Scotland’s Finance Secretary has insisted she is “not settling for £300 million” from the UK Government as Holyrood ministers seek to recoup the cost of increased national insurance contributions.
The Scottish Government has estimated the higher charge for employers – imposed by Westminster – will cost the public sector in Scotland £500 million.
SNP ministers have not yet been given a final figure of how much they will receive towards the increased costs, but reports have suggested it could be £295-£330 million in additional funds.
Ms Robison said she is “determined” to get more than that, declaring there is still a “long road to travel” on the matter.
Speaking the day after unveiling her draft Budget for 2025-26 to Holyrood, she said: “On the employers’ national insurance contributions, there is a long road to travel with the Treasury on that. We are not settling for £300 million.”
She told BBC Radio Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland programme the Scottish Government will “present the evidence to the Treasury of the cost to the public services here in Scotland”.
Ms Robison added: “We are absolutely determined to make sure we get that figure up.
“When we do get the final figure, we will have a fair distribution of that across the public sector, including local government.”
Her Budget includes record spending of £21 billion on health and care services in Scotland, which is up £2 billion on this year’s total.
She also promised action to reduce child poverty – a key commitment of First Minister John Swinney – with Ms Robison pledging the Scottish Government will act to effectively scrap the two-child benefit cap.
The cap means families can only claim some benefits for their first two children, with no additional cash awarded for subsequent offspring.
Ms Robison told MSPs to “be in no doubt – the cap will be scrapped”, saying work will take place over 2025 so payments can be made to affected families “as early as we can in 2026”.
That could see the policy potentially introduced ahead of the May 2026 Holyrood election, with Ms Robison saying she had acted because the “UK Government have not delivered” in this area.
For the Scottish Government to mitigate the policy, it needs data from the UK Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
On Thursday, Ms Robison said that given the “history of good working relations” between the DWP and Social Security Scotland – the body which administers devolved benefits – she would be “astonished if the UK Labour Government didn’t ensure the Department for Work and Pensions was approaching that in a sensible, productive way”.
Eradicating child poverty is our top priority.
— Scot Gov Fairer (@ScotGovFairer) December 4, 2024
This budget will invest in social security, help parents with the cost of living, and support access to affordable homes.
Our plans to mitigate the two-child benefit cap could lift around 15,000 children out of poverty from 2026. pic.twitter.com/f9N5yupHpj
Having also used her Budget to pledge there will be no increases in income tax rates in Scotland before the 2026 election, Ms Robison acknowledged her Government has “come to the limit of what we can ask Scottish taxpayers to pay”.
Higher earners in Scotland pay more in income tax than their counterparts in the rest of the UK, a policy which Ms Robison said has made a “significant contribution” to public spending.
She said £1.7 billion of her Budget “has been raised because of the changes we have made to tax here in Scotland compared to if we have stuck to UK tax policy”.
She added: “That’s money that can help us, for example, give pensioners a winter fuel payment, it’s money that can help us make progress on the two-child cap.”
A UK Government spokesperson said: “The (UK) Budget dnlivered more money than ever before for Scottish public services and the Scottish Government receives over 20% more funding per person than equivalent UK Government spending.
“It is for the Scottish Government to allocate this across its own public sector and meet the priorities of people in Scotland.
“It will also receive additional Barnett funding on top of this record £47.7 billion settlement as part of support provided in relation to changes to employer national insurance.”
