Public Audit Committee

Meeting date: Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Official Report 508KB pdf

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Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (Scotland) Bill

Agenda item 4 is the Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (Scotland) Bill. We have received correspondence from the Scottish Government and from Audit Scotland on the audit recommendations in the bill.

Once again, our purpose is to hear members’ comments on how to take the issue forward. We may wish just to note the responses, or we could highlight any specific issues raised to the Finance Committee, which is the lead committee on the bill. I open the discussion for comments from members.

We took significant evidence on the issue from Mr Paul Gray and from Registers of Scotland, if I remember correctly. We were given a lot of assurances, which seemed fair and reasonable at the time. However, as the Government’s response says, under “Risk management”,

“planning is at an early stage”.

I appreciate that the Finance Committee is looking at the bill, but I feel that there are such significant concerns about the ability of Registers of Scotland to collect the new land and buildings transaction tax that I would just like some reassurance that everything that we were told—the planning was to start at about the end of November or the beginning of December—is actually being done. Whether we just ask the Finance Committee to look into that or whether we come back to the issue in six months or a year, I am not quite sure. Personally, I have significant concerns about the abilities of Registers of Scotland, given its experience with costly IT projects that was highlighted by the Auditor General.

I am sorry that I am not making a firm proposal, but I do not want to ignore the verbal assurances that we were given without being given something more.

I take that as a proposal that we might want to flag up those concerns to the Finance Committee, which will take evidence from the cabinet secretary and others on the new set-up. We could do that.

I am just trying to see where that is. From my reading of the Auditor General’s response about Registers of Scotland, I think that it is true that all its functions will be subject to scrutiny by Audit Scotland, which will be able to keep a close eye on everything that it does. I am content with that response.

I was going to make exactly the point that the convener made. I think that the best thing to do would be to flag up to the lead committee the concerns that are raised in the report and ask the lead committee to keep an eye out for those issues.

I agree with that, but I think that this committee should revisit the issue perhaps in a year’s time to see how matters have bedded in.

I am informed—we should all have remembered this—that the correspondence was also circulated to the Finance Committee, which is taking evidence today not only from the cabinet secretary but from Registers of Scotland. Hopefully, the Finance Committee will have been exploring those issues while we have been meeting today. However, I think that we can also cover the point by taking up Mr Beattie’s suggestion to come back to the issue in a year.

I would support that.

Do we agree to look at the issue again in a year?

Members indicated agreement.

The committee will now move into private session, so I ask the press and any media to leave.

11:56 Meeting continued in private until 12:42.