James Calder, Liberal Democrat Councillor for Dunfermline South, today branded the Scottish Government’s Budget for the coming year as “disastrous”.

The SNP/Green Budget contains swingeing cuts to essential areas including:

• £189m cut from building new warm and energy efficient homes, ignoring the housing crisis
• A real-terms cut to mental health
• £9m cut from energy efficiency
• £80m cut from the rail budget, coinciding with the announcement fares will rise 8.7%
• £63m cut from the Future Transport Fund
• £62.9m less for enterprise, trade and investment, cutting the Scottish economy off at the knees
• Tourism cut by £6m
• £107m cut from colleges and universities

James Calder commented:

The SNP have spent years ignoring expert warnings about the lack of a long-term economic strategy and the impact of its failure to grow the economy.

We now know, from this disastrous budget, who is going to pay the price in Dunfermline.

Swingeing cuts to the housing budget during a housing crisis will do nothing to tackle homelessness in Fife and cutting mental health flies in the face of everyone waiting desperately for help. The bad news for councils will spell more trouble for everything from our roads to our schools.

Scottish Liberal Democrats will stand up for a growing and thriving Scottish economy which generates the tax revenue we need to invest in tackling the climate emergency, lifting up Scottish education, rescuing the NHS and building more warmer homes.