Chamber
Meeting of the Parliament 06 February 2020
06 Feb 2020 · S5 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
Budget 2020-21
For a party that claims to be about mitigating austerity, it is disappointing that last year, the Labour Party voted against a budget that contained £1.4 billion that was directly linked to mitigating austerity for our most vulnerable, including measures that directly mitigated UK welfare decisions.
In this year’s budget, the Labour Party has a choice: will it vote for or against a commitment to deliver the first child payments, which, by 2022, will take 30,000 children out of poverty? That is the choice that Labour faces. I am proud to be presenting this budget today, because it delivers in the national interest. It delivers an additional £1 billion for health, an additional £0.5 billion for local government, and real-terms increases for colleges and universities.
The question for Labour is this: if it has good ideas—and I am willing to listen and to compromise—will it tell us how much they will cost, and if they cost more than the overall allocation that we have, what will it cut in order to deliver on them?
In the same item of business
The Presiding Officer (Ken Macintosh)
NPA
The next item of business is a statement by Kate Forbes on the Scottish budget for 2020-21. The minister will take questions at the end of her statement.
The Minister for Public Finance and Digital Economy (Kate Forbes)
SNP
Today, I present the Scottish budget for 2020-21. This is a budget that offers vision and leadership at a crucial moment for our country. Last week, the Unit...
The Presiding Officer
NPA
The minister will now take questions on the budget statement.
Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con)
Con
I thank the minister for providing advance sight of her statement, and I congratulate her on her delivery of it in circumstances that none of us wanted to se...
Kate Forbes
SNP
Rather than pretending that there is a Boris bonus, the Tories should have started off by apologising for the decade of austerity that they have subjected th...
Rhoda Grant (Highlands and Islands) (Lab)
Lab
I welcome Kate Forbes to her role in delivering the budget statement today, and thank her for a copy of the statement. Despite the additional powers and fin...
Kate Forbes
SNP
For a party that claims to be about mitigating austerity, it is disappointing that last year, the Labour Party voted against a budget that contained £1.4 bil...
Patrick Harvie (Glasgow) (Green)
Green
Kate Forbes has, in a very short timescale, taken on a difficult task in stepping into the breach to lead a budget process, with no finance secretary in the ...
Kate Forbes
SNP
I thank Patrick Harvie for that question. I am happy to confirm to Parliament and to all parties that I am willing to be constructive. I hope that the same ...
Willie Rennie (North East Fife) (LD)
LD
I thank the minister for advance copy of the statement. The budget includes measures that we support. However, does the minister not think that there should...
Kate Forbes
SNP
I sometimes worry that the Lib Dems are more obsessed with independence than I am. In the past few budgets, the Lib Dems prioritised the union over support f...
The Presiding Officer
NPA
A large number of members wish to ask questions. If we keep questions and answers concise, we will get through them all.
Rona Mackay (Strathkelvin and Bearsden) (SNP)
SNP
I welcome the announcement that, for the first time, health and social care partnerships will receive more than £9.4 billion, in spite of the fact that, over...
Kate Forbes
SNP
Our budget prioritises investment in front-line services and takes funding for front-line national health service boards to £11.3 billion. That is an additio...
Dean Lockhart (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con)
Con
In her opening statement, the minister said that if any party wants to see spending increases or tax cuts or both, they need to explain how they will be paid...
Kate Forbes
SNP
Listening to the Tories would require me to do something impossible—to give tax cuts and spending increases. That is, in accounting terms, completely impossi...
Alex Neil (Airdrie and Shotts) (SNP)
SNP
First, I congratulate the minister on her excellent delivery of the budget statement. I will not make any criticism; I will simply ask a simple question abou...
Kate Forbes
SNP
I say briefly that I am happy to agree to consider the issue that Alex Neil has asked about. The Government is committed to supporting our small businesses, ...
Sarah Boyack (Lothian) (Lab)
Lab
We know that, in 2020-21, our councils will have to deliver nearly £500 million-worth of new Scottish Government commitments. Will the minister guarantee tha...
Kate Forbes
SNP
I am delighted to announce today that local government will get—in cash terms—almost half a billion pounds to spend on delivering the services that the peopl...
Gillian Martin (Aberdeenshire East) (SNP)
SNP
As someone who represents a constituency where a just transition away from high-carbon jobs is an acute challenge, but a necessity, I welcome the announcemen...
Kate Forbes
SNP
I agree with Gillian Martin that local authorities have a critical role to play in responding to the climate emergency. We need them to deploy the key levers...
Miles Briggs (Lothian) (Con)
Con
I welcome the minister to her position in what will probably be the longest job interview in history. Despite the biggest cash injection in the history of t...
Kate Forbes
SNP
I am glad that Miles Briggs welcomes the record funding for health. I hope that, throughout the year, he continues that theme of welcoming the Government’s i...
Kenneth Gibson (Cunninghame North) (SNP)
SNP
I welcome this well-presented budget and the feisty answering of questions so far. Can the minister confirm that the rail services budget will increase by a...
Kate Forbes
SNP
I can confirm all of the above. As an MSP who represents a constituency that relies on our ferries, I am particularly delighted with the increase in support ...
Monica Lennon (Central Scotland) (Lab)
Lab
The minister talked about the importance of Governments keeping promises. This Government promised to end delayed discharge, but that promise remains unfulfi...
Kate Forbes
SNP
As Monica Lennon will see, there is increased spend throughout the budget and we are ensuring that there is an increase in front-line spend in our health ser...
David Torrance (Kirkcaldy) (SNP)
SNP
How much is the Scottish Government providing to support capitalisation of the Scottish national investment bank and how will that boost economic growth in S...
Kate Forbes
SNP
In order to continue our progress towards our commitment to provide £2 billion over 10 years to fund the national investment bank, in this year’s budget we h...