CONCERNS are growing in Scotland that the SNP government’s draft Budget represents yet more real-terms cuts.

Despite assurances from Finance Secretary Shona Robison in her Budget statement to Holyrood that funding for Scotland’s troubled further and higher education sector as a whole would receive an inflation-beating 3.5 per cent boost from April, UCU Scotland official Mary Senior warned it “falls short of what is needed.”

She said: “Ultimately, this is another disappointing Budget, on the back of many others.”

If the situation at universities was disappointing however, umbrella body Colleges Scotland has warned their budget would grow by 1.8 per cent, another real-terms cut to a sector which has seen budgets eroded by 17 per cent since 2021/22.

Colleges Scotland Interim CEO Dr Graeme Jackson warned: “This draft Budget fails to recognise the vital role colleges play in driving economic growth, reducing poverty, and strengthening communities.

“The Scottish government’s continued disinvestment in such a cornerstone of the education and skills sector is deeply troubling.

“College students, employers, and communities deserve better.”

Cuts in education and local council services — themselves facing a real-terms cut in the draft Budget — will feature heavily in the cross-party discussions now underway if the SNP minority administration is to pass its budget at the end of January.

Former coalition partner Budget allies, the Scottish Greens, have however made clear that “big changes” will be required to once again win their support.

Scottish Greens finance spokesman Ross Greer warned: “This Budget just does not solve the challenges faced by people and planet.

“It cuts vital public services at a time when they are needed more than ever.”

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar had offered to “work constructively” to scrap the two-child cap, but squaring up to First Minister John Swinney at First Minister’s Questions today, there was little sign of common ground elsewhere.

Slamming the SNP administration for having “no clear plan for reform,” Mr Sarwar accused them of “squandering the opportunity” that came with the extra £5.2 billion coming to Scotland this year and the next from the British Labour government. 

Mr Swinney hit back: “We are open, very open to constructive discussion with political parties about the contents of the Budget, but Mr Sarwar will, in his own words, squander the possibility of strengthening our public services if he does not vote for the government’s Budget.”