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Case against spending cuts
12/03/2009
The Scottish Government's case against £1 billion of spending cuts planned for Scotland was made today in Edinburgh at a meeting of finance ministers from the devolved administrations and the Chief Secretary to the Treasury.
Afterwards, Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth John Swinney said:
"This was a positive and constructive meeting. It provided a chance for Ministers from the devolved administrations and the Treasury to discuss work underway to deal with the effects of the economic downturn.
"It is clear that we all share the Scottish Government's desire to help all households and businesses feeling the effects of the recession.
"But both I and representatives from the other devolved administrations underlined our concern at the effect UK efficiency savings could have on our budgets in the coming years.
"In Scotland we could lose £1 billion of spending over two years due to the UK government's plans.
"The Treasury cannot ignore the fact that across the UK, the reduction in spending is causing concern - reflecting the fact that cutting public spending is absolutely the wrong thing to do just as Scotland's economy will be looking to recover from the effects of recession.
"I made that point clear to the Chief Secretary to the Treasury today and will continue to argue against this course of action on behalf of Scotland."
Mr Swinney was joined at the regular quadrilateral meeting by Chief Secretary to the Treasury Yvette Cooper, Wales Finance and Public Service Delivery Minister Andrew Davies and Northern Ireland Finance Minister Nigel Dodds at St Andrew's House.