Budget Bill passes first Holyrood hurdle

THE SNP's spending plans cleared a major hurdle today after MSPs passed its Budget Bill at the first stage.

Parliament backed the proposals by 62 votes to two, with 56 abstentions.

Labour and the Liberal Democrats abstained, the SNP and the Conservatives gave it their backing and the Greens opposed it.

However, opposition parties warned that the Government would have to accept changes if the Bill is to progress to later stages.

Finance Secretary John Swinney said the budget for 2011-12 will be 1.3 billion lower than this financial year, and told MSPs he would consider alternative proposals provided they could identify resources to fund such changes.

He added: "We must work within the spending totals we have been given and the priority now must be for all parties to work together, in the national interest, to build consensus around the Bill and to ensure that budget allocations can be finalised before the start of the next financial year."

He said the Government prioritises support for employment, limits public sector pay awards and strengthens education and skills.

And he said the Small Business Bonus Scheme is helping the economy in a package worth 2.4 billion over five years.

Despite opposition calls for change, chiefly on a proposed tax on large retailers which was lined-up for the axe by Holyrood's Local Government Committee earlier today, Mr Swinney vowed to continue to press the case for a tax.

The committee voted 5-3 in favour of removing the levy from the Bill.

The issue comes up for debate in Parliament again next week.

Labour said its decision not to vote the Bill down today was to allow the Government to make changes to the budget, calling for greater support for economic growth and jobs for young people.

The party's finance spokesman Andy Kerr said: "The budget before us today is not a budget for jobs, it is not a budget for the economy and in its current form it is not a budget we can support."

Similarly, the Conservatives said that while the budget was not "perfect", neither was it "beyond redemption".

Describing it as "in purgatory", finance spokesman Derek Brownlee said members could not guarantee Conservative support beyond stage one unless improvements were made in private sector job creation and reform of public services.

"We haven't reached agreement with the Government, nor are we yet convinced sufficient attention has been directed to either area," he said.

The Liberal Democrats' Jeremy Purvis urged ministers to move away from what he described as "arrogance" to make room for changes to the budget.

"The Government has now given up on addressing its own priorities for addressing economic growth," he said.

"It has a dual strategy now. It blames the reduction in funding from the UK Government and it now is focusing almost exclusively on some public services in some policy areas at the expense of others."

Mr Purvis said the Lib Dems would permit the Bill to progress to allow further discussions to take place at the next stage.