Greene secures budget deal with £300 million worth of Scottish Lib Dem priorities

Scottish Liberal Democrat economy and finance spokesperson Jamie Greene MSP has today announced that after securing £300 million in funding for priorities including business rates relief, social care and colleges, his party have reached a deal that will see them back the Scottish Budget.

Scottish Labour’s decision last month to “not stand in the way of the budget” means it was always going to pass. Despite that, the agreement announced today will see Scottish Liberal Democrat priorities backed by over £300 million. 

It will deliver:

• £178m to support businesses through rates relief, including the announcement today of a further package over 3 years to help licensed premises like pubs, restaurants, hotels, music venues, licensed clubs and night clubs - linchpins of the high street that have suffered in the cost of living crisis and deserve better. There is also £4m for self-catering businesses to cap their increases and provide a bridge to the next revaluation. 
• £70m for colleges - equivalent to a 10% uplift on last year's budget.
• £20m for social care so providers have the funding they need to lift workers' pay to the Real Living Wage.
• £9.4m for hospices - up £2.9m on the earlier announcement, to help them attract and retain staff by mirroring NHS pay rates.
• £5m more for the Investing in Communities Fund, keeping open projects, services and activities in disadvantaged communities.
• £7.5m to speed up autism and ADHD assessments.
• £2.5m to back young entrepreneurs.
• £7.1m for islands-specific investment, with money to remove peak ferry fares and a commitment to kickstart a new accelerator model.

Commenting on the deal, Jamie Greene MSP said:

“When it became clear that this budget would pass, I promised that the Scottish Liberal Democrats would squeeze it for every penny to deliver for people across the country. That is exactly what we have done.  

“The £300 million that we have secured in a whole host of areas shows just how serious we are about getting stuff done.

“It means there is more money to protect businesses from crushing rate rises, more money to help small businesses and to support the next generation of entrepreneurs. There is more money for hospices, for colleges, for people waiting on a neurodevelopmental assessment. There is more money to remove peak fares on Northern Isles ferries for island residents.

“Neither the Scottish Conservatives nor Scottish Labour got a penny from this budget. That is because neither cared about using their leverage as opposition parties to deliver for people.

“With the Scottish Liberal Democrats, you get grown-up, sensible politics. You can get more of that by backing us at May’s election on your second, peach-coloured ballot paper. The more MSPs we have, the more stuff we can get done.”