Chamber
Meeting of the Parliament 04 October 2016
04 Oct 2016 · S5 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
Draft Budget 2017-18 (Timetable)
I have said to members in the chamber that I will honour the commitment that was given to the Finance Committee on sharing as much information as I possibly can. I cannot produce a scenario plan that is a draft spending budget without having all the information that will come from the chancellor’s autumn statement, and the committee recognised that point.
I will produce as much information as I possibly can, but I cannot produce a draft budget that would be credible because of the uncertainty that exists within the system. I will continue to work constructively with the committee and share as much as I can to give as much certainty as I can, but that does not mean that we can produce a draft budget. That will come in a credible way through the channel that has been outlined in the committee’s draft timetable. I hope that members will appreciate a positive approach to try to share as much as I can to support scrutiny of the Parliament and welcome the fact that many committees are already undertaking pre-budget scrutiny. That is a helpful approach in the Parliament.
14:45In the same item of business
The Deputy Presiding Officer (Christine Grahame)
SNP
The next item of business is a debate on motion S5M-01788, in the name of Bruce Crawford, on the timetable for the Scottish Government’s draft budget 2017-18...
Bruce Crawford (Stirling) (SNP)
SNP
This is my maiden speech as convener of the Finance and Constitution Committee. I can safely say that I have had a steep learning curve over the past month. ...
The Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Constitution (Derek Mackay)
SNP
I welcome Bruce Crawford to his position as convener of the Finance and Constitution Committee and very much agree with him about the joint approach that we ...
James Kelly (Glasgow) (Lab)
Lab
The Government has a £30 billion budget. The cabinet secretary heard Bruce Crawford say that the Fraser of Allander institute reckoned that the variable coul...
Derek Mackay
SNP
That relates to the point about uncertainty. I am uncertain about what the chancellor might do. I do not think that even he has clarity about what he might d...
Patrick Harvie (Glasgow) (Green)
Green
Will the cabinet secretary take an intervention?
Derek Mackay
SNP
I am afraid that I do not have time. That was also covered in the letter from the Finance Committee, which stated: “the resulting economic and fiscal uncer...
Patrick Harvie
Green
Will the cabinet secretary give way?
The Deputy Presiding Officer
SNP
Please sit down, Mr Harvie—the cabinet secretary is not giving way.
Neil Findlay (Lothian) (Lab)
Lab
He has plenty of time.
Derek Mackay
SNP
I will make further progress, and then I will take an intervention. The changes over the next few years will take us to a position in which more than 50 per...
Patrick Harvie
Green
I am grateful to the cabinet secretary for giving way. He knows very well that the committee looked at the letter from him at the beginning of September and ...
Derek Mackay
SNP
I have said to members in the chamber that I will honour the commitment that was given to the Finance Committee on sharing as much information as I possibly ...
Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con)
Con
I start by thanking the committee convener, Bruce Crawford, for setting out the committee’s position very fairly in his opening speech. As someone who is not...
The Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills (John Swinney)
SNP
Will the member take an intervention?
Murdo Fraser
Con
If the former finance secretary wants to intervene, I will listen to what he has to say.
John Swinney
SNP
I have a simple point to make. The budget process was delayed this year for the same reason that it was delayed last year: the delay to the UK autumn stateme...
Murdo Fraser
Con
Perhaps if Mr Swinney was still finance secretary, he would treat the Finance and Constitution Committee with a bit more respect than his successor seems to....
Bruce Crawford
SNP
Will the member give way?
The Deputy Presiding Officer
SNP
The member is in his last minute.
Murdo Fraser
Con
I am sorry, Mr Crawford. That is in the context of an underspend that was revealed in the latest Audit Scotland report on the Government’s consolidated acco...
Kezia Dugdale (Lothian) (Lab)
Lab
Setting a budget is this Parliament’s most important responsibility. The budget determines how much money is available to spend on the national health servic...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
SNP
I gave the member a bit of leeway, but the debate is about scheduling and timetabling. I expect that we might wander a little, but members should keep a look...
Kate Forbes (Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch) (SNP)
SNP
Judging by the Conservative Party conference yesterday, we are all in for a treat, as Mr Hammond takes us for a rollercoaster ride. After all, he and Ms May ...
Adam Tomkins (Glasgow) (Con)
Con
Given that the member quotes the Fraser of Allander institute, does she agree with its point that “the role of Parliament and civic Scotland in scrutinising...
Kate Forbes
SNP
Precisely. I agree with that, but scrutiny should be judged not solely by the number of weeks but by the focused attention to the budget. The cabinet secreta...
Graham Simpson (Central Scotland) (Con)
Con
The Parliament has been criticised in the past for its poor standard of scrutiny—that was certainly lacking before the current session. Governments do not te...
Stuart McMillan (Greenock and Inverclyde) (SNP)
SNP
Will the member give way?
Graham Simpson
Con
No. For Derek Mackay to give the subject committees two weeks in which to scrutinise his draft budget is frankly ridiculous and unacceptable. We can see how...
Derek Mackay
SNP
What does Graham Simpson make of the Northern Ireland Executive delaying its budget until after the chancellor’s autumn statement?