Labour’s Iain Gray said those who deliver local services needed to know where cuts would be made
Scotland’s main opposition party has called on the Holyrood government to outline where it will make cuts in its forthcoming budget.
Labour leader Iain Gray said the SNP should publish its plans without delay.
Finance Secretary John Swinney said he needed time to examine the UK government’s Spending Review and would not outline his plans until November.
In addition, he has demanded that the Scottish government be given “real” borrowing powers.
Mr Swinney believes that the ability to borrow is “absolutely essential” if the country is to be given the “flexibility to manage capital investment in Scotland in a cost-efficient and effective manner”.
This week, Chancellor George Osborne unveiled £81bn of cuts across the UK, including £900m for next year’s Scottish block grant, which includes extra cuts deferred from this year.
The SNP administration disputes the Treasury figure, putting the total at about £1.3bn for 2011-12.
But Mr Gray said that the Holyrood administration had known the likely outcome of the Spending Review and added that if it delayed setting its budget for too much longer it would “weaken Scotland’s defences against Tory cuts”.
“Alex Salmond is denying local authorities, the NHS and the business community the information that they need to plan ahead,” said Mr Gray.
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