Save the planet? SNP funds public sector pay rises instead Millions set aside for conservation projects raided by SNP ministers Click here to visit the Scotland home page for the latest news and sport By Claire Elliot For The Scottish Daily Mail Published: 22:53, 25 August 2024 | Updated: 23:12, 25 August 2024 e-mail 1 View comments Millions of pounds set aside for vital conservation projects are being raided by SNP ministers to fund council pay deals. But the Scottish Government has been warned the move to ‘plug gaps made by their own economic incompetence’ by depleting vital finances to tackle nature emergency is a short-sighted move. The Holyrood administration confirmed yesterday that £5million of its Nature Restoration Fund earmarked to tackle climate change has been ‘redirected’ so local authorities can meet a revised pay offer made by Cosla.
A proposed increase of 3.6 per cent was enough to avert eight days of strike action by refuse workers and other local authority workers last month. But critics have urged ministers to reconsider raiding nature resources to pay for it, claiming it will be ‘damaging’ for a variety of ‘at-risk’ species and the consequences will be felt now and into the future.
Tory MSP Rachael Hamilton described the move as 'alarming' Scottish Conservative shadow rural affairs secretary Rachael Hamilton said: ‘Scotland has so many species which are at risk of habitat destruction. So it’s alarming that the SNP would de-fund biodive.