Deciding where and how to allocate financial resources is one of the biggest responsibilities a government has. It shows where your priorities are, and what you value. The Scottish Government, led by the SNP, are currently a minority government. This means that it requires other political parties in the Scottish Parliament to vote with them for the budget to pass, or for other parties not to vote at all – which looks like the most likely outcome at this stage.

By covering the policy priority areas that are featured within our framework for public engagement in Scotland, our What Kind of Nation resource, we wanted to make Evangelical Alliance members aware of a snapshot of the budget proposals for the purposes of going deeper into the spending decisions that most affect you. If you would like to read the full budget document, you can find it here on the Scottish Government website.

Poverty and cost of living

  • Developing systems to end the impact of the two-child cap on welfare in 2026;
  • An investment of £768m in the Affordable Housing Supply Programme, with the intention of building 8,000 homes for social rent, mid-market rent and low-cost home ownership;
  • Paying for a universal winter heating payment to every household with a pensioner;
  • Commitment to invest an additional £250m in the National Mission on Drugs before the end of the parliament session in 2026;
  • Removing the freeze on council tax, allowing local authorities to set council tax at the level they deem necessary;
  • Piloting a £3m Bright Start Breakfast scheme to deliver free breakfast clubs;
  • An increase in investment in the Scottish Child Payment.
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The economy

  • Income tax to remain at the same level for the remainder of the parliament session, and an increase in the thresholds at which taxpayers pay the basic and intermediate rates of income tax by 3.5%;
  • An expanded £15m enterprise package;
  • £62m investment in regeneration funding for Lochee in Dundee, Pilton in Edinburgh, Possilpark in Glasgow, Glen Urquhart in Drumnadrochit and Arbroath;
  • £6m investment in the National Islands Plan for community-led infrastructure projects.

Justice

  • Extending free bus travel to those seeking asylum;
  • Investment in community justice services;
  • £347m investment in the prison estate for new prisons in Glasgow and the Highlands.

Life, health and equality

  • £200m investment in reducing NHS waiting lists and delayed discharge from hospitals;
  • Reopening Independent Living Fund for disabled people;
  • £30.5m investment for the growth, education and enjoyment of language rights for Gaelic and Scots speakers;
  • A £34m uplift in funding for arts and culture.

The environment

  • Increased investment in offshore wind to £150m;
  • Continued £300m investment for Heat in Buildings programme for energy efficiency upgrades;
  • £90m for protecting, maintaining and increasing woodlands and peatlands;
  • £660m of funding for farmers, crofters, land managers and rural communities;
  • £2.6bn investment in public transport for bus, rail and ferry services, including providing free inter-island ferry travel to those under 22.

There are plenty of spending decisions here for us to engage with on our membership’s behalf up to the 2026 election. Our What Kind of Nation policy priority areas reflect our concern for the most vulnerable and marginalised in Scotland and the positive principles the Christian worldview brings to public decision-making.

In particular, we commend the investments in affordable housing, renewable energy, providing free bus travel for those seeking asylum, and starting the process of removing the impact of the two-child cap on welfare. We still, however, have deep concerns about the scale of homelessness in Scotland and levels of drug- and alcohol-related deaths, the inequalities experienced by disabled people and the levels of violence against women and girls, and we want to challenge the Scottish Government to go further in their spending decisions on these issues in particular.

If you would like to get in touch with us about any of the policy areas covered in this article, you can email us at scotland@​eauk.​org and we would be happy to have a chat as we seek to represent our members well to policymakers in Scotland.