By David Scott
July 2, 2009
An early warning system to alert MSPs to spending decisions above a certain limit should be introduced by the Scottish Government, an influential parliamentary committee has proposed.
The Holyrood finance committee, in a report published on June 29, said it should be informed of all policy announcements that involved expenditure above an agreed threshold. It suggested this figure could be set at £1m for one-off costs.
The proposal is among a series of recommendations made by the all-party committee to improve scrutiny of the Scottish budget, which presently stands at more than £30bn annually.
The committee has also backed the setting up of a parliamentary budget office that would operate independently of the Scottish Government.
Similar to the Commons scrutiny unit, it would examine trends and issues by looking at proposals for alternative spending plans and examining the costing of policy announcements.
Committee convener Andrew Welsh said members believed the budget process had generally worked well but felt some improvements were needed.
He added: ‘Mainly due to circumstances outside of the Parliament’s control, there has not been a stage one of the budget process since 2004.
‘We are therefore recommending that time is set aside at one point during each parliamentary session for a strategic budget phase to take place.’
Welsh said that the resources available to support budget scrutiny had also been a key issue for the committee. He welcomed a recent commitment from the corporate body responsible for managing the Parliament to examine this issue.
Scottish Tory finance spokesman Derek Brownlee said the setting up of a budget office, first proposed by his party, was now a step closer.
He added: ‘Given the significant reductions in Scottish Government spending for years to come…the need for robust analysis of spending plans will be even more evident.’
July 2, 2009
An early warning system to alert MSPs to spending decisions above a certain limit should be introduced by the Scottish Government, an influential parliamentary committee has proposed.
The Holyrood finance committee, in a report published on June 29, said it should be informed of all policy announcements that involved expenditure above an agreed threshold. It suggested this figure could be set at £1m for one-off costs.
The proposal is among a series of recommendations made by the all-party committee to improve scrutiny of the Scottish budget, which presently stands at more than £30bn annually.
The committee has also backed the setting up of a parliamentary budget office that would operate independently of the Scottish Government.
Similar to the Commons scrutiny unit, it would examine trends and issues by looking at proposals for alternative spending plans and examining the costing of policy announcements.
Committee convener Andrew Welsh said members believed the budget process had generally worked well but felt some improvements were needed.
He added: ‘Mainly due to circumstances outside of the Parliament’s control, there has not been a stage one of the budget process since 2004.
‘We are therefore recommending that time is set aside at one point during each parliamentary session for a strategic budget phase to take place.’
Welsh said that the resources available to support budget scrutiny had also been a key issue for the committee. He welcomed a recent commitment from the corporate body responsible for managing the Parliament to examine this issue.
Scottish Tory finance spokesman Derek Brownlee said the setting up of a budget office, first proposed by his party, was now a step closer.
He added: ‘Given the significant reductions in Scottish Government spending for years to come…the need for robust analysis of spending plans will be even more evident.’
