Prioritizing public spending is key to building a stronger economy as Scotland recovers from the pandemic and tackles the cost of living crisis, said Finance Secretary Kate Forbes.

Speaking ahead of the publication of the Resource Spending Review, Ms Forbes said more targeted government and public sector funding would help achieve ambitions of tackling child poverty, reaching net zero and to provide sustainable services for the future.

The spending review, which is not a budget, will provide broad parameters for spending over the next four years and set out a series of government reforms.

Finance Secretary Kate Forbes said:

“These are challenging times, and we need to be careful with our spending, but I am confident that if we work together, we can get through this cost of living crisis while achieving our ambitions.

“That means tackling child poverty, boosting our economic recovery from COVID, and reaching net zero, while building a stronger and more sustainable public sector for the future.

“We face a very difficult financial situation over the next few years with funding increases below inflation levels and the challenge of recovering from the pandemic without the financial tools available to all other governments around the world. This means that while the spending review is not a budget, it will include tough decisions, to make sure we can really focus on supporting households and services at this time.

“The Resource Expenditure Review will detail the funding available over the next few years to achieve these goals, and it will be released alongside the Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) which provides economic context to the challenges and opportunities ahead. “

Background

The Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Economy will present the resource spending review to Parliament when it is released on May 31.

The Scottish Government is doing everything in its power and within its fixed budgets to ensure that people, communities and businesses are supported wherever possible, including investing almost £770million this year in supporting the cost of living and doubling the Scottish Child Payment to £20 a week. . Earlier this year it increased eight Scottish benefits by 6%, the rate of inflation at the time, and introduced a range of benefits not available elsewhere in the UK.

The expansion of free school meals and the payment of £150 council tax to low-income families are included in other actions to put money back in people’s pockets at a time when they need it most need.