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All Official Reports of meetings in the Debating Chamber of the Scottish Parliament.
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Displaying 1319 contributions
Finance and Public Administration Committee
Meeting date: 8 March 2022
Douglas Lumsden
Following on from Liz Smith’s questions, am I right in thinking that this all comes down to our predicting the amount of money that we get back to be lower? If so, is that because our economic performance turned out not to be as good as we thought it might be? Is it fair to say that?
Finance and Public Administration Committee
Meeting date: 8 March 2022
Douglas Lumsden
Absolutely. I just wanted to check that there are local authorities coming forward with plans and that the money is there.
Finance and Public Administration Committee
Meeting date: 8 March 2022
Douglas Lumsden
If it is demand led, are we not telling people that it is there? Is there something else that we could be doing to make sure that the money that has been committed is spent?
Finance and Public Administration Committee
Meeting date: 8 March 2022
Douglas Lumsden
I have another question, on early intervention and prevention. Professor Heald, you mentioned in your submission that housing, for example, will have an impact on health outcomes. How does the Government make that shift from spend being input based to being output based? Do you have any ideas on how it could do that?
Finance and Public Administration Committee
Meeting date: 8 March 2022
Douglas Lumsden
Evaluation is a presentation of how spending some more money on, for example, local government can save you a lot on health later on. I guess that every Government wrestles with that difficulty, but it is something that has to be done eventually.
Finance and Public Administration Committee
Meeting date: 8 March 2022
Douglas Lumsden
You are so cynical at times, convener.
I want to go into a bit more detail about the linkage between the resource spending review and the national performance framework. Professor Heald, you mentioned in your submission that there are 81 indicators and that the Government has to prioritise those in the spending review. Is that number too many, or is it the right number and the review just needs to focus a bit more on some of the key indicators?
Finance and Public Administration Committee
Meeting date: 8 March 2022
Douglas Lumsden
Professor Heald, would you give the Government any advice on how it could better intertwine those things?
Finance and Public Administration Committee
Meeting date: 8 March 2022
Douglas Lumsden
In that case, I will move on. The convener asked—
Finance and Public Administration Committee
Meeting date: 8 March 2022
Douglas Lumsden
Yes, I would be happy with that.
I will move on. The convener asked right at the start about the £40 million reduction in the affordable housing supply programme. That programme involves partners such as housing associations and local authorities. Are they still bringing forward a long list of schemes and proposals, or have those dried up as well?
Finance and Public Administration Committee
Meeting date: 8 March 2022
Douglas Lumsden
Thank you.