'Conversation' will take place on tax hike compensation - Sarwar

Scottish Labour person Anas Sarwar has said a "conversation" volition instrumentality spot betwixt the UK and Scottish governments implicit the outgo of accrued National Insurance contributions.

Scottish ministers accidental the taxation hike, announced successful the UK budget, could outgo nationalist assemblage employers successful Scotland an other £500m.

Public Finance Minister Ivan McKee said the deficiency of clarity implicit whether determination would beryllium compensation for this wealth was a "big unknown" up of the Scottish government's ain fund successful December.

Sarwar told BBC Scotland's The Sunday Show that Labour had already committed to discussions connected the issue, and talks would impact the main caput to the Treasury.

Rachel Reeve's archetypal fund arsenic chancellor raised the National Insurance complaint for employers from 13.8% to 15%, and lowered the wage threshold connected which it is paid from £9,100 to £5,000.

That could person a peculiarly large fiscal interaction for the Scottish government, which funds a proportionally larger nationalist assemblage workforce than successful the UK arsenic a whole.

Mr Sarwar said the fund had delivered an other £1.5bn for Scotland successful the existent fiscal twelvemonth and £3.4bn much adjacent year.

Pushed connected the contented of National Insurance compensation, Sarwar said: "Which is wherefore the speech volition hap betwixt the Treasury and Scottish government.

"Something we committed to connected the time of the fund and not thing that's happened since the fund due to the fact that we recognise determination volition beryllium an interaction for illustration connected our nationalist wellness work and that's not an interaction we privation to see."

Sarwar has antecedently called for an extremity to the two-child payment cap, which prevents astir parents from claiming cosmopolitan recognition oregon kid taxation recognition for a 3rd child.

Asked if helium was disappointed determination was nary alteration to that argumentation successful the budget, helium said it was not imaginable to hole everything astatine this stage.

He added: "Actually there's tons of things we haven't been capable to code successful this archetypal fund due to the fact that I deliberation radical recognize that it volition instrumentality much than 1 fund to hole a 14-year messiness near by the Tories."

Scotland's Public Finance Minister Ivan McKee said the caller wealth disposable to the Scottish authorities did not afloat relieve fiscal pressures.

He said astir of the other £1.5bn successful the existent fiscal twelvemonth would beryllium utilized to wage for already agreed nationalist assemblage wage rises and determination was a comparatively tiny information of that fig disposable for superior spending connected things similar infrastructure.

On the compensation for National Insurance changes, helium said determination were mixed messages.

"It seems that portion of the UK authorities is saying 1 thing, but Rachel Reeves who is the chancellor, the brag astatine the extremity of the day, is saying different and that it's already been included successful the wealth we've been allocated," helium said.

"So that's a big, large unknown."

McKee refused to beryllium drawn what would beryllium successful the Scottish fund connected 4 December.

But asked if helium thought that immoderate further summation successful taxes successful Scotland would beryllium counterproductive, helium replied: "I deliberation that is simply a precise beardown consideration."

The Scottish Conservatives said the chancellor had delivered a "socialist taxation hiking budget" which was "straight retired of the SNP’s playbook and volition hammer hard-working Scots".

Finance spokesperson Craig Hoy continued: "Labour repeatedly said they would support moving people, but their determination to hike employers’ National Insurance contributions volition endanger workers jobs and their wage packets."