Funding for elderly care

Mr MacKay said £200m would go on personal care

Scotland's finance minister has pledged £200m to fund free personal care for the elderly.

Angus MacKay made the commitment when detailing the Scottish Executive's future spending plans.

Mr MacKay said free personal care for the elderly would be implemented from April 2002, with £100m available in the first year and in 2003.

Opposition MSPs gave a guarded welcome to the proposals and said it was a victory for the parliament, which had forced ministers to act after prevarication over the issue.

Amgus MacKay: Budget statement

The minister also announced that £86m would be allocated to other health initiatives, the details of which would be outlined by Health Minister Susan Deacon.

Mr MacKay detailed how £200m from the Chancellor's Budget and a further £289m from savings in the existing Scottish Executive budget would be shared out.

He announced spending commitments to other key areas including education, which will receive £146m and £28m for the battle against drugs.

He told MSPs: "Today, I have delivered a balanced budget while demonstrating that we can meet ambitious policy objectives.

"We have looked beyond the £200m from the recent UK budget announcement and identified a total of £489m which could be allocated to fund our policies."

Pledges include

Elderly care £200m

Health £86m

Education £146m

Higher education £9m

Drugs £28m

Farming/tourism £10m

Sport £3m

Transport £5m

To cheers from the Liberal Democrat and Labour coalition benches, he said "We are taking the responsibility that comes with devolution and getting down to the hard work of delivering for Scotland."

The funding for elderly care follows parliamentary support for recommendations in the government-commissioned Sutherland Report published earlier this year.

It means Scotland's elderly people, who receive free nursing care, will also get help with needs such as washing and shopping but the exact criteria will be set out by the parliament's care development group.

The executive promised in January that it would implement Sir Stewart Sutherland's recommendations amid concern, some of which stemmed from ministers' own back benches, that it would not endorse all of the proposals.

Labour has also had to see off pressure from south of the Border, where the package will not be available.

Mr MacKay said the decision to "realign" £289m of the executive budget came from the desire to make sure the annual £20bn budget is "better allocated, better scrutinised and better matched to the priorities of the executive and the people of Scotland".

Teachers' pay

The minister also allocated £146m to education and denied reports that money from the education budget would go towards the costs of the new Scottish Parliament building.

He said £99m was new money for the education department, with some of it going towards the costs of the three-year teachers' pay settlement.

A further £10m has also been committed to help the farming and tourism industries still suffering from the impact of foot-and-mouth disease.

Mr MacKay committed £28m to the justice department and the Crown Office to tackle drugs over the next three years, as well as £3m for sport and culture to raise Scotland's profile abroad.

The minister hinted that that money would be spent on Scotland's proposed bids to host football's European Championships in 2008 and the Ryder Cup golf tournament the year after.

Alasdair Morgan: Parliament's victory

The executive's transport department will receive £5m for "key priorities", including projects aimed at making roads safer for children, while £9m is to be spent supporting higher and further education students.

Mr MacKay said his statement showed that Scotland's public services could receive the funding they need without the need for the parliament to be given full fiscal autonomy, which the Scottish National Party is campaigning for.

SNP finance spokesman, Alasdair Morgan, said the free personal care pledge was "a victory for the Parliament".

He then warned: "But we will be watching to see that it is properly implemented.

Mr Morgan mocked the minister's use of the word "realignment", saying: "Can he tell us who is down - who are going to be the losers?"

Dismissed questions

Tory finance spokesman David Davidson also welcomed the announcement on personal care and told MSPs: "The Conservative Party was the first party to officially adopt the Sutherland principles.

"I am very pleased this chamber has collectively managed to deliver.

He went on to call on the minister to say what would be delivered by the personal care money, saying it was not yet known what definition of free personal care had been arrived at.

Mr MacKay dismissed the questions and said: "Neither party has a single contribution to make about how we should differently spend this money in this budget over the next three years," he said.

"Not a single penny has been proposed for shifting, by either of the opposition parties.

"What an abdication of responsibility to engage in devolution and stand up for Scotland."

Liberal Democrat Donald Gorrie said the announcement on free personal care defied critics who predicted that his party would be unable to deliver free care.