Question reference: S6W-12448
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
- Date lodged: 22 November 2022
-
Current status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 30 November 2022
Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much in-year additional health and social care funding, in addition to the spending commitments outlined in its 2022-23 budget, has been (a) allocated and (b) spent to date, broken down by (i) date of announcement and (ii) nature of expenditure.
Answer
The Scottish Government continues to prioritise funding for health, providing increases year on year and funding of £18 billion in 2022-23, as set out in the Scottish Budget.
However, the scale of the financial challenge across the Scottish Government and health and social care is unprecedented, as a result of rising inflation and energy costs and the ongoing impacts of Covid and Brexit.
The UK Government’s Autumn statement provided no additional funding this year to support health and social care in addressing these challenges or to support fair pay deals, with the funding outlined over the coming two years falling massively short of the combined impact of Covid pressures, energy costs and inflation.
It is vital that further funding is provided by the UK Government to address the backlog in care caused by Covid and to help our NHS and social care staff deal with the cost of living crisis