Scottish Budget passed after Greens and Lib Dems lend support

MSPs have approved the Scottish government's budget for the coming year following a Holyrood vote.

The SNP's £68bn spending plans for 2026-27 include changes to income tax thresholds and a levy on homes valued at over £1m.

Finance secretary Shona Robison struck deals with the Scottish Greens and Liberal Democrats for their support.

Scottish Labour abstained, however, the Scottish Conservatives voted against the plans, describing them as "dreadful". The final vote was 66 votes for, 29 against with 24 abstentions,

The budget, which was announced last month, comes just months before voters head to the polls for the Holyrood elections.

Measures include an increase to the Scottish Child Payment, which will rise to £40 per week for families with a baby under the age of one from 2027-28.

There was also a targeted 15% relief for non-domestic rates for retail, hospitality and leisure premises, helping business which were facing a sharp increase in bills because of revaluations of rateable value.

Income tax thresholds rose in the basic and intermediate bands, which means workers in the lower tax bands will pay up to £40 a year less than those earning the same amount in other parts of the UK.

However, those earning over £50,000, will pay almost £1,500 more than people on the same salary elsewhere in the UK, according to forecasts from the Scottish Fiscal Commission.

Robison said SNP ministers had "continued to protect the core elements of the social contract that the people of Scotland rely on every day".

"We've kept prescriptions free, we've maintained free tuition, we have continued to expand free school meals, we have protected free bus travel for under-22s and over-60s, and we have provided free baby boxes to give every child the best start in life," she said.

A series of amendments were tabled by the finance secretary after deals were agreed with the Greens and Lib Dems.

In order to pass the budget, the SNP government, which is a minority administration, required the support of three MSPs from other parties.

The Greens agreed to support the Bill after lobbying for an expansion to the free school meals programme for S1-S3 pupils who receive the Scottish Child Payment in eight council areas.

The Lib Dems called for an additional £2.6m of funding for drug and neo-natal services.

Talks with the two parties also resulted in a £2 bus fare cap pilot scheme being rolled out in one council area and an increase in hospice funding from £4m to £5m.

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said his party would abstain from a vote on the plans in January.

He said it already "had the votes" to pass, so his party would not vote against it.

Sarwar said his party would have voted for the bill if ministers had accelerated plans to, in effect, scrap the two-child cap on benefits.

Labour's finance spokesman, Michael Marra, said the budget would "not last the year".

He said: "Scottish Labour will not stand in the way of police officers, nurses and local services continuing to be funded at the start of the new financial year.

"The truth is that the SNP has decimated Scotland's public finances and taken treasured public services like our NHS to the brink."

Scottish Conservative finance spokesman, Craig Hoy, said Scotland was trapped in a "doom loop of higher taxes" due to the SNP's benefits commitments.

He added: "Shona Robison has delivered more pain by dragging more and more people into paying a higher tax rate.

"By the end of this decade the SNP's financial mismanagement means a staggering 30% of Scots will be paying the higher rate or more.

"The Nationalists' high tax and high welfare spending approach is simply unsustainable and means more tax rises or swingeing cuts to public services – or a lethal combination of them both – are on the way."