by Democrat reporter
Dumbarton MSP Jackie Baillie has blasted the SNP Scottish Government’s handling of the nation’s finances.
It comes in the wake of Audit Scotland’s damning report, which revealed that the SNP had underspent by £1 billion in the 2024/25 financial year.
The whopping sum would pay for more than 5,000 new-build socially rented homes to combat the housing crisis or more than 30,000 newly-qualified staff nurses for the NHS.
The underspend occurred despite more than £2 billion in additional funding handed down by the UK Government.
Public spending watchdog, Audit Scotland, also criticised the SNP’s reaction to a looming projected £4.7 billion funding gap by 2029/30, saying the Holyrood administration lacked a detailed plan.
A fresh report by the watchdog has also revealed that lower earnings and employment growth in Scotland, compared with the rest of the UK, has reduced the benefit of devolved taxes on the nation’s budget.
MSP Jackie, also Scottish Labour’s deputy leader, said: “Audit Scotland’s reports lay bare the scale of the SNP’s mismanagement of the nation’s finances and the chaos they are creating.
“The SNP’s default position is always to blame Westminster for their problems but the UK Labour Government decisively ended austerity.
“The SNP Scottish Government was handed a record funding settlement but we are yet to feel the benefit.
“The SNP has watched £1 billion go unspent – money which could provide more than 5,000 much-needed homes in my constituency.
“The local councils in Argyll & Bute and West Dunbartonshire have made clear the magnitude of the housing emergency they face and this money could provide new-build, good quality homes for residents.
Housing and nursing are just two areas where underspent money could have been utilised, says the MSP
“Frontline services are also struggling and this money could provide more than 30,000 newly-qualified nurses to staff our wards.
“The SNP has mismanaged the NHS, mismanaged our public sector and mismanaged the nation’s money.
“The SNP cannot be trusted with our money and we cannot afford a third decade of this financial mismanagement.
“A Scottish Labour government will treat public money with the respect it deserves and end the SNP’s shambolic approach to budgeting.”