UK Treasury hints Scottish budget cuts

Britainâ„¢s Treasury signals Scottish budget cuts.

Britainâ„¢s Treasury has signaled major cuts to the Scottish budget for the 2015-16 financial year, after six government departments agreed a combined reduction of 8 percent in their budgets.

The departments, which agreed on new spending cuts, include the Home Office, Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs and the Department for Culture Media and Sport, which mostly cover areas devolved to Scotland.

The other three departments are the Scotland Office, Wales Office and the Law Officers Department.

The actual amount of cuts to each department and how they could impact Scotland is still not clear as the Treasury has delayed giving details until the Spending Review is unveiled.

British Chancellor George Osborne is looking to find £11.5 billion in savings before making his Spending Review announcement on June 26.

However, with only 12 days to go before the Spending Review is announced, 10 of the 24 departments remain to be settled among which is the Ministry of Defence (MoD).

Last month, British Defence Secretary Philip Hammond said further defence cuts could undermine the countryâ„¢s military capability. He sounded skeptical that he will be able to meet Osborneâ„¢s requests on budget cuts.

Earlier this week, Whitehall spending watchdogs also warned Osborne over short-term emergency cuts, saying the measures cannot produce permanent savings for UK taxpayers.

MOS/HE

This article originally appeared on: Press TV