By David Scott
12 May 2010
The Scottish Government’s chief economic adviser has defended the non-partisan role of the civil service after being challenged over a controversial report on spending cuts, published during the general election campaign.
Andrew Goudie told the Scottish Parliament finance committee on May 11 that his report was intended to provide information about the longer-term implications of the UK Budget. It predicted real-terms cuts of up to £35bn in Scottish spending over 15 years.
Responding to Labour finance spokesman David Whitton, Goudie said he was aware of the ‘sensitivity’ of the document and had discussed its publication with permanent secretary Sir John Elvidge.
He added: ‘The judgement that we reached was that the implication of this piece of work was sufficiently useful and that it was important to get it into the hands of the independent budget review team [an expert group set up to review Scottish expenditure] as quickly as possible.’
Whitton told Goudie: ‘It might have been somewhat disconcerting for you to hear the first minister [Scottish National Party leader Alex Salmond] trumpeting so much about it and using it to partisan advantage during the election campaign.’
Goudie, who was giving evidence to the committee’s inquiry into the Scottish budget strategy, said the work produced in his department ‘has always been – and will continue to be – strictly conducted in a professional way with no intentions of reflecting any political bias’.
12 May 2010
The Scottish Government’s chief economic adviser has defended the non-partisan role of the civil service after being challenged over a controversial report on spending cuts, published during the general election campaign.
Andrew Goudie told the Scottish Parliament finance committee on May 11 that his report was intended to provide information about the longer-term implications of the UK Budget. It predicted real-terms cuts of up to £35bn in Scottish spending over 15 years.
Responding to Labour finance spokesman David Whitton, Goudie said he was aware of the ‘sensitivity’ of the document and had discussed its publication with permanent secretary Sir John Elvidge.
He added: ‘The judgement that we reached was that the implication of this piece of work was sufficiently useful and that it was important to get it into the hands of the independent budget review team [an expert group set up to review Scottish expenditure] as quickly as possible.’
Whitton told Goudie: ‘It might have been somewhat disconcerting for you to hear the first minister [Scottish National Party leader Alex Salmond] trumpeting so much about it and using it to partisan advantage during the election campaign.’
Goudie, who was giving evidence to the committee’s inquiry into the Scottish budget strategy, said the work produced in his department ‘has always been – and will continue to be – strictly conducted in a professional way with no intentions of reflecting any political bias’.
