduce record NHS waiting lists.

“A new era of growth for Scotland”

Despite the fact that the Scots have already forced to pay higher taxesThere are also record levels of homelessness north of the border and a huge “education gap” between rich and poor students.

But there were fears the money would be swallowed up by public sector pay rises and a more generous SNP benefit system, with most Scots seeing no benefit.

Scotland has a larger public sector compared to the rest of the UK, and the average civil servant earns £2,400 more per year north of the border. The Scottish National Party government’s £25 billion annual public sector wage bill now accounts for more than half of its day-to-day spending.

Ian Murray, Scotland’s finance minister, said: “This is a historic Budget for Scotland, choosing investment over recession and delivering on the promise that there will be no return to austerity.”

He added: “This money needs to go to frontline services to reduce NHS waiting lists and improve achievement in our schools.”

Mr Murray said the budget would also bring “a new era of growth for Scotland”, highlighting the £125 million that has been allocated to establish GB Energy in Aberdeen and support green hydrogen projects in Cromarty and Whiteley.

Anas Sarwar, the leader of Scottish Labor, tried to increase pressure on Ms Robison, arguing that Scotland needed a Holyrood government “that is prepared to spend money wisely and look after taxpayers”. He noted that voters have a chance to oust the SNP in the 2026 elections.

“Significant increase in costs”

Ms Robison said: “This Budget is a step in the right direction, but we will continue to face huge cost pressures in the future. Additional funding for this fiscal year has already been factored into our spending plans.”

She added: “But after 14 years of austerity it will take more than a year to recover and recover – we will need to see continued investment in the coming years to reset and reform public services.”

The SNP finance minister also warned that the increase in employers’ national insurance would cost Scotland’s public sector £500 million “if it is not fully reimbursed”.

But economists from the respected Fraser Allander Institute, based at the University of Strathclyde, said an extra £1.5 billion this year would make Ms Robison’s “job of balancing the budget” much easier.

Joao Sousa, the institute’s director, said Scotland had seen a “really significant increase in spending” and predicted the Treasury would provide additional compensation to the public sector for the rise in national insurance.

Russell Findlay, new leader of the Scottish Conservativessaid: “We know what Sir Keir Starmer is going to do for Halloween – Nicola Sturgeon. Labour’s tax-raising budget is straight out of the SNP playbook and will frighten hard-working Scots.

“Starmer’s Labor Party played a cruel joke on working people by breaking election promises not to raise taxes, as the nationalists did in Edinburgh.”