Meeting of the Parliament 09 October 2024
I am sorry, but I will not be able to take Katy Clark’s intervention, because I am just closing.
The Greens want to see progress big and small. We want, for example, a revaluation of the rates for council tax, but we also want the ability to set parking fines to be devolved to councils, which we need to start seeing as an equal tier of government.
There are some direct budget choices and others that—I will be quite honest—we are simply using as a point of leverage with the Government.
We are proud of our previous budget agreements that delivered free bus travel for under-22s; £1.5 billion of additional income for public services; an increase to the additional dwelling supplement; record spending on walking, wheeling and cycling; the nature restoration fund; the removal of peak rail fares; and more.
The challenge for the Scottish Government this year will not just be around specific proposals but around its ability to provide trust and good faith to any other party in the Parliament that it needs to deal with that what is agreed in the budget is what will be delivered. Agreement is possible, but the challenge for the Scottish Government is for it to prove that it is able and willing to deliver it.
I move,
That the Parliament notes that the fiscal levers that are currently available to the Scottish Government are inadequate to fully protect public services and communities from UK Government austerity and economic turmoil, but that the Scottish Government must use every power at its disposal to address the urgent social, economic and environmental challenges that Scotland faces, and calls, therefore, on the Scottish Government to explore all avenues to fiscal sustainability, including seeking opportunities for further powers, such as those over levies and charges, to be devolved to local government for 2025-26, creating new powers, such as a cruise ship levy, exploring how a carbon emissions land tax and a power of general competence could be delivered and ensuring the most effective and progressive use of existing tax powers and tax reliefs and that spending does not undermine the core missions of tackling child poverty and the climate emergency.