Official Report: search what was said in Parliament
The Official Report is a written record of public meetings of the Parliament and committees.
All Official Reports of meetings in the Debating Chamber of the Scottish Parliament.
All Official Reports of public meetings of committees.
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Finance and Public Administration Committee
Economic and Fiscal Forecasts, Resource Spending Review and Medium-term Financial Strategy
Meeting date: 7 June 2022
Douglas Lumsden
I, too, want to ask about the £620 million pot. I am quite new to this and am still trying to get my head around it. How much was ScotWind going to contribute to that £620 million, at the start of the year?
Finance and Public Administration Committee
Economic and Fiscal Forecasts, Resource Spending Review and Medium-term Financial Strategy
Meeting date: 7 June 2022
Douglas Lumsden
But am I right in thinking that it is not easy to work out what constituted that £620 million at the start of the year?
Finance and Public Administration Committee
Economic and Fiscal Forecasts, Resource Spending Review and Medium-term Financial Strategy
Meeting date: 7 June 2022
Douglas Lumsden
However, you have been suggesting a head count reduction of 30,000 people.
Finance and Public Administration Committee
Economic and Fiscal Forecasts, Resource Spending Review and Medium-term Financial Strategy
Meeting date: 7 June 2022
Douglas Lumsden
Hi, cabinet secretary. It will probably come as no surprise that my first question is on local government finance. There seems to be a real-terms cut of about 7 per cent in the next four years. Is that not passing the buck to local government to bring in huge increases in council tax?
Finance and Public Administration Committee
Economic and Fiscal Forecasts, Resource Spending Review and Medium-term Financial Strategy
Meeting date: 7 June 2022
Douglas Lumsden
So it might not be as bad as local government expects, then.
Finance and Public Administration Committee
Economic and Fiscal Forecasts, Resource Spending Review and Medium-term Financial Strategy
Meeting date: 7 June 2022
Douglas Lumsden
I go back to the reduction in head count. The figure of 30,000 has been mentioned, but 15,000 of the additional 30,000 pre-Covid level relates to the NHS, and as you have already said, that will probably not be affected very much. That means that the reduction will have to come from other places, one of which could well be local government.
Finance and Public Administration Committee
Economic and Fiscal Forecasts, Resource Spending Review and Medium-term Financial Strategy
Meeting date: 7 June 2022
Douglas Lumsden
Do you envisage some of those agencies potentially going, then?
Finance and Public Administration Committee
Economic and Fiscal Forecasts, Resource Spending Review and Medium-term Financial Strategy
Meeting date: 7 June 2022
Douglas Lumsden
Just people within them going, I guess.
Finance and Public Administration Committee
Economic and Fiscal Forecasts, Resource Spending Review and Medium-term Financial Strategy
Meeting date: 7 June 2022
Douglas Lumsden
This Government always talks about early intervention and prevention, but a lot of the areas that you are cutting are carrying out early intervention. For example, local government can tackle child poverty at source before it becomes a problem. That is why I am slightly confused by some of what you have said today and some of what I see in this report.
Finance and Public Administration Committee
Economic and Fiscal Forecasts, Resource Spending Review and Medium-term Financial Strategy
Meeting date: 7 June 2022
Douglas Lumsden
But you are making cuts in areas that could prevent child poverty. That is my point.
Lastly, I want to talk about tax. You said that you have gone by the SFC forecast. In that forecast, the higher-rate threshold would remain frozen as part of the forecast’s baseline. Is that something that you see as frozen? The forecast says:
“an individual higher rate taxpayer pays up to an extra £653 in income tax in 2023-24, rising to £1,317 in 2026-27”.
Do you think that you will stick to that?
