Finance Committee, 08 Mar 2005

Meeting date: Tuesday, March 8, 2005

Official Report 91KB pdf

---

Time Series Data

Agenda item 2 is to note an extract from a Scottish Parliament information centre briefing paper on the time series data that the Executive sent to us and subsequently published. As an aide-mémoire for newer members of the committee, the budget adviser's paper that was considered at our meeting on 9 September 2004—paper FI/S2/05/8/1—is attached to the clerk's note.

Jim Dewar and Arthur Midwinter are with us to answer any questions. Unfortunately, we are without the two members—Wendy Alexander and Jim Mather—who have the most intense interest in the subject.

They might be described as enthusiasts.

Does Jim Dewar want to speak to the paper, or is he happy to let it stand as it is?

I have little to say. The briefing is intended to give a broad overall picture of the Executive's spending over the 10-year period. I have tried to pick out the main trends in how departmental spending has changed, both absolutely and relatively, over the 10 years.

Have members any questions?

I am not sure whether I was a member of the committee when the paper was first considered. In table 1, is the word "trend" used simply to describe the percentage change in spending from the beginning of the period to the end of the period?

Yes.

In table 3, what is included in "Rural Development"?

It is mainly Highlands and Islands Enterprise's spending programme to support employment in rural areas. I can send you a more detailed statement on that. Rural development is a budget line in the Scottish Executive Environment and Rural Development Department's budget. We are not taking about large sums of money.

If the table simply lists individual level 2 budget lines, I should be able to find the details easily.

Although the increase in the rural development line is big in percentage terms, it is small in cash terms.

I think that table 9 gives a better snapshot of the trend.

The Executive also now has a Scottish rural partnership fund that is intended to be a rural equivalent of social inclusion spending. From memory, I think that the fund is only £6 million. We are talking about small amounts of money.

Does "Rural Development" include the top-slicing, or modulation, of the common agricultural policy payments? I suppose that I can check that in the budget documents.

Note 2 to table 9 mentions

"match funding DEL for an assumed 10% rate of Modulation of CAP Market Support payments."

I see. Thank you.

Do members have any other queries? I could organise an informal meeting for Wendy Alexander and Jim Mather if they require clarification.

What people do in the privacy of their own home is their business.

They will have the privacy of their own committee room.