Question reference: S6W-25383
- Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- Date lodged: 8 February 2024
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Current status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 7 March 2024
Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-24645 by Mairi McAllan on 2 February 2024, whether it will provide the information requested regarding whether an impact assessment was conducted regarding the removal of all funding from the "Green Economy" budget, and for what reason it did not provide this information in its answer.
Answer
Further to the response I gave on 2 February, in a particularly challenging fiscal landscape, the Scottish Government has had to take difficult decisions to deliver balanced and sustainable spending plans for the 2024-25 financial year.
The UK Autumn Statement was a worst-case scenario for Scotland. Our block grant funding, derived from the UK Government’s spending decisions, has fallen by 1.2 per cent in real terms since 2022-23 and our capital spending power is due to contract by almost 10 per cent in real terms over five years.
A significant proportion of the expenditure in the former Transport, Net Zero and Just Transition portfolio has been legally and contractually committed, and I have ensured that those commitments are met in full in this budget as well as allocating funding to support critical maintenance and renewal expenditure to ensure that the people of Scotland have access to a safe and reliable transport system. This has been compounded by continuing high inflation, which has further reduced our room for manoeuvre.
It is within these challenging circumstances that we have had to make difficult decisions to achieve a fiscally sustainable budget.
As I indicated, the Equalities and Fairer Scotland Budget Statement and Carbon Assessment were published alongside this Budget. These impact assessments not only analyse the budget and the impact of the decisions contained in it, they also consider the process of making those decisions, and how we make sure the needs of all people are actively considered. The Transport, Net Zero and Just Transition portfolio was actively engaged in the analysis and production of these assessments.