THE UK Government has been accused of shortchanging Scots in the midst of a cost of living crisis after Kate Forbes said a promised extra £290 million has not been paid to the Scottish Government.
The funds were supposed to help Scottish households combat the cost of living crisis - but Finance Secretary Forbes said that the promised cash is not additional and will have to be taken from elsewhere in the Scottish budget.
Kenneth Gibson, chair of the Finance Committee at Holyrood, accused Westminster of a "council tax swindle" after Forbes wrote to him over the matter.
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The Treasury had previously said that devolved governments were to expect hundreds of millions in extra cash in February, but Finance ministers from both Scotland and Wales quickly took to social media to point out that there will be “no extra money”.
And now, Forbes has written to Holyrood’s Finance Committee to state that the money was not provided to the Scottish Government.
The Treasury announced plans for a £150 council tax rebate for those in homes from band A-D to tackle the cost of living crisis in England.
To provide this in Scotland, Forbes said she will have to take the money from elsewhere, as the Treasury’s promised funds were revised.
In a letter to Gibson, chair of the Finance Committee at Holyrood, Forbes said that the Scottish Government expected to receive £852m before the UK Government announcement on the council tax rebate as a way to tackle rising energy costs.
Forbes said the promised £290m had not been paid to the Scottish government
The final position of the UK Government decreased this figure to £814m. The SNP say this means the UK Government is shortchanging each Scottish household by £115.
Forbes wrote: “Therefore the £290 million of consequentials in relation to cost of living was not provided in addition to provisional allocations.
“HM Treasury did indicate that the £290 million funding can be carried forward outside of the Scotland Reserve to support the 2022-23 budget.
“Despite not receiving additional funding on top of indicative allocations, I set out plans on 10 February, confirming the £290 million will be carried over to be spent in 2022-23 on financial support to help address the rising cost of living.”
The UK Government insisted however that the cash has been made available – although it conceded the amount allocated to Scotland in other areas has been less than previously estimated.
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SNP MSP and committee convener Gibson said: “This has exposed the great Tory council tax swindle. It is scandalous they have tried to pull the wool over the eyes of people in Scotland by claiming they would be providing extra cash to deal with the cost of living crisis.
"Rishi Sunak made a huge fanfare about how Westminster was being generous to Scotland when the truth is that they have provided nothing extra at all.
"And again, the Scottish Government has to make good on another broken Tory promise by finding funds from its limited budget to help out hard-pressed families by cutting £150 off their council tax bills.
Gibson said the UK Government is misleading the public on the funding
“This is real cash to deal with the cost of living crisis, not Tory smoke and mirrors. This trend is all too familiar to people in Scotland – when it comes to the Tories, all we get is cuts, not cash.
“This once again demonstrates that it is only with the full powers that independence would bring that we can provide support for those on the lowest incomes instead of having one hand tied behind our backs by relentless Tory cuts.”
A HM Treasury spokesperson insisted that the Scottish Government has received the £290m.
They said: “The economic strength of the UK has allowed us to deliver financial support for millions of people.
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“This has included an additional £15.7 billion of Barnett funding for the Scottish Government in the past two years and they are also receiving around £41 billion each year for the next three years, the biggest annual funding settlement since devolution.
“At the Scottish Government’s request we shared estimates of funding throughout the year, always being clear that final figures would only be confirmed through the Supplementary Estimates process. This confirmed additional funding on top of the extra £440 million announced in December."
The Scottish Government has been contacted for comment.
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