SCOTLAND’S top trade unionist has said that workers across Scotland “will be scarred for generations to come” after Shona Robison announced millions of pounds in cuts.

On Tuesday, the Finance Secretary announced the Scottish Government will be making £500 million of spending cuts over the next year in a bid to fill a budget black hole.

This includes £188m which will be found across Government, including by cutting “sustainable and active" travel funding, £65m by repurposing cash from other projects, and around £60m through already announced spending controls.

READ MORE: 'Disaster for climate': Greens react as Scottish Government confirms £500m of cuts

Up to £460m from the ScotWind leasing round will also be used, Robison said, in the hopes it won’t all required to be spent.

Robison added she would be extending a recruitment freeze across public bodies for all but the most essential roles.

Roz Foyer (below), general secretary of the Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) – the largest trade union body in Scotland – said the Scottish Government “could have done so much more” to improve the lives of working people.

“With every cut announced by the Scottish Government today, workers and communities across Scotland will be scarred for generations to come,” she said.

The STUC has previously proposed a wealth tax, which it said would raise almost £3.7 billion by taxing the super-rich.

The proposal was backed by the SNP conference, which took place over the weekend.

READ MORE: Professor Richard Murphy: My verdict on Shona Robison's cuts statement

“For over two years now, we’ve told the Scottish Government they had almost £3.7bn worth of untapped revenue at their fingertips through increasing tax on the rich.

“They could have acted. They chose not to,” Foyer added.

“We are in no doubt that brutal Tory austerity has had an undeniable impact on Scotland’s finances. But the Scottish Government must take responsibility for their own cuts. They cannot be allowed to escape scrutiny.”

Foyer said “all eyes now turn to the Chancellor” ahead of the upcoming Autumn Budget statement, where Rachel Reeves is expected to announce cuts following a deficit in public spending.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer previously warned that his government’s first Budget would be “painful”, as he said “things will get worse before we get better”.

Foyer continued: “It’s a shambles that we’re awaiting some form of salvation, if any is forthcoming, from the UK Government when our government in Holyrood could have done so much more.

“The people of Scotland do not want a Scottish Government that administers cuts while annunciating the droopy mantra of ‘it wizny me’.

“They want politicians that choose to govern – and that means taxing the rich to invest in the services that we all rely on.”

Industrial reaction

In other news, teaching union EIS has recommended its members vote to accept a new pay deal offered by local authority employers.

The new offer is worth 4.27% at all pay levels and applies to the period from August of this year to the end of next July.

A consultative ballot will open to members on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, council waste workers at Unison have voted overwhelmingly to reject the latest pay offer from Cosla, with 86% of members rejecting a proposed hourly uplift of £0.67 or a 3.6% pay increase, whichever is higher.

It means Unison has mandates for strike action by waste and recycling workers at 13 councils and for education and early years staff in five councils.

Strikes were previously called off whilst members took time to consider the latest offer.