Scottish secretary Ian Murray says Scotland's voice 'heard loud and clear' ahead of upcoming spending review

Scottish secretary Ian Murray has said Scotland’s voice “has been heard loud and clear” by the UK Treasury ahead of an upcoming spending review.

Murray was questioned by the Scottish Affairs Committee on Tuesday afternoon.

He was also asked about the fairness of the Barnett formula, which calculates the amount of money that is transferred from Westminster to Holyrood each year.

In response, Murray said the formula has “withstood the test of time” and “delivers fairness in terms of expenditure to Scotland”.

He also rejected ideas to change the current formula – including the roll out of a needs-based funding formula – and calls from the Scottish Government to be given full fiscal autonomy.

Murray said he’d be “very cautious” about doing anything to undermine the longevity of the Barnett formula as he said the figures show Scotland receives around £120 of Barnett-based funding for every £100 per person of equivalent UK Government spending in England.

Murray also defended the “emergency” measures the new UK Labour Government took in July after taking power – specifically the Winter Fuel Payment cut.

These decisions resulted in a £160m reduction in funding for Scotland, and Scottish ministers have claimed they had no prior consultation from Westminster about the announcements.

Murray maintained Holyrood was notified “as soon as possible” through the proper channels.

He added that the £160m cuts to Winter Fuel Payments were “dwarfed” by the £4.9bn worth of investments for Scotland in the UK Government’s 2024-25 budget.

Murray said the Labour Government had to take a number of emergency measures – including cuts to Winter Fuel Payments – in July after receiving a “bad inheritance” from the former Tory Government.