Chancellor Should Meet Costs for Public Service Providers
The UK Government must reimburse the National Insurance hike on charities, First Minister John Swinney has said.
Speaking at the Social Enterprise Scotland conference in Edinburgh, the First Minister highlighted the impacts of the increased National Insurance for charities, GPs, social care and universities – all of whom deliver public services.
Mr Swinney confirmed he will be calling on the Chancellor to reimburse their costs.
As well as the estimated £500m costs to the core public sector in Scotland, other sectors providing important public services are highlighting the impacts they face, including:
- Warnings that GP practices could be forced to close.
- The Coalition of Care and Support Providers in Scotland saying the impact could be “catastrophic” on their members
- SCVO estimate that the costs to the voluntary sector could be £75m
- Universities Scotland estimate that their costs could be £30m
The First Minister is right to call out this unfair hit to our public sector and charities.
GRAEME
The UK Government cannot allow its National Insurance hike to have such damaging side effects.
This is no way to balance the budget.
What the Labour government must do is ensure mitigation to avoid potentially dire consequences for so many critical organisations.
NEW: The UK Budget 'cannot be balanced on the back of Scotland’s charities', John Swinney has said
— The National (@ScotNational) November 7, 2024
The First Minister called on the UK Government to reimburse charities for the cost of increasing employers’ national insurance pic.twitter.com/qUbqFBGDkv
The UK Government’s decision to increase employer national insurance contributions is having a set of unintended consequences which is causing real alarm across the country.
FIRST MINISTER JOHN SWINNEY
The costs to the public sector in Scotland could amount to £500m – but other vital sectors are facing a huge financial hit which could have devastating consequences for front line services. GPs, social care, universities and others are all looking at a multi-million cost increase – and it is estimated that Scotland’s charity sector is facing a £75 million price tag.
It is completely unacceptable for our third sector to be punished as a result of decisions made by the Chancellor. The UK Budget must not be balanced on the backs of Scotland’s charities.
The Chancellor clearly did not foresee the extent of the problems her decisions would cause when she published her Budget – the panic and confusion that has emanated from the Treasury since makes that clear.
But there is still time for the UK Government to do the right thing and meet these costs in full. The Chancellor can address the potentially devastating impacts for frontline services – and the UK Government must now fix the situation they have created.
