Chamber
Meeting of the Parliament 22 January 2014
22 Jan 2014 · S4 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
Budget (Scotland) (No 3) Bill: Stage 1
Last week, I introduced the Budget (Scotland) (No 3) Bill for 2014-15, which will give effect to the draft budget that I set out in September last year and the subsequent provisions that we have made in the intervening period.
I express my thanks to all those who have contributed to the budget process so far, particularly members of the Finance Committee, whose report I have responded to today, and the subject committees for their comprehensive scrutiny of the Government’s spending plans.
As I have looked to do in each and every year, I am committed to working constructively with all parties in the Parliament to build agreement on the bill’s contents. I have met all parties and am aware of the issues that they raised in those discussions. I commit to working over the next two weeks to try to address those issues. I am willing to consider alternative spending proposals from all parties provided that they identify the source from which the necessary resources would be drawn to afford any changes to the Government’s fully-funded plans that are before us for consideration.
The spending plans that this Government has set out will support Scotland’s economy, help some of the most vulnerable in our society and deliver the high-quality public services that people in Scotland have a right to expect. Our plans meet the challenges of the times. We need: strong support for economic recovery; to deal with the impact of Westminster austerity and cuts in welfare support; and to protect public services in Scotland. That must all be achieved within the legal and financial limits placed on us as a devolved Administration.
As a result of Westminster’s approach to public finances, the Scottish Government’s fiscal departmental expenditure limit budget is being cut by 11.1 per cent in real terms between 2010-11 and 2015-16. That has reduced our discretionary spending power by £3.4 billion in real terms.
I express my thanks to all those who have contributed to the budget process so far, particularly members of the Finance Committee, whose report I have responded to today, and the subject committees for their comprehensive scrutiny of the Government’s spending plans.
As I have looked to do in each and every year, I am committed to working constructively with all parties in the Parliament to build agreement on the bill’s contents. I have met all parties and am aware of the issues that they raised in those discussions. I commit to working over the next two weeks to try to address those issues. I am willing to consider alternative spending proposals from all parties provided that they identify the source from which the necessary resources would be drawn to afford any changes to the Government’s fully-funded plans that are before us for consideration.
The spending plans that this Government has set out will support Scotland’s economy, help some of the most vulnerable in our society and deliver the high-quality public services that people in Scotland have a right to expect. Our plans meet the challenges of the times. We need: strong support for economic recovery; to deal with the impact of Westminster austerity and cuts in welfare support; and to protect public services in Scotland. That must all be achieved within the legal and financial limits placed on us as a devolved Administration.
As a result of Westminster’s approach to public finances, the Scottish Government’s fiscal departmental expenditure limit budget is being cut by 11.1 per cent in real terms between 2010-11 and 2015-16. That has reduced our discretionary spending power by £3.4 billion in real terms.
In the same item of business
The Deputy Presiding Officer (John Scott)
Con
The next item of business is a debate on motion S4M-08794, in the name of John Swinney, on the Budget (Scotland) (No 3) Bill. 14:40
The Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Employment and Sustainable Growth (John Swinney)
SNP
Last week, I introduced the Budget (Scotland) (No 3) Bill for 2014-15, which will give effect to the draft budget that I set out in September last year and t...
Gavin Brown (Lothian) (Con)
Con
In cash terms, has total Scottish Government spend ever been higher?
John Swinney
SNP
We have been through such questions before with Mr Brown. He fails to take into account the fact that there is natural inflation in all the costs that we wre...
Willie Rennie (Mid Scotland and Fife) (LD)
LD
As the cabinet secretary knows, we welcome the investment in two-year-olds as well as three and four-year-olds. I know that he has plans for the following fi...
John Swinney
SNP
The Government has made absolutely clear its commitment to expanding the availability of childcare. In “Scotland’s Future”, we set out an ambition that it is...
Iain Gray (East Lothian) (Lab)
Lab
Our criticism of the budget that is before us, ever since it was published in draft, has been consistently less about what can be seen in it and more about w...
John Swinney
SNP
Would Iain Gray accept that if I had followed the approach that he is talking about, I would have had to allow business rates in Scotland to increase and fre...
Iain Gray
Lab
We certainly argued that, given the choice between two good things—the free school meals and the increase in childcare—we would have preferred to prioritise ...
John Swinney
SNP
I agree with Mr Gray about the iniquity of the bedroom tax, but why is he in cahoots with the Conservatives and the Liberals in the better together campaign,...
Iain Gray
Lab
Let me come to agreement and disagreement across the chamber on that.Protecting tenants would be a start, which is why Jackie Baillie has a bill before the P...
Jamie Hepburn (Cumbernauld and Kilsyth) (SNP)
SNP
Will the member give way?
Iain Gray
Lab
No, I am sorry.Local authorities have seen rent arrears soar, which means cuts elsewhere in already stretched services. The consequences for housing associat...
Kevin Stewart (Aberdeen Central) (SNP)
SNP
Will Mr Gray give way?
Iain Gray
Lab
No, I am sorry. I need to get on to the point that Mr Swinney raised. I will get to it.However, at least half of the households affected are getting no help ...
John Swinney
SNP
Can Mr Gray take this opportunity to explain to the Parliament the mechanism that would allow us to pay that additional resource to the individuals to remove...
Iain Gray
Lab
I will come to that.We believe that Mr Swinney could do more. In December and again today Mr Swinney argued that he has gone as far as he can under UK legisl...
Kevin Stewart
SNP
Will the member give way?
Iain Gray
Lab
No, I am sorry.We even have the Under-Secretary of State for Scotland assuring us publicly that the Scottish Government can fully mitigate the impact of the ...
John Swinney
SNP
Oh, well. There we are, then.
The Deputy Presiding Officer
Con
Order, please. Interventions are best not made from a sedentary position.
Iain Gray
Lab
We should do that, because the truth is that the Labour benches and the Government benches agree on the matter. We agree that the bedroom tax is iniquitous. ...
Gavin Brown (Lothian) (Con)
Con
It is often worth looking at what happened in the equivalent debate a year ago, so yesterday I looked at the stage 1 debate on last year’s budget bill. The S...
John Swinney
SNP
What Mr Brown has to do to complete his explanation of what happened is to refer to the fact that the amount of borrowing that the UK Government is having to...
Gavin Brown
Con
I am not sure that Mr Swinney added much to the Scottish Government’s case with that particular speech. On the point about borrowing, he completely ignores t...
The First Minister (Alex Salmond)
SNP
Will the member take an intervention?
Gavin Brown
Con
I will in a minute.In 2008-09, according to the Scottish Government’s own budget—I say to Mr Swinney that it is on page 189—it had £31.9 billion to spend. In...
The First Minister
SNP
I admire Mr Brown for wishing away inflation, which he constantly does to try to make his point. I will pursue Mr Swinney’s point about whether the UK Govern...
Gavin Brown
Con
I know that the First Minister likes to filibuster during First Minister’s question time, but now he is filibustering during Opposition speeches—good grief. ...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
Con
Could we have a little bit of order, please?