Finance Secretary John Swinney has pledged that despite financial cuts to the Scottish Budget, he will deliver a budget 
that continues to prioritise key public services.
The £48m first phase redevelopment will replace inpatient facilities in modern, fit-for-purpose buildings. The site is being redeveloped in a number of stages over the next 10 years, with £120m already set-aside for the next phase.
The Chancellor has imposed real terms cuts on Scotland every year from now until 2020, with more than a billion pounds of those cuts still to come between now and the end of the decade.
Deputy First Minister said:
“I am determined to protect key priorities such as schools, hospitals and police. However, as a consequence of UK Government spending decisions, the Scottish Budget will continue to fall in real terms – as it has done since 2010 – until the end of this decade. That places a significant pressure on the funding of our public services and requires us to continually reform the way in which we deliver those public services.”
