Chamber and committees

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-24353 on 10 June 2009. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

The projections for future growth in Annually Managed Expenditure (AME) provided at the Finance Committee were taken from the following sources:

The UK Budget 2009 forecasts that debt interest payments will grow by 8.4% a year in real terms between 2011-12 and 2013-14.

Forecasts published by the Department of Work and Pensions in May 2008 as part of their long-term expenditure projections imply that spending on benefits and tax credits are expected to increase by at least 1.7% a year in real terms over this period.

Other elements of AME, such as contributions to the European Commission, are also expected to increase in future years. At the 2007 Comprehensive Spending Review these other elements of AME were forecast to grow by 1.9% a year during 2009-10 and 2010-11. They are assumed to grow at a similar rate between 2011-12 and 2013-14.

The accelerated capital for 2008-09 has been allocated as follows:

2008-09 Capital Acceleration	Amount £m
Major roads schemes including A96 Fochabers bypass and A75 improvements	3.0
Smaller roads schemes including the improvements to A9 junctions	1.5
Rail Related Schemes	1.0
Further Acceleration-roads	20.2
Enterprise - Scottish Enterprise will spend £5m of advanced capital expenditure during this financial year on the expansion to the SECC	5.0
Finance and Sustainable Growth total	30.7
Local Government Total - Schools	10.0
Health and Wellbeing Total “ Housing Accelerated Housing Investment Programme	5.0
Further Education-To be used to create improved campuses for colleges and universities across Scotland	2.5
Higher Education To be used to create improved campuses for colleges and universities across Scotland	5.0
ELL Total	7.5
Overall Total	53.2

The accelerated capital for 2009-10 has been allocated as follows:

2009-10 Capital Acceleration*	Amount £m
Major roads schemes including A96 Fochabers bypass and A75 improvements	17.0
Smaller roads schemes including the improvements to A9 junctions	6.9
Strategic Park and Ride	5.0
Enterprise Agencies	30.0
Further capital acceleration	7.0
Finance and Sustainable Growth Total	65.9
Housing: Affordable Housing Investment Programme	10.0
NHS	50.0
Town Centre Regeneration Fund	60.0
Health and Wellbeing Total	120.0
Higher and Further Education	13.0
Education and Lifelong Learning Total	13.0
Fisheries and rural development	5.6
Environment and Rural Affairs Total	5.6
Local Authorities including Schools Estate	90.0
Local Government Total	90.0
Overall Total	294.5

Final outturn for 2008-09 will be reported shortly. 2009-10 accelerated capital will be spent during the course of the current year.

The Scottish Government''s position is that recalculating the Scottish budgets for 2009-10 and 2010-11 to exclude the effects of end-year flexibility (EYF) and capital acceleration does not alter the amount of money actually available to support public services. Using figures published by the Treasury itself in the Budget 2009 Red Book, the Scottish Departmental Expenditure Limit (DEL) budget was scheduled to rise in cash terms from £29.1 billion in 2009-10 to £29.3 billion in 2010-11. This cash terms increase of £200 million (rounded to the nearest £100 million) represents a real terms reduction of about 1% using Treasury''s published GDP deflator for 2010-11 of 1.5%.

The Chief Inspector of the Healthcare Environment Inspectorate will take up post subject to formal completion of the appointment process and the period of notice which will be required by the successful candidate''s current employer. Negotiations are currently underway with the successful candidate''s current employer to secure as early a release date as possible.

As indicated in response to question S3W-22940, the Healthcare Environment Inspectorate (HEI) operates independently of the Scottish Government and NHS boards which it will inspect but for administrative purposes is based within NHS Quality Improvement Scotland (NHS QIS). The HEI will be accountable to Scottish ministers through the board of NHS QIS as a means of ensuring its reports and recommendations for improvement are taken forward and fully implemented.

The Scottish Government has brought forward approximately £350 million of capital spending from 2010-11 into 2008-09 and 2009-10.

Using the Scottish Government Input Output model of the Scottish economy, it is estimated that this expenditure will support approximately 5,100 jobs in the Scottish economy during 2008-09 and 2009-10. Breakdowns by public and private sector are not available.

Expenditure baselines are set by HM Treasury following spending reviews. Scottish baselines are set by applying changes, calculated by formula, consequential on changes to corresponding Whitehall Departments'' baselines. Baselines are set for a three-year period - following the 2007 Spending Review, baselines were set for the three years to 2010-11. These arrangements are confirmed in the Statement of Funding Policy to which the question refers.

Budgets for individual years can be adjusted without changing underlying expenditure baselines, for example to reflect draw-down of unspent end-year flexibility balances from previous years.

Baselines may be changed by Treasury between spending reviews - for example, the Chancellor''s pre-Budget Report in November 2008 announced a £129 million reduction in the Scottish baseline for 2010-11 as a formula consequential of reductions made to the Department of Health''s baseline. In addition, the UK Budget on 22 April announced a £392 million reduction in the Scottish baseline for the same year, as a formula consequential of so-called efficiency savings in Whitehall.

By definition, the Scottish Government cannot change its own expenditure baselines.

The Scottish Government has brought forward approximately £350 million of capital spending from 2010-11 into 2008-09 and 2009-10.

Using the Scottish Government Input Output model of the Scottish economy, it is estimated that this expenditure will support approximately 5,100 jobs in the Scottish economy over this period. The number of jobs created relative to the number of jobs sustained will depend upon the individual employment decisions taken by companies benefiting from projects undertaken as a result of the capital acceleration.

The Scotland Performs website shows the progress being made by government towards the National Outcomes and targets set out in the National Performance Framework. The Framework was fully integrated into the Spending Review 2007 and was articulated in the Spending Review 2007 document. It provides clarity for outcomes-focused government, aligning all government action and spending decisions behind a single unifying purpose. Essentially, it ensures that our spending decisions, and those of our partners, support the achievement of our shared ambitions. Scotland Performs is still developing and the picture it offers will build and become more sophisticated over time, enabling people to see and judge for themselves the progress we are making.