Squeeze on finances means only frontline jobs will be filled, says Robison

Shona Robison has told how the Scottish Government’s finances require “exceptional measures” to be put in place – as she confirmed a freeze in public sector recruitment in all but “essential frontline” posts.

The announcement comes as ministers struggle to fund pay demands from across the public sector, with the Scottish Finance Secretary criticising the UK Government for failing to ensure rises for those such as NHS workers and council staff are fully funded.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has required “about a third” of the cash needed to cove such rises to be “funded through departmental cuts”, Ms Robison said.

She added that that “has led to the position where we are having to take these exceptional measures in order to constrain spend and create the headroom to manage”.

For filling vacancies in the public sector, Ms Robison told BBC Radio Scotland: “We have said essential frontline posts will be able to recruited.”

She added the Scottish Government would be “making sure that the controls on recruitment are enhanced to make sure we prioritise only those essential frontline posts”.

It comes after the Scottish Government has had to step in and find extra cash for local government workers’ pay as it seeks to to avert strike action by refuse staff – with the 4.2% offered to workers to suspend this action more than ministers at Holyrood had budgeted for.

Speaking on the Good Morning Scotland programme, Ms Robison said: “To be clear, we are going to have to take some very difficult decisions about what we can afford and what we can’t afford going forward.”

The Finance Secretary has already imposed emergency spending controls across Scottish Government departments, with further spending in 2024-25 said to be only permitted if it is “truly essential or unavoidable”.

The Times reported she instructed additional money could only be spent if “the Scottish Government would otherwise breach its legal obligations or fail to provide essential support to emergency situations or cause significant economic damage across Scotland”.

Meanwhile the Scottish Government confirmed on Wednesday that its new payment, coming in to replace the winter fuel payment, will not be made available to all pensioners.

With the UK Government restricting the winter fuel payment to pensioners on certain benefits, the Scottish Government said it would adopt the same stance when its pension age winter heating payment comes in.

That was due to replace the current UK payment from winter 2024-25, but Ms Robison has appeared to indicate a delay.

She said: “We are asking that essentially it is delivered by the UK Government this winter and we will manage a very similar benefit for the following winter.”

The Finance Secretary added the decision to means test the new payment had been done “with a very heavy heart”, adding that “we know fuel poverty levels are higher in Scotland and the north of Scotland, in particular, have very cold winters, so it is absolutely the last thing we wanted to do”.

She was also unable to say how many pensioners in Scotland would now not receive the payment, but accepted: “I know a lot of pensioners will no longer qualify.”

Her comments came after figures on Wednesday showed the Scottish Government’s net fiscal deficit had increased to £22.68 billion in 2023-24, compared to just over £18 billion the previous year.

The Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland (Gers) figures showed that the deficit as a proportion of GDP had increased from 8.4% to 10.4%.

Liberal Democrat MSP Willie Rennie commented: “Shona Robison has clearly taken some lessons on financial mismanagement from Liz Truss.

“No matter how much they try to spin it, SNP ministers are taking these decisions because they have had a habit of making costly blunders for almost two decades.

“From blowing the budget on the ferries to selling Scotland’s prize seabed on the cheap, all the SNP can do now is let everyone else clean up after them.”

Jamie Livingstone, the head of the charity Oxfam Scotland, urged the Government to “rethink” its approach to tax to help build a “fairer” nation.

Mr Livingstone said: “When the numbers perennially don’t add up, something’s got to change. Scotland’s policy ambitions can’t be sacrificed due to a lack of cash.

“In the upcoming budget process and new tax strategy, ministers must instead rethink devolved and local tax to unlock the resources needed to realise the First Minister’s promise to build the fairer, greener, more equal country we all want to live in.”