Treasury must compensate Scotland for tax hike - Robison

The Scottish authorities has demanded that it is afloat compensated by the Treasury for a hike successful National Insurance for nationalist assemblage employers.

Finance Secretary Shona Robison said the tax summation announced successful the UK autumn Budget could outgo the SNP medication £500m.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves seemed to suggest £3.4bn successful further backing for Scotland successful 2025-26 did not see compensation arsenic she urged Holyrood ministers to walk the wealth "wisely".

However, the UK authorities said that other funds would beryllium provided connected apical of the £3.4bn to marque up for the other unit costs.

The Scottish authorities is besides acceptable to person an further £1.5bn for this fiscal year, 2024-25.

Making her archetypal fund announcement arsenic chancellor, Reeves said employers are to wage National Insurance connected workers’ net supra £5,000 from April, down from £9,100 currently, with the complaint expanding from 13.8% to 15%.

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.

Robison told BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland that the taxation hike could outgo the Scottish authorities up to £500m.

“Because the Scottish nationalist assemblage is larger, we request to spot that afloat covered," she added.

“We volition beryllium seeking urgent clarity connected that.”

About 600,000 radical are employed successful Scotland’s nationalist sector, making up 22% of the full workforce – compared to astir 17% successful the UK arsenic a whole.

That has fuelled concerns astatine Holyrood that Scotland could beryllium abbreviated changed if compensation for the National Insurance summation is not proportional to its nationalist sector.

Earlier, Reeves was asked astir concerns that the taxation summation could outgo the Scottish authorities £500m.

She told Good Morning Scotland: "We've fixed £3.4bn successful the colony to Scotland, which takes into relationship each of those pressures."

"The situation present for the SNP successful Scotland is to usage that wealth wisely."

The chancellor said the Budget provided the biggest colony for Holyrood successful the past of devolution.

She added: "The Scottish authorities present request to deliver."

A UK authorities spokesperson said the Treasury would supply backing to enactment the nationalist assemblage with the further costs.

They said the £3.4bn fig did not see the further support.

The spokesperson added: “We volition enactment done the implications for the devolved governments budgets astatine authoritative level.”

It is understood that of the £3.4bn colony for 2025-26, £2.8bn is for day-to-day spending.

The Scottish authorities is owed to denote its fund for the adjacent fiscal twelvemonth connected 4 December.

It has already made £500m of cuts from its fund for this fiscal year.