Chamber
Meeting of the Parliament 07 December 2011
07 Dec 2011 · S4 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
Autumn Budget Statement and the Scottish Economy
No, because the figures that I have show that the UK Government plans £37 billion more borrowing in future years than the amount in Labour’s plans that were announced at the election. It is clear that, under the Conservatives’ plans, we are in an even worse situation, even in terms of borrowing, that there has been pain but no gain, and that families are paying the price. The autumn statement shows the clear need for a different economic strategy for the UK and Scotland.
There are elements of the autumn statement that at least reflect some of the concerns that we have raised, although we think that they do not go far enough. There is a youth jobs programme, although it will be smaller than the future jobs fund initiative, which should never have been scrapped. Young people will not be helped until April next year, but consequentials will be brought to the Scottish Government, which we have urged ministers to invest in expanding the future jobs fund. We welcome the fact that that fund has been retained here in the voluntary sector with a great deal of success, and we wish to see it extended into the private sector.
The credit easing and national loan guarantee is an admission that the project Merlin deal has not worked. It gave the banks a tax cut this year in return for vague and unfulfilled promises to increase lending to small businesses. We can only hope that the new scheme will prove more successful.
The new UK Government proposals on infrastructure projects, to which the cabinet secretary referred, make it clear that it was a mistake to reduce capital spending in the first place. We can only hope that those proposals will actually deliver new projects, but again we want to see the detail.
There are elements of the autumn statement that at least reflect some of the concerns that we have raised, although we think that they do not go far enough. There is a youth jobs programme, although it will be smaller than the future jobs fund initiative, which should never have been scrapped. Young people will not be helped until April next year, but consequentials will be brought to the Scottish Government, which we have urged ministers to invest in expanding the future jobs fund. We welcome the fact that that fund has been retained here in the voluntary sector with a great deal of success, and we wish to see it extended into the private sector.
The credit easing and national loan guarantee is an admission that the project Merlin deal has not worked. It gave the banks a tax cut this year in return for vague and unfulfilled promises to increase lending to small businesses. We can only hope that the new scheme will prove more successful.
The new UK Government proposals on infrastructure projects, to which the cabinet secretary referred, make it clear that it was a mistake to reduce capital spending in the first place. We can only hope that those proposals will actually deliver new projects, but again we want to see the detail.
In the same item of business
The Deputy Presiding Officer (John Scott)
Con
The next item of business is a debate on motion S4M-01501, in the name of John Swinney, on the United Kingdom Government’s autumn budget statement and the Sc...
The Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Employment and Sustainable Growth (John Swinney)
SNP
I am grateful for the opportunity to open the debate on the autumn budget statement and the wider Scottish economy. It is now more than three years since the...
Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con)
Con
In comparing the United Kingdom with France and Germany, does the cabinet secretary accept that the coalition Government inherited the highest level of debt ...
John Swinney
SNP
I know that Mary Scanlon assiduously follows my speeches in the Parliament. She will not have noticed me in any way shirking from apportioning responsibility...
Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab)
Lab
The cabinet secretary has rightly referred to the revision downwards of growth forecasts. What impact will that have on the Scottish Government’s spending re...
John Swinney
SNP
Mr Baker asks a fair question. I point him to the evidence that I shared with the Economy, Energy and Tourism Committee some weeks ago. In the year of greate...
Gavin Brown (Lothian) (Con)
Con
I apologise for missing the start of the cabinet secretary’s speech.In the switch from revenue to capital quite a large sum—about £150 million—will go into t...
John Swinney
SNP
No. The budget proposals rely on a shift from the revenue columns to the capital columns—that is a straightforward transaction in the budget document.
Gavin Brown
Con
The Forth crossing is not in the revenue budget.
John Swinney
SNP
I point out to Mr Brown that the UK Government has of course reduced our capital budget by 36 per cent, which has been moderated to 32 per cent. In the overa...
Willie Rennie (Mid Scotland and Fife) (LD)
LD
The infrastructure plan is a 20-year plan. The increased funding is provided within the first three years. What has been accelerated as a result of the incre...
John Swinney
SNP
Mr Rennie expects me to take a look at those questions, and we will come back to the Parliament, as we will on the other consequentials, to set out how our p...
Neil Findlay (Lothian) (Lab)
Lab
Will the minister give way?
John Swinney
SNP
I would give way to Mr Findlay if—
The Deputy Presiding Officer
Con
Cabinet secretary, you are in your last minute.
John Swinney
SNP
I apologise to Mr Findlay. I will happily deal with his points during the debate.The autumn statement provided some additional capital consequentials for the...
Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab)
Lab
This is a welcome opportunity to debate the autumn statement and its implications for Scotland. It comes at a critical point for our economy and for the worl...
Jackson Carlaw (West Scotland) (Con)
Con
Is it not a consequence of the coalition Government’s strategy that we have the lowest interest rates in the world? Would not a consequence of the Labour Par...
Richard Baker
Lab
I presume that Mr Carlaw would not have acted to bail out the banks. The UK Government has left us the lowest rates of growth in the world, and it has choked...
Gavin Brown
Con
Will the member acknowledge what the Institute for Fiscal Studies has stated? It said that if Labour’s plans had been implemented, they would“now of course h...
Richard Baker
Lab
No, because the figures that I have show that the UK Government plans £37 billion more borrowing in future years than the amount in Labour’s plans that were ...
Gavin Brown
Con
Will the member give way?
Richard Baker
Lab
I have already given way to Mr Brown. I will try to take an intervention from him later.We understand that there will be limited consequentials in the new pl...
John Swinney
SNP
Will Mr Baker take this opportunity to confirm his understanding of the spending review, which involves a rising trend of capital expenditure in Scotland des...
Richard Baker
Lab
My understanding, from what the cabinet secretary said earlier, is that there will be consequentials later in the spending review cycle involving increased s...
Gavin Brown (Lothian) (Con)
Con
It is worth reflecting on some of the analysis and feedback from economists since last week’s autumn statement. The Economist put it simply, stating that“the...
Stuart McMillan (West Scotland) (SNP)
SNP
Does Gavin Brown agree that it is strange that it takes the OBR 18 months to realise that the strategic deficit is worse than planned? What has it been doing...
Gavin Brown
Con
I find it surprising that the member wishes to criticise the OBR, which has received praise for its work from across the political and economic spectrum and ...
Richard Baker
Lab
What is the cost to our economy from the fact that our growth rates are higher than only those of Greece and Portugal, out of the whole euro zone?
Gavin Brown
Con
The growth rates are very disappointing, but if one looks at the OBR report in full—not just the press release that accompanied it—one sees that, although th...