By David Scott in Edinburgh
21 January 2010
Senior civil servants in the Scottish Government will have their pay frozen as part of plans to cut spending, Finance Secretary John Swinney has announced.
He is also to consider reducing the salary bill of the highest earners in the public sector to help win parliamentary approval for the Scottish National Party’s £35bn budget.
The Scottish Liberal Democrats, whose support for the minority administration’s budget is crucial, are demanding a pay cut for high earners.
During a debate on the spending plans in the Scottish Parliament on January 20, Labour, the main opposition party, voted against the budget Bill, arguing that the proposals did not support sustainable economic growth.
However, the Bill surmounted its first hurdle by 64 votes to 46, with 18 abstentions.
Swinney told MSPs that the government would continue to adopt a prudent and responsible approach to public sector pay as part of the 2010/11 pay policy that was being prepared.
He added: ‘In doing so, we will give further consideration to the proposals advanced by the Liberal Democrats to reduce the pay bill for high earners in the public sector. Senior civil service pay in the Scottish Government will be frozen in 2010/11 and ministers have unilaterally taken a pay freeze in the current year on their ministerial salaries.’
Scottish LibDem finance spokesman Jeremy Purvis said figures obtained by his party showed that for those earning more than £100,000 in the public sector the total pay bill was £430m and for those earning over £80,000 the total bill was £651m.
He said: ‘We know that the government is increasingly accepting that the case for the highest paid in the public sector is not sustainable.’
Swinney said that despite uncertainty over the Budget there was general agreement that the outlook for the public finances appeared bleak over the next few years.
Last year, a major political crisis arose when the 2009/10 budget was rejected at its initial stage, though it was later approved.
21 January 2010
Senior civil servants in the Scottish Government will have their pay frozen as part of plans to cut spending, Finance Secretary John Swinney has announced.
He is also to consider reducing the salary bill of the highest earners in the public sector to help win parliamentary approval for the Scottish National Party’s £35bn budget.
The Scottish Liberal Democrats, whose support for the minority administration’s budget is crucial, are demanding a pay cut for high earners.
During a debate on the spending plans in the Scottish Parliament on January 20, Labour, the main opposition party, voted against the budget Bill, arguing that the proposals did not support sustainable economic growth.
However, the Bill surmounted its first hurdle by 64 votes to 46, with 18 abstentions.
Swinney told MSPs that the government would continue to adopt a prudent and responsible approach to public sector pay as part of the 2010/11 pay policy that was being prepared.
He added: ‘In doing so, we will give further consideration to the proposals advanced by the Liberal Democrats to reduce the pay bill for high earners in the public sector. Senior civil service pay in the Scottish Government will be frozen in 2010/11 and ministers have unilaterally taken a pay freeze in the current year on their ministerial salaries.’
Scottish LibDem finance spokesman Jeremy Purvis said figures obtained by his party showed that for those earning more than £100,000 in the public sector the total pay bill was £430m and for those earning over £80,000 the total bill was £651m.
He said: ‘We know that the government is increasingly accepting that the case for the highest paid in the public sector is not sustainable.’
Swinney said that despite uncertainty over the Budget there was general agreement that the outlook for the public finances appeared bleak over the next few years.
Last year, a major political crisis arose when the 2009/10 budget was rejected at its initial stage, though it was later approved.
