Chamber and committees

Scotland's public finances in 2023-24: the impact of the cost of living and public service reform

Background

How will the rising cost of living impact on the Scottish Budget in 2023-24? 

Will the Scottish Government’s proposals for reforming the public service deliver the efficiencies expected?

These and other questions are the focus for the committee’s pre-budget 2023-24 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 2023-24 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.

When does it happen?

Pre-budget scrutiny normally takes place in the months leading up to the Scottish budget.

This year’s pre-budget scrutiny

The Committee will use this year’s Resource Spending Review by the Scottish Government to inform its pre-budget scrutiny.

The Resource Spending Review aims to set out spending plans for the remainder of the parliamentary term. This Review supports the government's ambitions from 2023-24 to 2026-27.

The committee will focus primarily on three areas from the spending review:

• proposals for public service reform,
• impact of the cost of living crisis on the Scottish Budget 2023-24, and
• how spending priorities might affect the delivery of national outcomes.

Key documents

The following key documents will inform the committee’s pre-budget scrutiny:

• Scotland’s Economic and Fiscal Forecasts – May 2022 by the Scottish Fiscal Commission
• the Scottish Government’s  Resource Spending Review (RSR), and
• the Scottish Government’s  Medium-Term Financial Strategy (MTFS).

These documents were all published on 31 May 2022 alongside a targeted review of the Scottish Government’s 2021-22 to 2025-26 Capital Spending Plans, setting out capital funding allocations by portfolio for 2022-23 to 2025-26.

Guidance for subject committees

Guidance for committees on the budget process 2023-24 highlights relevant supporting documents, work approaches and examples of good practice.

Budget process - Guidance to Subject Committees (123KB, pdf) posted 23 June 2022

Written Submissions

The Committee received 44 submissions to its call for views. Read the submissions received on Citizen Space:

Submissions received to the call for views on Scotland's public finances in 2023-24: the impact of the cost of living and public service reform

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.

SPICe Summary of Written Submissions

The Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe) has produced a summary of the written submissions received to the Committee's call for views. Read the summary:

SPICe Summary of Written Submissions (321KB, pdf) posted 20 September 2022

Oral Evidence

The Committee took evidence on the following dates:

Tuesday 4 October 2022

The Committee took evidence from the Scottish Government.

Read the agenda, papers and Official Report (substantially verbatim transcript) for this meeting.

Tuesday 27 September 2022

The Committee took evidence, in a roundtable format, from Alcohol Focus Scotland, Citizens Advice Scotland, Engender, Scottish Council for Development and Industry, Scottish Federation of Housing Associations, Scottish Retail Consortium, and UNISON Scotland.

Read the agenda, papers and Official Report (substantially verbatim transcript) for this meeting.

Tuesday 20 September 2022

The Committee took evidence from:

Panel 1: Auditor General for Scotland, Chartered Institute of Taxation, and David Hume Institute;
Panel 2: COSLA, CIPFA Local Government Directors of Finance (Scotland) Section, and South Lanarkshire Council.

Read the agenda, papers and Official Report (substantially verbatim transcript) for this meeting.

Committee Report and Scottish Government Response

The Committee's report, Pre-Budget Scrutiny 2023-24: Scotland's Public Finances in 2023-24 and the Impact of the Cost of Living and Public Service Reform, was published on 3 November 2022. A link to the report can be found at:

Pre-Budget Scrutiny 2023-24: Scotland's Public Finances in 2023-24 and the Impact of the Cost of Living and Public Service Reform

The Scottish Government responded to the Committee's report on 20 December 2022. Read the response at:

Scottish Government Response to the Committee's Pre-Budget Scrutiny 2023-24 Report

Your views

Read the questions and respond to the consultation on Citizen Space. 

The Committee welcomes responses to any, or all, of the questions.  Where respondents recommend additional expenditure in any policy area, they should also identify where this additional expenditure should come from.

The consultation closed on 19 August 2022.