Hansard

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?