Response from the David Hume Institute to the Scottish Parliament call for views on Scotland’s public finances in 2022-23 and the impact of COVID

About our submission

DHI welcomes the opportunity to respond to the Finance and Public Administration Committee’s call for views on Scotland’s public finances 2022-23 and the impact of Covid.

Our submission draws on evidence from:

• The largest multi generational research project in Scotland in the last five years, The Action Project. In 2020-21 we brought together people from across Scotland to consider the actions needed to move faster towards a more prosperous, sustainable, inclusive and fair country.  Through facilitated conversations with over 5,000 people, we identified actions which will help Scotland build forward better.
  

• Working with partners to reach people of all ages and backgrounds across Scotland.  These included U3A, the Scottish Youth Parliament, the Children’s Parliament and local organisations like InspirAlba in Campbeltown and Resonate Together in Alloa. By listening to the many voices and then analysing themes and patterns, WhatsYourAction.scot presents the findings and encourages others to have their say.
  

• Our 2021 briefing paper on multi-year budgeting, which sets out the enabling action needed for the Scottish Government to publish multi-year spending plans.

Summary

We call on the Committee to recommend that the Scottish Government:

• Publish draft multi-year spending plans to help longer term planning for service improvement, investment and productivity, and increase transparency over forward planning.

• Publish how it has prioritised for a fair and equal recovery, and provide underlying evidence for those priorities, recognising trade offs between shorter and longer term choices.

• Link budget priorities to the National Performance Framework and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs), using them to analyse how the pandemic has affected some groups and communities worse than others. Continued use of the UNSDGs assists collaboration with other organisations and governments around the world.

• Focus on climate action and a fair transition to net zero, faster delivery of digital infrastructure and measures to directly influence reductions in poverty and promote greater inclusivity.

• Work to improve Scotland’s places by devolving resources and putting more power in the hands of local communities.

• Ensure support for jobs where skills can be developed rather than skills development alone.

• Commit to a full review of the Fiscal Framework which considers external changes including the loss of European Funding and new direct spending in Scotland from Westminster as well as the interactions between both devolved and reserved taxes and social securities.