Finance and Public Administration Committee
Scotland's public finances in 2022-23 and the impact of COVID-19
Background
What are your views on Scotland’s public finances in 2022-23 and how they have been affected by COVID-19? The Committee would like to hear your thoughts on this topic as part of its pre-budget scrutiny.
Pre-budget scrutiny aims to:
- influence how the Budget is prepared
- improve transparency and increase public awareness of the Budget
- consider how the Scottish Government’s Budget for 2022-23 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 Scottish Government's Budget is expected to be published later this year. COVID-19 has had a significant impact on public finances, bringing increased uncertainty and volatility. The pandemic has impacted on people in different ways and how the Budget delivers a fair and equal economic recovery will form a key part of the Committee’s work. The Scottish Government's proposed response to these impacts will be a focus of the Committee’s scrutiny.
COVID-19 has also tested the way the Fiscal Framework operates. The framework is due to be reviewed later this year, so the Committee is also seeking views on how well it has worked.
Budget process – Guidance to Subject Committees (456KB, pdf) posted 25 June 2021
Your views
Read the questions and respond to the consultation on Citizen Space.
Please note that in most cases your written submission will be published on the Scottish Parliament's website and may be quoted in the Committee's report or in Committee meetings (which are public and broadcast).
Before making a submission, please read our privacy notice about submitting your views to a Committee. This tells you about how we process your personal data.
Please tell us if you are under 12 when making a submission. This is because we will need to ask a parent or guardian to confirm to us that they are happy for you to send us your views. Please read this privacy notice for children and young people before making your submission.
The call for views closed on 17 August 2021. Read the submissions received on Citizen Space.
Summary of evidence received
The Scottish Parliament Information Centre's Financial Scrutiny Unit has produced a summary of the written evidence received:
Oral evidence
Tuesday 5 October 2021
The Committee took evidence from:
Kate Forbes, Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Economy
Douglas McLaren, Deputy Director, Budget Pay and Pensions
Claire McManus, Fiscal Framework Team Leader, Scottish Government
Committee papers
Papers for meeting on 5 October 2021 (94KB pdf, posted 30 September 2021)
Official Report (substantially verbatim transcript)
Official Report of meeting on 5 October 2021 (680KB pdf, posted 7 October 2021)
Paper by the adviser
The Committee's Budget Adviser produced the following paper for the meeting on 5 October 2021:
Budget Adviser Paper: Latest Position of the Scottish Economy
Note: We aim to make all of the information we publish fully accessible. However, when documents are provided by external organisations this is not always possible. If you need the document provided in an alternative format please contact the Clerk to the Committee. Further information is available on our accessibility statement.
Paper by SPICe - Fiscal Framework Outturn Report
The Parliament's Financial Scrutiny Unit produced the following paper for the meeting on 5 October 2021:
SPICe Paper: Fiscal Framework Outturn Report
Note: We aim to make all of the information we publish fully accessible. However, when documents are provided by external organisations this is not always possible. If you need the document provided in an alternative format please contact the Clerk to the Committee. Further information is available on our accessibility statement.
Tuesday 14 September 2021
The Committee took evidence from:
Councillor Gail Macgregor, Resources Spokesperson, COSLA
Alan Russell, Chair, CIPFA Directors of Finance Section
Linda Somerville, Deputy General Secretary for Policy, Equality and Political Liaison, Scottish Trades Union Congress
and then from:
David Eiser, Senior Knowledge Exchange Fellow, Fraser of Allander Institute
Susan Murray, Director, David Hume Institute
Ray Perman, Fellow, Royal Society of Edinburgh
Committee papers
Papers for meeting on 14 September 2021
Official Report (substantially verbatim transcript)
Official Report of meeting on 14 September 2021
Paper by the adviser
The Committee's Budget Adviser produced the following paper for the meeting on 14 September 2021:
Budget Adviser Paper: How has the Scottish Economy Fared throughout the Pandemic?
Note: We aim to make all of the information we publish fully accessible. However, when documents are provided by external organisations this is not always possible. If you need the document provided in an alternative format please contact the Clerk to the Committee. Further information is available on our accessibility statement.
Tuesday 7 September 2021
The Committee took evidence from:
Polly Tolley, Director of Impact, Citizens Advice Scotland
Laura Mahon, Deputy Chief Executive, Alcohol Focus Scotland
Adam Stachura, Head of Policy and Communications, Age Scotland
John Dickie, Director, Child Poverty Action Group in Scotland
and then from:
Kevin Robertson, Chair, Scottish Property Federation
Joanne Walker, Technical Officer, Chartered Institute of Taxation and its Low Incomes Tax Reform Group
Committee papers
Papers for meeting on 7 September 2021
Official Report (substantially verbatim transcript)
Official Report of meeting on 7 September 2021
Follow-up correspondence from meeting
The Director of Impact of Citizens Advice Scotland wrote to the Convener on 9 September 2021 with follow-up correspondence on funding advice as a measure of preventative spend:
Letter from Director of Impact, Citizens Advice Scotland to the Convener of 9 September 2021
Committee report
The Committee's report, Pre-Budget Scrutiny: Scotland's Public Finances in 2022-23 and the Impact of COVID-19, was published on 5 November 2021:
Read the Committee's report on the Parliament's report hub.
Scottish Government response
The Scottish Government responded to the Committee's report on 9 December 2021:
Scottish Government response to the Committee's pre-budget scrutiny report