05 January 2007
A leading finance adviser has criticised the Scottish Executive for its failure to draw up strategic targets as part of its budget plans.
In a report to the Scottish Parliament's finance committee, Professor Arthur Midwinter was particularly critical of the lack of a target for economic growth, despite this being the Executive's main concern.
'It is difficult to see how the Executive can be held to account for delivering on its budget strategy if it cannot quantify how much it spends on its top priority, or what that spending has achieved,' he stated.
Midwinter, the Parliament's budget adviser, said the Executive has priorities for its budget but no targets: 'There is therefore no mechanism for assessing whether the budget strategy has been successful in corporate terms.'
Recalling concerns already voiced over economic growth targets, he added: 'The exchange between the committee and the Executive over the lack of a target for its “top priority” of economic growth is at the heart of this issue.
'The Executive believes it is impossible to link changes to budgets to changes in economic output, because of the range of variables that can influence the result.
'This is a perfectly defensible and realistic position to adopt – but impossible to square with the rhetoric of budgeting for outcomes or the need for joined-up government,' Midwinter said.
He suggested that the problem could be resolved by the Executive adopting strategic priorities that it could reasonably expect to influence through public spending.
'Economic growth is not in this category,' he added. 'Even if Scotland does succeed in raising its sustainable rate of growth, it will not be able to attribute this to Executive management of public expenditure as a whole.'
PFjan2007
