Meeting of the Parliament 09 February 2023
Yes, I accept that and I think that tax incentives are critical. We have had considerable differences of opinion about the behavioural aspects of different tax policies, and we will rehearse those again as time goes on. However, Mr Swinney is quite right that it is important that incentives are very much part of the tax decisions. The decisions that the Government makes about taxes are very much about its choices, and the decisions that the Government has taken on tax policy are different from the ones that we would like to see. When we look at the Scottish Fiscal Commission’s recommendations on where we have to focus and at the statistics that it has produced for the next few years, we are particularly concerned, because some worrying trends are coming down the track.
We have to think about a lot of issues and we also have to think about the fiscal framework, which the cabinet secretary signed in 2016 and which is due to be renegotiated. There is a lot of interesting debate to be had about that and, although we have different constitutional perspectives, we must ensure that the fiscal situation for this Parliament is as effective as—and in line with—what is happening at the UK level.
There is general agreement that there are issues with quite a lot of aspects of what we need to focus on. Obviously, the political debate about how we address those things will continue but, again, I put on record that we will not oppose the rates resolution when it comes to decision time.
16:44