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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: 14 December 2021

Douglas Lumsden

I turn to another question. There was no mention of council tax in your report. Is there a concern that the council tax cap being removed would bring an overall burden to the taxpayer—that it would increase our overall level of tax—and that that could have a damaging impact on the economy?

Finance and Public Administration Committee

Budget Scrutiny 2022-23

Meeting date: 14 December 2021

Douglas Lumsden

Okay. I will move on. When I was reading the report, it seemed—as I think Daniel Johnson mentioned earlier—that tax earnings are falling compared with the rest of the UK, social security charges are rising compared with the rest of the UK, the working population is falling compared with the rest of the UK, economic growth is lower than it is in the rest of the UK and recovery is slower in Scotland.

When I read about all that, I was concerned about how sustainable everything is. Would action need to be taken in the short term to try to stop some of the figures that we are seeing coming through?

Finance and Public Administration Committee

Budget Scrutiny 2022-23

Meeting date: 14 December 2021

Douglas Lumsden

Are there any other comments from anyone else?

I think that is a no.

Finance and Public Administration Committee

Budget Scrutiny 2022-23

Meeting date: 14 December 2021

Douglas Lumsden

We could talk about it for a long time and still not find solutions.

Finance and Public Administration Committee

Budget Scrutiny 2022-23

Meeting date: 14 December 2021

Douglas Lumsden

In terms of the fear that the prevention agenda cannot happen because local government, which is where a lot of the prevention takes place, is having its budget squeezed.

Finance and Public Administration Committee

Budget Scrutiny 2022-23

Meeting date: 14 December 2021

Douglas Lumsden

I want to ask about the north-east, not just because I represent North East Scotland but because the area is still a significant part of the Scottish economy. I remember the oil price crash in 2014 to 2016, when things were quite grim up in Aberdeen. The oil price has recovered and is in a good place, so why is the North Sea economy still holding the Scottish economy back?

Finance and Public Administration Committee

Budget Scrutiny 2022-23

Meeting date: 7 December 2021

Douglas Lumsden

My question follows on pretty well from what Michelle Thomson said. It is good to hear that the net zero capital spending plans are in the forecast. However, I have a concern about oil and gas, and the capital plans that are under pressure not to be spent as we move forward. If those investments did not happen, what would that do to the forecast? I presume that that would have a greater impact on the Scottish economy than it would in the rest of the UK, and there would then be greater divergence between the Scottish tax intake and the intake in the rest of the UK. Has any modelling been done on what would happen if some of those new investments, especially in the North Sea, did not take place?

Finance and Public Administration Committee

Budget Scrutiny 2022-23

Meeting date: 7 December 2021

Douglas Lumsden

So the forecasts that you are presenting assume that many of the investments in the North Sea will take place. If they did not happen, the forecasts would have to be revised, and there would probably be a negative impact on the Scottish economy.

Finance and Public Administration Committee

Public Service Reform and Christie Commission

Meeting date: 30 November 2021

Douglas Lumsden

At the end of the day, it is money that often creates barriers and silos, so we are back to the point about the shift in resources. During the pandemic, there was a lot more flexibility. People said, “We’ll worry about the cash later—let’s just look after our communities.”

I hate to even think about this, but I wonder whether there could be a service level agreement in place between the NHS and local authorities, for example. When you were talking about youth justice, I was trying to think of some examples. If local authorities could spend more on youth justice, there would probably be savings for the police and in other justice areas in the future. If local authorities could spend more on sports facilities, there could be a reduction in obesity, and savings for the NHS. Is there a way of linking outcomes to the organisations that spend money on early interventions, so that there is a balance?

Finance and Public Administration Committee

Public Service Reform and Christie Commission

Meeting date: 30 November 2021

Douglas Lumsden

To my mind, the local governance review provides an opportunity to break down some of the silos that you mentioned earlier. Is that your view? When will the results of the local governance review come through? Will the lessons that have been learned from the pandemic feed into the review?