He tells delegates: “I need you to be less worried about money”
John Swinney has told country’s biggest third sector event he is committed to multi-year funding after the Scottish budget received cross-party support.
The first minister told delegates on the first day of The Gathering in Edinburgh’s EICC that the Scottish Government was in a position to make sure organisations were less worried about funding than previous years.
It comes as a result of the SNP gaining support from the Greens, the Liberal Democrats and Alba's sole MSP surprisingly giving their backing for this year’s budget with Labour saying it will not stand in its way.
Previous governments have struggled to achieve such unanimous support for the Scottish budget since 2014.
Addressing delegates, Swinney again stated his commitment to child poverty - an issue that drives the entire policy agenda of the Scottish Government, he said.
However, organisations were struggling in their missions to combat the scourge of poverty because of funding uncertainty and he acknowledged that problem permeated the entire third sector.
He said: “We’ve already managed to commit to multi-year funding awards for a number of organisations to the tune of £60 million each year. It’s a small first step, yes, but it signals a fair direction of travel to increasing multi-year funding across the sector.
“Our goal is to give the fiscal certainty that you need to invest in your own organisations and to invest in the communities of Scotland.
“It means you will have more space to plan for the future and to make the most of the resources available to you. It will also give you the room for strategic thinking and innovation to plan for a longer period of time and create much more capacity.
He added: “We want to build funding certainty into what we do as a government. But be assured that we are in a position to offer that funding commitment.
“I need you to be less worried about money.”
Swinney later took questions from a panel that included Tracy Kirkland of Govan Community Project who questioned the first minister on the National Insurance rise.
She asked whether the Scottish Government will take the additional cost into the way it funds organisations but Swinney said he could offer no guarantees.
“It’s very unsettling, he said. “What we have to do is our best when it comes to pay settlements. I can’t give guarantees but we will do our level best to pass on any rise in what Westminster gives us and pass that to organisations.”
Finance secretary Shona Robison said on Monday: “The Scottish Budget targets funding at measures to improve the lives of Scottish people, with record investment in the public services on which we all rely."
