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The Scottish government has secured backing from the Liberal Democrats and the Scottish Greens to ensure that its budget plans will be passed. Finance Secretary, Shona Robison confirmed that she would table a series of amendments to the Budget Bill after both parties agreed to support the tax and spending plans. The Scottish Greens have seven MSPs, and the Lib Dems have four.
The Greens had lobbied for measures including an expansion of free school meals to S1-S3 pupils who receive the Scottish child payment in eight council areas, while the Lib Dems argued for an additional £2.6m to be spent on drugs and neonatal services. The changes agreed in the Budget after the talks included increasing nature restoration by £3m and extending free school meal eligibility in S1-S3 in eight local authority areas for pupils in receipt of Scottish Child Payment.
The Scottish government is planning to effectively scrap the two-child cap on access to benefits in 2026, but Anas Sarwar of Scottish Labour has voted to abstain from voting due to this timescale. The Scottish Conservatives are expected to vote against the Budget because they believe that the plans do not include substantial tax cuts.
However, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton has stressed that his party would always act responsibly and try to find common ground. He stated that there was a long list of policies and projects that the party had won for its constituents and for Scotland as a whole, so it would be voting for the Budget. The Finance Secretary added that the new Budget proposals demonstrate the value of a progressive approach and dialogue
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