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Chamber and committees

Official Report: search what was said in Parliament

The Official Report is a written record of public meetings of the Parliament and committees.  

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Dates of parliamentary sessions
  1. Session 1: 12 May 1999 to 31 March 2003
  2. Session 2: 7 May 2003 to 2 April 2007
  3. Session 3: 9 May 2007 to 22 March 2011
  4. Session 4: 11 May 2011 to 23 March 2016
  5. Session 5: 12 May 2016 to 5 May 2021
  6. Current session: 12 May 2021 to 16 August 2025
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Displaying 1428 contributions

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Finance and Public Administration Committee

Budget Scrutiny 2024-25

Meeting date: 16 January 2024

Shona Robison

I do not have the figure at the top of my head but, yes, we have that information. Not all organisations are public bodies鈥攗niversities are not public bodies, so I do not have insight into what reserves each of them has鈥攂ut we know the level of reserves for public bodies and local government. That has increased, actually.

Finance and Public Administration Committee

Budget Scrutiny 2024-25

Meeting date: 16 January 2024

Shona Robison

We will give an update on the capital delivery of the existing infrastructure at the end of January and the infrastructure investment plan will be in the spring to align with the spring budget. It will be important to see what that looks like before we introduce the IIP revisions as the budget could end up impacting positively or negatively on capital.

Finance and Public Administration Committee

Budget Scrutiny 2024-25

Meeting date: 16 January 2024

Shona Robison

We base our figures on the Scottish Fiscal Commission鈥檚 analysis, which takes into account behavioural change. We recognise that we require more evidence, which is why I talked earlier about the work that HMRC is doing.

So far, the evidence that is in front of us is that there is no widespread concern about behavioural impact and that we still see net in-migration. However, the HMRC work is important in relation to being able to drill further into whether we can establish behavioural change in various income bands, which the HMRC research could show. Andrew Scott may wish to add something.

Finance and Public Administration Committee

Budget Scrutiny 2024-25

Meeting date: 16 January 2024

Shona Robison

Again, those were difficult decisions but, with falling budgets, difficult decisions have to be made. To be blunt, we have had to prioritise front-line services鈥攑articularly our investment in the NHS鈥攁nd that has meant some very difficult decisions elsewhere.

It is also against a backdrop of average earnings in Scotland now growing faster than in the UK. We have seen record income tax receipts, with Scottish income tax alone forecast to raise about 拢18.8 billion in 2024-25 to help fund services. There are a number of indicators that show, on productivity as well, that the Scottish economy is improving in its performance.

On where we are supporting investment specifically, it will not surprise you that we are looking at our investment in net zero, particularly. We are working with business investors to launch a new green industrial strategy. We have tried to ensure that our enterprise agencies will be focused on the key priorities. They will not be able to do everything, and they will need to do fewer things than before, but they will prioritise where they deliver their support services.

In an ideal world, with budgets not reducing, we would not have had to make any of those decisions, but we have had to. The prioritisation for all our public bodies will mean that they will not be able to do the range of things that we have previously asked them to do but will have to focus on key priorities.

Finance and Public Administration Committee

Budget Scrutiny 2024-25

Meeting date: 16 January 2024

Shona Robison

First, there is a risk because the UK Government is counting international students in trying to reduce the number of people who are coming to the UK. I do not think that that is the right thing to do, and it will put pressure on our university sector.

As regards the position of students from more deprived backgrounds, increasing numbers of those students have been able to access university places. We want that trend to continue, and we want the attainment gap and opportunity gap to continue to be addressed. We will continue to pursue that as a clear policy objective.

Finance and Public Administration Committee

Budget Scrutiny 2024-25

Meeting date: 16 January 2024

Shona Robison

The national care service is going to be an important reform that will lead to more consistency and improvement in the quality of care services. Having worked in the sector for many years, I can tell Liz Smith and others that consistency, and the requirement for consistent quality, is something that service users tell us is a priority. They are very keen that we make progress with the national care service.

The building blocks and infrastructure for the national care service are being put in place; we are working with local government to make the necessary progress. The service will take longer to establish, but it is a very important reform that will, in the longer term, deliver huge benefits for those who receive care services.

The investment in the team that is supporting the delivery of the service is a fraction of the cost of the delivery of social care. If we were not investing in a team to deliver it, questions would be asked around whether we were putting in place the necessary building blocks to ensure that the national care service will be delivered. We are doing that in order to ensure that the NCS is delivered successfully.

Finance and Public Administration Committee

Budget Scrutiny 2024-25

Meeting date: 16 January 2024

Shona Robison

As I said, it is expected that the funds that will be available to colleges will be very similar to the funds that were invested by colleges in the 2023-24 financial year. We need to make sure that the in-year savings that were made because of demand-led budgets are factored into what colleges will require to spend. Those discussions with the SFC will continue in order to make sure that the college sector has the resources to deliver what is required, particularly when it comes to demand-led expenditure. I do not know whether Alison Cumming has anything to add.

Finance and Public Administration Committee

Budget Scrutiny 2024-25

Meeting date: 16 January 2024

Shona Robison

The only number that I am aware of is the one that I spoke about earlier: the 1,200 Covid places. That is the bubble for which we have sustained funding for an additional two years out of Scottish Government resources, because the Covid money that had initially funded those places was stopped by the UK Government. We kept those places going with Scottish Government funding for two years, but we are no longer going to be able to sustain that. Beyond that, no figure has been agreed with the university sector, because discussions are on-going around what the university sector will deliver and they are not yet concluded.

12:15  

Finance and Public Administration Committee

Budget Scrutiny 2024-25

Meeting date: 16 January 2024

Shona Robison

Well, without the bubble of 1,200, it will return to the pre-bubble position.

Finance and Public Administration Committee

Budget Scrutiny 2024-25

Meeting date: 16 January 2024

Shona Robison

The position with regard to international students is constrained by the UK Government鈥檚 position and the decisions that it has made, which makes it more difficult for international students to come to university in the UK, in particular regarding their ability to bring their families. I think that that is a very short-sighted policy from the UK Government. The universities are pretty clear that it will impact on the numbers of international students who come to the UK, not just to Scotland but elsewhere in these islands. That is unfortunate, and it is not a helpful policy for the university sector as it moves forward.