Budget talks with opposition progressing very well, says Robison

Talks with opposition parties to pass the Scottish Budget are going very well, the Finance Secretary has said.

Shona Robison told the PA news agency she is confident her tax and spending plans will be voted through Holyrood.

She said she is “working hard” to build a “broad coalition” of support for the Budget, adding it “talks to all parts of the chamber”.

The Finance Secretary set out her spending plans on December 4, including a pledge to end the two-child cap by 2026 which is expected to cost up to £150 million a year.

She also confirmed cash for the partial return of winter fuel payments for pensioners in Scotland.

Income tax rates will remain unchanged, while the threshold for the lower rates will rise by more than inflation.

Ms Robison said the measures in the Budget should be easy for MSPs to support.

Asked if negotiations with MSPs are going well, she said: “They are going very well. I think there was a recognition that this is a very strong Budget.

“It delivers many of the asks that were made previously on, for example, investment into local government, investment into the NHS, record levels into both of those vital public services, investment into affordable housing and other infrastructure.

“And of course measures to tackle child poverty, setting the path through investment in Social Security Scotland to be able to deliver the mitigation of the two-child cap – yet another measure we are taking to tackle child poverty.

“All of these things are a challenge, I would hope, for the opposition to vote against them.”

“We’ve been having good, productive, positive discussions with the opposition.

“I think it’s a Budget that delivers the investment to frontline services. It also invests in housing and other major infrastructure projects.

“I think it’s quite a difficult Budget for the opposition to vote against given they call for many of these things regularly.

“I am confident we will get the level of support that we require, but we are going to continue having those positive discussions in the new year as we get to the Budget Bill being debated and discussed in Parliament in February.

“Hopefully, by the time we get to February, those conversations will have moved even further.”