ALLIANCE budget briefing 2024-25 calls for investment in health, wellbeing and dignity
- Area of Work: Policy and Research
- Type: News Item
- Published: 14th December 2023
Our briefing ahead of the 2023-24 Scottish Budget calls for investment in social security and social care whilst embedding human rights.
Ahead of the publication of the Scottish Budget for 2024-25 on 19 December, the ALLIANCE have issued a briefing to MSPs outlining key priorities for public investment. Whilst we recognise the serious ongoing financial pressures facing the Scottish Government, we are clear that the cost of living crisis in particular is continuing to deeply affect many people, especially disabled people, people living with long term conditions, and unpaid carers. At the same time the third sector, which provides essential support to so many people, is struggling as outlined in our ‘Stretched to the Limit‘ report.
To support funding for essential services including social security and social care, the ALLIANCE urge the Scottish Government to use existing revenue raising powers to maximise available funds. Given agreements this year that local government will still play a significant role in social care delivery under the proposed National Care Service, we also believe it is vital to see progress in longer-term reform of local government taxation.
In our briefing, the ALLIANCE call for:
- Continued prioritisation of investment in social security, including uprating payments in line with inflation, further increases to the Scottish Child Payment, and targeted cost of living payments.
- Investment in social care to be accelerated in advance of the National Care Service, including better pay for social care workers and the abolition of non-residential social care charges.
- Protecting and expanding the provision of Community Links Workers.
- Flexible, multi-year funding for the third sector, with appropriate inflationary uplifts each year.
- Longer-term reform of revenue raising, for local government in particular, in a way that is equitable and promotes greater stability for local finances.
- Careful consideration of how best to use the Scottish Parliament’s revenue raising powers to maximise available resources.
- A human rights budgeting approach to be embedded throughout the process.
This briefing also reflects a number of joint calls the ALLIANCE has signed up to in advance of this budget, including a call for the Scottish Child Payment to be increased to £30 per hour and for social care pay to be set higher than the proposed £12/hr.
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