Hansard

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?