John Swinney claims Budget 'con' over £200 million of housing ladder moneyJohn Swinney has accused the Chancellor of a “con” Budget despite being handed more than £200 million of extra funding to help Scottish families buy a home.
The Scottish Government will receive the sum to help people move onto or up the housing ladder, in addition to £50 million to help the beleaguered construction industry build more homes for rent.
Mr Swinney accused Mr Osborne of “deceit” because he has no latitude over how the money is spent and it would eventually have to be paid back by the beneficiary.
But the Treasury said last night he does have some flexibility and the Scotland Office said Mr Swinney should focus on helping the property market north of the Border instead of trying to start a political row.
The schemes were partially funded with a £103 million cut in the Scottish Government’s revenue budget, which is used to pay day-to-day costs such as public sector salaries.
Among the other major Budget announcements affecting Scotland was tax relief for decommissioning North Sea oilfields and Peterhead in Aberdeenshire being shortlisted for a £1 billion carbon capture scheme.
Mr Osborne also promised to cut corporation tax to 20 per cent by 2015, the same level Alex Salmond had promised if Scots vote for independence.
About 2.2 million workers in Scotland stand to benefit from an increase to £10,000 of the amount of money they can earn without paying income tax.
Michael Moore, the Scottish Secretary, said the Budget would help companies and households north of the Border by reducing their tax burden.
But the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) attacked a 5.3 per cent increase in spirits duty and Mr Swinney complained the extra housing cash was “funny money” and tweeted that it was a “UK con”.
“What we've essentially got is a chancellor putting a straitjacket on the public finances of Scotland, restricting our room for manoeuvre and restricting the hard cash – real money – we can spend,” the Finance Minister said.
But the Treasury said Mr Swinney has “flexibility and discretion” over how the money is spent as long as he uses it to support a financial transaction, such as the purchase of a home.
A Scotland Office spokesman said: ““It is for the Scottish Government to determine whether it wishes to use this additional spending power to support construction projects such as housing, as the UK Government is doing, or to try and create a row out of it.”
According to figures provided by Mr Swinney, round £216 million has been earmarked for a scheme to help people get on or move up the housing ladder by offering state-backed mortgage guarantees.
This would help Scots afford a large mortgage with a smaller deposit. An additional £50 million would provide equity or loan finance to help house builders construct more homes for rent.
After the cut in the day-to-day budget is taken into account, the Scottish Government will receive a net increase of £176 million to spend over the next two years, including £55 million in 2013/14.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/ ... money.html
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