Free prescriptions 'axed' under Scotland spending cuts as single department reveals £1.1bn black hole
Civil servants have been told all options need to be on the table to make ends meet
Free prescriptions, university tuition, bus travel and school meals could all soon be axed as ministers attempt to cover a massive Budget shortfall.
A number of cost-cutting measures are understood to be on the table, after Finance Secretary Shona Robison halted all but essential government spending.
Caroline Lamb, director-general for health and social care and chief executive of NHS Scotland, said “universal benefits” need to be reviewed as government departments look to dramatically cut spending.
The Times has reported Ms Lamb told 500 civil servants in a briefing that her department alone had a £1.1 billion spending gap. She said: “We have been experiencing a worsening, overall, underlying, financial deficit over a number of years.”
Ms Lamb added: “We’ve managed to almost limp over the line over the last year or two, but we’ve now got to the point where it’s actually a bit of a tipping point.
“I think that reflects the reason why Ms Robison wrote to all Cabinet secretaries setting out those financial controls and the measures that we need to take now to ensure that we can achieve balance by the end of this year.”
A number of Government spending plans have already been axed since Ms Robison’s letter to Cabinet secretaries, including universal winter fuel payments, cuts to nature restoration and culture funding, free iPads and laptops, and a return of peak rail fares on ScotRail trains.
Ms Lamb said this was now a “reset moment” across the whole of government.
At her briefing, she added: “What we need to do in terms of what we’ve talked about and the financial recovery plan is to wrap all that up so that we are really clear about what we need to do and that will be a balance of things around service change that will enable us to deliver services differently.
“It will be potentially looking at income generation and some of the universal benefits across Scotland and other measures as well.”
Ms Lamb said it would be “pretty challenging” to make the savings needed in a way that “feels fair”, but warned civil servants they must put all options on the table.
This comes after Ms Lamb ordered a crackdown on free prescriptions last month to cut costs. It is thought this could include anti-histamines for hayfever, sedatives for nervous flyers, cold remedies and droplets for babies with colic.
Free prescriptions and free tuition fees were both brought in under former first minister Alex Salmond, and are two of the SNP’s flagship policies.
A Scottish Government spokesman said: “Following the UK Chancellor’s July statement, the Scottish Government faces the most challenging financial situation since devolution and difficult choices are having to be made to deliver sustainable finances.
“The 2024/25 budget provided funding of over £19.5bn for health and social care, giving our NHS a real-terms uplift.
“Reform to how health and social care services operate has never been more urgent and our vision for transformation focuses on early prevention and intervention and improving population health.”
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