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Scottish Government

John Swinney condemns new Govenment public sector cuts

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By The Drum Team, Editorial

May 24, 2010 | 4 min read

Finance minister for the Scottish Government, John Swinney, has conedmned the public sector cuts that are set to hit Scotland and the UK, following Chancellor George Osborne outlining his plans to save £6.2billion in the next year.

The Scottish Government is set to make £332million worth of savings made within the public sector, including a cut in its marketing budget by over half.

The UK government is set to freeze its own advertising budget worth £540million a year, with the exception of "essential" campaigns, although plans are being put in place which could see its own marketing and advertising budget halved by up to 50 percent.

As part of the cut backs it has been confirmed that the Department of Culture, Media and Sport will be forced to make savings of £88million this year.

The money saved will be put towards the UK's financial defecit.

In a statement, Mr Swinney said that the spending cuts outlined by the Treasury risked ‘undermining recovery’ and were ‘damaging’ to the SNP’s work to support the Scottish economy.

“These further spending cuts are on top of a £500 million reduction imposed on this year's Scottish finances in the then Chancellor's 2009 Budget,” explained Swinney.

"In the last 18 months, accelerated public expenditure has been used to bring forward work on vital infrastructure projects such as affordable housing and public transport - helping to sustain thousands of Scottish jobs in the process. That's why, in what remains an uncertain climate, it is vital that we maintain investment in Scotland's economy and frontline public services.

"The Scottish Government will prioritise economic recovery. That is why we are planning to defer these further cuts until the following year, in order that we can entrench economic recovery.

"We are under no illusions about the scale of challenges that lie in the years ahead, and indeed have already published figures which quantify this. That's why we are already delivering better value from our fixed budget in order to maximise investment in economic recovery and the high quality services that people expect and deserve.

"Through our efficient government programme, we are on track to deliver our target saving of six per cent in 2010-11, and have already exceeded the £534 million target for 2008-09 by over £300 million.”

Swinney say that there was a staff cap in place on total numbers in post, and that the SNP was to reduce the number of public bodies by a quarter, while also reducing spend on travel and other operations.

"At all times, our priority is to make decisions in the best interests of Scotland - and we will do all we can to ensure those interests are reflected in next month's UK budget and subsequent Spending Review.

"These issues reinforce the need for the Scottish Government and Parliament to gain full control of tax and spending with fiscal responsibility, so that we can develop a growth strategy for Scotland and boost government revenues,” he concluded.

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