SNP £1 billion short on manifesto pledges

The Scottish National Party

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The Scottish government needs an extra £1 billion if it is to fulfill all its election promises.

John Swinney, Scottish Finance Secretary was told on 11 November that some of the party's major manifesto commitments could not be fulfilled without the necessary £1 billion in funding.

One of his party's key undertakings is a freeze on council tax, which alone will cost around £500 million.

But in order to fund the other manifesto pledges the SNP promised, Mr Swinney would need to find double that.

These promises include a commitment to recruit 1,000 extra police officers and to reduce class sizes in lower primary schools (for children aged between four and seven years old) to 18 within four years.

Speaking on BBC Scotland's Politics Show, David Parker, independent leader of Scottish Borders Council, said: "Councils would need somewhere in the region of £500 million to continue providing the current services and to look at the whole issue of council tax.

"If we are looking at implementing the SNP manifesto commitment, we would need £300 million, and that excludes the class-sizes commitment which would need another £200 million."

He added: "Unless there is significant new money in the system, a number of these pledges will undoubtedly not happen."

In response, Mr Swinney has said that he will push on with the SNP's priorities, including its pledge to abolish council tax completely, and will be publishing a consultation in the next few weeks.

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