Chamber and committees

I would be embarrassed if I were the finance secretary, because she has not said that she disagrees with anything that I just said.

There is a real-terms cut to the health budget. I will get straight to it by talking about my portfolio, then I will touch on others. Last week, Màiri McAllan was quizzed about the cuts to her budget, which she admitted are challenging. If I had been her, I would have been furious. If we are to grow as a nation, we need to invest in transport, net zero and a just transition. Similarly, Neil Gray should have been angry at the cuts to his wellbeing economy, fair work and energy portfolio.

However, Ms McAllan did not give me the impression of being furious when she appeared before the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee. I asked her about cuts to Strathclyde Partnership for Transport’s capital budget. I say “cuts”, but that budget has been obliterated to nothing, which will have consequences. Projects such as the Glasgow subway modernisation will be affected. The East Kilbride rail enhancement will be hit through cuts to the funding of its park and ride element, and the Lanark transport interchange will experience a financial black hole. Màiri McAllan said that the SPT should use its reserves, but that shows a lack of understanding of its budget—its reserves are accounted for.

The Scottish Government’s budget will impact on our ability to improve public transport and to get people out of their cars and on to it. There are other examples. The bus partnership fund is being cut—again, to zero. That is the fund that pays for infrastructure, thereby allowing buses to move around more easily and quickly.

The Scottish Government says that it wants to cut the extent to which we travel in cars. Well, it could have fooled me. In cash terms, it has cut the total rail services budget by £79.9 million, the future transport fund by more than 60 per cent and the total ferry services budget by £5.5 million. It has cut the total active travel and low-carbon budget by £40.8 million in cash terms. It was meant to spend £320 million on active travel; it will now spend £100 million short of that. People might think that Patrick Harvie should resign over that, but he has not.

I turn to local government. As they do every year under the SNP, councils are making cuts. Those in my patch are shielded to some extent by the booming Strathclyde Pension Fund, which is asking for lower contributions. However, anyone who claims that the Government is putting in enough money to cover what is needed to freeze council tax is wrong. Services will be hit, and some will close. The Convention of Scottish Local Authorities argues that a fully funded freeze would require the Scottish Government to provide funding of £300 million, which is £156 million more than is being offered. What is there to prevent a council from increasing council tax? It is the threat of funding being removed; I have heard that if one breaks ranks, they will all be punished. So much for a new era of respect for our councils from the central Government.

If councils do not get the funding that they need, the potholes will get worse. It is becoming a lottery as to whether people in places such as Edinburgh or Glasgow will make it to their destination if they are driving there.

Housing is also taking a hit. This is the second year in a row in which the affordable homes supply programme budget has been reduced. We can therefore kiss goodbye any hope of hitting the Government’s overambitious affordable homes target.

I am just about to close. [Interruption.]

I do not need to bother with any scene setting, because Liz Smith has already done an excellent job of that. I agree with her that the Scottish budget has gone up, although a lower capital allocation is regrettable.

I also agree that, in the words of the IFS, Scottish budget documentation gives a “misleading impression” of the funding that is available for the health service, councils and many other services. The IFS found that, by omitting top-ups such as wage rises, spending on the health service would be cut by 0.7 per cent in real terms—while the budget states that there would be a 1.3 per cent year-on-year increase. Neil Gray must be delighted about that.

Exactly. We should treat one another with respect.

My good friend Joe Fagan, the Labour leader of South Lanarkshire Council, has called the budget “incoherent and inadequate” and has said that it was

“the worst Scottish Budget in the 25-year history of the Scottish parliament”.

That is saying something, but he is right.

That would be useful, because that issue has come up. We made the comparison between what GEOAmey staff and supermarket workers or Prison Service staff are paid, for example. It would be useful to know what the difference is.

What is GEOAmey’s position on the situation?

Which areas are still outstanding?

That would be quite useful.

Mr Beattie has mopped up rather a lot in that session, including some questions around Barlinnie and its replacement.

Auditor General, you said that we are expecting a business case for HMP Glasgow sometime this year. So we will get a business case, but then the funding has to be approved and so on. How long do you think that it will be before we actually have a new prison?

If the committee has the Prison Service in to give evidence, we could ask it questions about that.

I want to go back to some of the things that you spoke about earlier. Pay rates and the differential pay rates for prison officers and people who work for GEOAmey was mentioned. I just had a quick look and I see that the starting salary for a prison officer is £24,700, rising to £28,400 after three years. Do you know what GEOAmey staff are being paid?