By Keith Aitken in Edinburgh | 7 May 2014
Scottish finance secretary John Swinney today spelled out details of a new independent fiscal commission, which could take on much the same role in Scotland as the Office for Budget Responsibility performs in Whitehall.
The immediate purpose of the three-strong commission, Swinney told Holyrood’s finance committee, is to provide independent scrutiny of Scottish Government revenue projections for taxes created under the new fiscal powers devolved by the 2012 Scotland Act.
These are the Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (replacing Stamp Duty) and the Scottish Landfill Tax. The Act additionally gives Holyrood power to vary the basic rate of income tax levied in Scotland after the first 10p in the pound.
Swinney confirmed that the commission, which takes up office in the summer, would also look beyond its immediate Scotland Act responsibilities, and assess the economic forces underpinning receipts from non-domestic rates.
But he has also hinted at a much broader role for the commission in an independent Scotland, running the rule over a wide array of economic forecasts and assumptions in much the same way that the OBR does for the UK government.
‘The creation of a Scottish Fiscal Commission is another important milestone in the journey to enhance Scotland’s fiscal powers,’ Swinney said.
‘There is widespread international recognition that independent fiscal commissions play a vital role within a country’s fiscal framework,’ he added.
‘The Scottish Fiscal Commission will strengthen the credibility of the Scottish Government’s tax forecasts and provide the Parliament and the public with assurance over the reasonableness and integrity of the forecasts which appear in our budget documents from this autumn.’
The finance committee has already given the commission its backing in principle and the nominated members will need approval by the Parliament.
Swinney said: ‘It is essential to the effectiveness of the commission that it is independent of the Scottish Government, and is seen to be so, and I very much welcome the role which the Scottish Parliament will play in appointing members to the Commission.’
