Scottish budget good news for carers, drug rehab and nurseries

The Scottish government’s new three-year budget will see councils receive £34.7bn.

Next year, local government will get £11.1bn, growing to £11.6bn in 2009-10 and £12bn in 2010-11. How much each of the 32 councils will receive is expected to be announced in December.

The spending proposals, the first delivered by the Scottish National Party-controlled administration, include specific plans to create 10,000 extra respite weeks a year to support carers, introduce allowances for kinship carers on an equivalent basis to foster carers and peg free personal care fees to inflation.

The budget includes plans to remove ringfencing from £2.4bn of funding by 2011, and to create tailored, outcome-driven agreements with individual councils on tackling local service priorities.

The package of measures will also see £1.6bn invested in housing and regeneration, an extra £8.2m in drug addiction rehabilitation services and increase nursery provision to 570 hours for 100,000 three and four-year-olds.

Scottish Government spending review and budget