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Official Report: search what was said in Parliament

The Official Report is a written record of public meetings of the Parliament and committees.  

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Dates of parliamentary sessions
  1. Session 1: 12 May 1999 to 31 March 2003
  2. Session 2: 7 May 2003 to 2 April 2007
  3. Session 3: 9 May 2007 to 22 March 2011
  4. Session 4: 11 May 2011 to 23 March 2016
  5. Session 5: 12 May 2016 to 5 May 2021
  6. Current session: 12 May 2021 to 23 November 2024
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Displaying 1319 contributions

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Finance and Public Administration Committee

Budget Scrutiny 2022-23

Meeting date: 21 December 2021

Douglas Lumsden

I want to move on to another issue. As a new member, maybe I am not quite understanding the point, but page 115 of the budget document says that there is city deal funding of £100 million for 2022-23. However, there is no figure for previous years. Could you explain that, cabinet secretary?

Finance and Public Administration Committee

Budget Scrutiny 2022-23

Meeting date: 21 December 2021

Douglas Lumsden

Did that exercise stop at £200 million, or was there more money that could be allocated?

Finance and Public Administration Committee

Budget Scrutiny 2022-23

Meeting date: 21 December 2021

Douglas Lumsden

You will probably expect me to ask about local government. Page 12 of the budget says that there is a real-terms resource increase of 4.4 per cent to local government. However, the briefing note that we received from COSLA claims that there is a cut of approximately £100 million to the revenue funding for councils compared to 2021-22. In relation to capital, the budget claims a 7.2 per cent increase, but COSLA claims that it is flat cash. Who do we believe when it comes to local government finance—COSLA or the Scottish Government?

Finance and Public Administration Committee

Budget Scrutiny 2022-23

Meeting date: 21 December 2021

Douglas Lumsden

Yes—the north-east and Moray.

Finance and Public Administration Committee

Budget Scrutiny 2022-23

Meeting date: 21 December 2021

Douglas Lumsden

I have one last question, which is about the A96. We have heard plans about dualling the road between Inverness and Nairn. Is there still a commitment to fully dual the A96 by 2030?

Finance and Public Administration Committee

Budget Scrutiny 2022-23

Meeting date: 21 December 2021

Douglas Lumsden

I want to point out that I was in no way being critical; I realise that the systems were put together at pace. Looking ahead, we realise that we will probably have some sort of hybrid working in the future, so we should look at the systems. We probably have a bit more time in which to do so because we have something else in place right now. I was in no way being critical of the staff who put the systems together at pace.

Finance and Public Administration Committee

Budget Scrutiny 2022-23

Meeting date: 14 December 2021

Douglas Lumsden

We know that the decline is coming; it is about how fast it is. That is the issue when it comes to policy.

Finance and Public Administration Committee

Budget Scrutiny 2022-23

Meeting date: 14 December 2021

Douglas Lumsden

Thank you.

You mentioned prevention and collaboration. I do not want to be a spokesperson for local government, but I will say that I fear that prevention will be impacted by the cut of 2.7 per cent to the local government budget that we heard about. Is that a fear that you share?

Finance and Public Administration Committee

Budget Scrutiny 2022-23

Meeting date: 14 December 2021

Douglas Lumsden

As a new committee member, I just want to check something that is on the income tax table in figure 4. Am I right in thinking that, if we had not had devolved income tax, the Scottish taxpayer would be £742 million better off and the Scottish Government £190 million better off? Is that right, or am I missing something?

Finance and Public Administration Committee

Budget Scrutiny 2022-23

Meeting date: 14 December 2021

Douglas Lumsden

Is that just to the Scottish taxpayer, or would the Scottish Government have extra money as well because of the block grant adjustments? I guess there would not be a block grant adjustment, in fact.