A £1 billion budget black hole? Yes, but we won’t cut spending on the Swinney independence pledges

John Swinney has refused to cut spending on the Scottish Government’s independence units despite struggling with a £1bn budget black hole.

The emergency spending controls were imposed by SNP ministers amid an extreme austerity drive that will see them only authorize extra money to cover their “statutory obligations” or to deal with or avoid a disaster.

Earlier this month, the Scottish Government scrapped plans for a universal winter fuel payment for pensioners, restored peak fares at nationalized ScotRail and delayed free iPads for school pupils.

There is also now a hiring freeze for all but “essential frontline positions” such as “blue light” services.

And on Tuesday, Finance Secretary Shona Robison is expected to set out even more “painful” decisions during a Holyrood fiscal update, which could include cuts to the health and education departments.

However, the First Minister yesterday refused to say she would cut the budget allocated to her government’s independence spending as she argued that separation from the UK was “essential” for Scotland.

Asked how the emergency spending cap would impact Mr Swinney’s independence centres, he said: “It will come as no surprise to you to hear that I believe independence is a vital necessity for Scotland and I believe Scotland is about to suffer hugely because of us. continued participation in the United Kingdom…”

He later added: “Scotland needs the essential improvement of independence.”

Pressed if that meant he would not cut the budget for independence, he did not answer directly but said: “We have government responsibilities in relation to a Program of Governance which we are taking forward on an ongoing basis.”

Last night, Scottish Tory chairman Craig Hoy criticized the decision.

He said: “It is shameful that at a time of falling standards in our schools, with teacher job cuts, NHS waiting lists growing and councils on the verge of collapse, the SNP is determined to spend taxpayers’ money on their obsession with independence.

“While they choose to throw money down the independence drain, winter fuel payments for pensioners have been scrapped and core funding for essential services is lagging behind in other parts of the UK – all as a direct result of financial mismanagement by SNP.

“That’s why the public must ditch the SNP at the next Scottish Parliament election in 18 months’ time.”

The First Minister’s harsh admission comes as Scots are warned to expect “painful cuts across the board” when Ms Robison sets out her proposals to balance the balance sheet on Tuesday.

The departments of health, justice and education could be in the line of attack. An insider told The Mail last week: “The public finances are currently not adding up and we need to balance our accounts by the end of the year.”

On Wednesday – the day after the fiscal update – Mr Swinney will present his Government Programme.

Before that – and speaking to reporters at the SNP conference in Edinburgh yesterday – Mr Swinney insisted the £1bn black hole facing the Scottish Government was caused by decisions made by Westminster governments.

He said: “The Scottish Government has balanced its budget every year since 2007, many of them under my leadership. So the idea that we lived beyond our means is nonsense.

The Prime Minister later added: “The problem we have is the problem the Chancellor has duly highlighted to the House of Commons: that UK budgets have never been reset to take account of inflation.”

Economic experts have disputed the idea that Westminster is solely to blame for the difficulties facing the Scottish Government, saying the problems also stem from large public sector pay rises and more spending on devolved benefits.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves last week accused SNP ministers of being “guilty” of ruining Scotland’s public finances by spending far more than they could afford.

But yesterday, in an hour-long policy debate on public services, Scottish Finance Secretary Mrs Robison hit back and said: “The new chancellor has shown how little anyone in Labor seems to understand Scotland and in -really, how devolution works.

She tried to argue that the Scottish Government was spending more than it was bringing in and that is now leading to the dire financial situation we are in now.

So let me offer this little fiscal policy lesson to Rachel Reeves: the Scottish Government has to balance its budget legally and has done so every year for 17 years every year.

And we will do it again, but it will be hard and it is the decisions Labor has taken in these eight short weeks since coming to power that will fundamentally affect our ability to deliver public services in Scotland.

Despite the ongoing cross-border row, the First Minister will pledge on Sunday to focus on the priorities of the people of Scotland, including ending child poverty, getting to zero, delivering strong public services and boosting economic growth.