Last week, the SNP made their annual budget announcement.
The Scottish government outlined plans to cut schools funding by £2.7m, the enterprise budget by £76m, with housing and regeneration the biggest loser, facing cuts of £253m. The money to be spent on affordable housing will go down from £525m this year to £352m next year.
Decent housing is vital for healthy communities. Children living in bad housing are twice as likely to be excluded from school and a BMA study showed that housing deprivation is as bad a risk to health as smoking, and worse than excessive alcohol consumption. Scotland has lousy weather, we need decent housing.
A new poll, conducted by TNS-BMRB, reveals that 84% of people across Scotland think building more affordable housing to rent should be a top priority for the Scottish government, yet despite trumpeting their scheme for low-cost home ownership, the Scottish government has refused to release figures which show the number of houses that are built for social rented housing rather than ownership.
Housing charity, Shelter, is trying to convince the Scottish government to reverse the cut, pointing out that now is an excellent time to invest in building affordable housing, with cheaper land available for purchase and building firms keen to win contracts.
Investment in housing also makes economic sense in a wider way. It creates jobs, both directly and indirectly in the supplier industries, which has a knock-on effect on the whole economy.
Protecting existing jobs and stimulating new work doesn’t appear to be much of a priority for the SNP however. At a time of sharply rising unemployment in Scotland, their £76m cut in the enterprise budget defies belief.
We are all aware of the tough economic climate we face and that some cutbacks, or an increase in taxes, are necessary. The priorities of the SNP though, seem both skewed and illogical. Protecting funding of frontline health services, whilst cutting spending on improvements to damp, poorly insulated housing which causes and compounds many of the health problems, both physical and mental, that those frontline services end up treating. Cutting spending on teacher training, whilst claiming that reducing class sizes in the early years of school remains one of their top priorities. Spending £1.8m on ‘events and themed years’ including the ego-trip that is the Year of Homecoming, yet reducing spending overall for tourism. Increasing spending on international relations, despite the Scottish parliament having no responsibility for foreign affairs.
On looking at the SNP’s spending priorities, it’s hard to determine any real pattern in their decisions, other than perhaps, taking from the most vulnerable, the least vocal, those who would be thought to make the least fuss. In the background, a second pattern emerges, a commitment to spending which will push Scotland closer towards the SNP’s only true objective. Money on international relations, the National Conversation, large-scale events with much flag-waving and opportunities for jingoistic claptrap.
After several years in power, the SNP have yet to figure out that the purpose of governing is meant to be improving the lives of those you represent. Or perhaps they have figured it out, and they simply don’t care.