Finance and Public Administration Committee
Budget Scrutiny 2022-23
The Finance and Public Administration Committee has the lead role in scrutinising the Scottish Government’s Budget Bill each year.
Parliamentary scrutiny of the Budget aims to:
- influence how the Scottish Government’s Budget is prepared
- improve transparency and increase public awareness of the Budget
- consider how the government’s Budget should respond to new fiscal and wider policy challenges
- lead to better results and outcomes when compared against the Scottish Government’s targets and goals
The Budget Bill and supporting documents
The Budget Bill for 2022-23 was introduced on 9 December 2021.
Budget (Scotland) Bill as introduced
The Scottish Government also published a supporting document that sets out its proposed spending and tax plans for 2022-23. You can access it, along with other related information, here:
The Scottish Fiscal Commission (SFC) published two reports on the same day as the Budget Bill was introduced:
Scotland’s Economic and Fiscal Forecasts – December 2021
The SFC wrote to the Committee to advise that these reports had been published:
Letter from the Chair of the Scottish Fiscal Commission to the Convener of 9 December 2021
How the Budget process works
The Budget Bill is how the Parliament agrees public spending in Scotland. A Budget Bill is introduced in the Parliament every year.
This budget is for the financial year 2022-23. The total budget for public spending is £49.1 billion.
The schedules of the Bill describe what money in the budget can be spent on and the maximum amounts that can be spent.
The Budget Bill follows a slightly different process to other Bills. You can find out more about the Budget Bill process here:
What is the Scottish Budget process?
Before the Bill was introduced, committees published pre-budget reports which aimed to influence the content of the Bill itself.
You can read about the Committee’s own pre-budget scrutiny, including its report and the Scottish Government response:
Scotland's public finances in 2022-23 and the impact of Covid
Correspondence
The Committee has received the following letters on the budget:
Letter from the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Economy to the Convener of 9 December 2021
Letter from the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Economy to the Convener of 22 December 2021 on the Local Government Finance Circular 9/2021 (posted 22 December 2021)
Oral Evidence
The Committee took evidence on the budget on the following dates:
Tuesday 1 February 2022
The Committee took evidence from:
Kate Forbes, Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Economy, Scottish Government
Douglas McLaren, Deputy Director, Budget, Pay and Pensions, Scottish Government
Committee papers
Papers for meeting on 1 February 2022
Official Report (substantially verbatim transcript)
Official Report of meeting on 1 February 2022
Follow-up correspondence from meeting on 1 February 2022
Letter from Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Economy to the Convener of 4 February 2022
Tuesday 21 December 2021
The Committee took evidence from:
Jackson Carlaw, Member, Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body
David McGill, Clerk/Chief Executive, Scottish Parliament
Michelle Hegarty, Deputy Chief Executive, Scottish Parliament
Sara Glass, Group Head of Financial Governance, Scottish Parliament
and then from:
Kate Forbes, Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Economy, Scottish Government
Lucy O'Carroll, Director of Tax and Fiscal Sustainability, Scottish Government
Ian Storrie, Head of Local Government Finance, Scottish Government
Committee papers
Papers for meeting on 21 December 2021 (1)
Papers for meeting on 21 December 2021 (2)
Official Report (substantially verbatim transcript)
Official Report of meeting on 21 December 2021
Tuesday 14 December 2021
The Committee took evidence from:
Dame Susan Rice DBE, Chair, Scottish Fiscal Commission
Professor Alasdair Smith, Commissioner, Scottish Fiscal Commission
Professor Francis Breedon, Commissioner, Scottish Fiscal Commission
John Ireland, Chief Executive, Scottish Fiscal Commission
and then from:
David Eiser, Senior Knowledge Exchange Fellow, Fraser of Allander Institute
Professor Graeme Roy, Dean of External Engagement and Professor of Economics, College of Social Sciences, University of Glasgow
Committee papers
Papers for meeting on 14 December 2021
Official Report (substantially verbatim transcript)
Official Report of meeting on 14 December 2021
Tuesday 7 December 2021
The Committee took evidence from:
Richard Hughes, Director, Office for Budget Responsibility
Professor Sir Charlie Bean, Budget Responsibility Committee Member, Office for Budget Responsibility
Andy King, Budget Responsibility Committee Member, Office for Budget Responsibility
and then from:
Carl Emmerson, Deputy Director, Institute for Fiscal Studies
Committee papers
Papers for meeting on 7 December 2021
Official Report (substantially verbatim transcript)
Official Report of meeting on 7 December 2021
Committee report
The Committee's report, Budget Scrutiny 2022-23, was published on 21 January 2022:
Read the Committee's report on the Parliament's report hub
Scottish Government response
The Scottish Government responded to the Committee's report on 29 January 2022:
Scottish Government response to the Committee's Budget Scrutiny 2022-23 report
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