Official Report 210KB pdf
Agenda item 4 is consideration of our approach to the budget process 2009-10 at stage 2. I refer members to the recommendations in paper HS/S3/08/16/10, which I will deal with one at a time.
I have a question. The Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth, John Swinney, helpfully said that he would try to resurrect the piece of work that had been done on tracing expenditure on drug misuse. I am strongly in favour of such an exercise. However, if that work has not been done, we will find ourselves in the same cul-de-sac that we found ourselves in the last time we considered the issue. Do we know what the position is?
The clerks have just reminded me that the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth gave us a commitment that he would come back to us on the issue. We have not had a response yet, so we will write a reminder and refer his team to the Official Report of the relevant meeting.
We might find that the Audit Scotland review will cover the issue that Ross Finnie has raised. It emerged in last week's statement by the Minister for Community Safety on the Government's new drugs strategy, "The Road to Recovery", that Audit Scotland is to look into the effectiveness of funding and to report back early next year, so the most reasonable response would seem to be to ask Audit Scotland to consider the matter in detail. Perhaps we should write to Audit Scotland and ask it to take account of the committee's particular interest in ensuring that the 2001-02 figures are updated.
We should also write to the cabinet secretary, given that he said that he would get back to us.
Recommendation c) invites the committee to
Is the first bullet point in the annex correct? It says:
No. It should say "2009-10 budget" rather than "2009-09 budget".
Eagle eyes, Hawkeye Matheson.
I will take that as a compliment. [Laughter.]
That laughter was rather sardonic.
If we are making an application to the Parliamentary Bureau, can we flag up the remuneration issues that we discussed previously, so that we can widen our choice and attract someone who can do the job?
I am advised that we do not have a locus in that. However, given that there was general agreement on the issue, I certainly intend to raise it at the Conveners Group.
I am sorry, convener, but I read the adviser's duties last night and it seemed to me that although our most recent adviser did quite a bit of analysis and gave quite a bit of assistance with drafting our budget report, he did not help us a great deal with our interrogation of the witnesses. That might just have been his style, but it did not seem to me that we benefited greatly from his assistance in that regard. I do not want to draft alternative wording, but perhaps Tracey White could consider the matter further.
Frankly, it depends on which expert one appoints. It is not always the expert's fault if we do not have a suitable selection.
I am not blaming anyone; I am just saying that, given the nature of the job, we need assistance with interrogation as well as with analysis and report drafting.
In my experience, our previous budget adviser gave us detailed help with analysis of the Government's figures. That is an issue to consider when we come to pick our adviser.
I just want to know also whether, over the years, 15 days has been the standard length of time for which budget advisers have been expected to provide advice. Is that period adequate, given that there is a feeling that we should be undertaking greater scrutiny?
The period is 15 working days.
Yes. That was just a question; I do not know whether the clerks can help me with it. In view of our comments on the fact that—[Interruption.]
Fifteen working days is the standard period, but if we felt that we required a longer period of assistance, we could request that. Are you satisfied with that?
Yes, thank you.
This is on the record, because we are still in public session.
If anyone wants to suggest a possible adviser to the clerks, they are welcome to do so.
I agree, but can we agree to delegate that responsibility for all time? Each time we take evidence, you ask about expenses, which could be embarrassing for people.
Such responsibility can be delegated at the start of an inquiry or a particular piece of business that will continue for a number of weeks, but we cannot agree to delegate it for all time.
That concludes the committee's formal business.
Meeting closed at 11:42.