Fury as SNP cuts £5m from nature projects to fund council pay deals

It is estimated that one in nine species in Scotland is under threat of extinction because of long-term habitat loss

SNP ministers have stripped £5 million from a scheme that aims to boost nature in Scotland to fund the cost of council pay awards.
The Scottish Government has written to councils ordering them to divert the nature restoration fund money towards the pay settlements. The fund is used to pay for local projects, from tree planting to restoring waterways.
It is estimated that one in nine species in Scotland is under threat of extinction because of long-term habitat loss and ministers have said restoring biodiversity is “crucial” to tackling the climate crisis.
But councils have called for SNP ministers to provide extra money to fund a pay deal with thousands of staff, who have threatened strike action.
Shona Robison, the SNP Finance Secretary, warned last week that she was working on government spending cuts in a “very challenging” environment.
She said more cost-cutting measures were needed following the Treasury’s review of public finances and uncertainty over how pay review body recommendations will be funded.
Ms Robison has already imposed a recruitment freeze on “all but essential” posts and followed the Chancellor by introducing means testing for pensioners’ winter fuel payments.
It also emerged at the weekend that SNP ministers have shelved plans to open a ‘mini embassy’ in the Polish capital Warsaw as part of their spending cutbacks.
But Rachael Hamilton, the Scottish Tories’ shadow rural affairs secretary, urged them to restore the nature funding and find the money for the council pay deals elsewhere.
She said: “Scotland has so many species which are at risk of habitat destruction. So it’s alarming that the SNP would defund biodiversity conservation to plug other holes they have created in their own spending.
“Councils and Nature Scot will be left with nothing to spend on preserving our beautiful natural environment for future generations.”
Anne McCall, director of RSPB Scotland, told BBC Scotland: “This is desperately bad news. Recently published analysis has shown that funding for nature needs to increase, not be cut.
“Scotland is one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world, coming 28th from the bottom of 240, and this trend is continuing.”
Trade unions have suspended strike action for staff in 26 of Scotland’s 32 councils to consider a new pay offer.
This would would see a 3.6 per cent increase for all workers with a rise of £1,292 for the lowest paid, equivalent to 5.6 per cent.
The Scottish Government said it was “taking on significant additional financial pressure to fund the local government pay offer, and the Finance Secretary has been clear that painful choices have had to be made”.
A spokesman said: “Protecting and restoring our natural environment is key to addressing the twin crises of nature loss and climate change, and nearly £40 million has already been distributed through the Nature Restoration Fund since 2021.”
The Herald on Sunday reported that plans to extend the Scottish Government’s network of “mini embassies” around Europe had been curtailed.
Nicola Sturgeon’s now defunct coalition deal with the Scottish Greens had pledged to open new offices in Copenhagen and Warsaw to promote Scotland abroad after Brexit.
Ms Sturgeon opened the Scottish Government’s international office in Copenhagen in August 2022. This brought the number to nine, including the network’s London headquarters, despite foreign affairs being reserved to Wesminster.
A spokesman said: “Our plans to open an office in Warsaw will be considered as part of the wider review of government spending.
“It is necessary to ensure resources are used economically, efficiently and effectively and high levels of scrutiny are applied to expenditure.”