Finance and Public Administration Committee
Resource Spending Review
Letter from Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Economy to the Convener of 8 November 2021
Dear Kenneth
Your letter of 16 September shared that the Committee noted the Scottish Government’s plan to publish, for consultation, a framework for the resource spending review in December alongside the Scottish Budget 2022-23 and Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS). You asked for further details of this consultation, including a proposed timetable for both the framework and the spending review, to enable the Committee to plan future scrutiny within its forthcoming work programme.
I’m pleased to confirm that in line with the confirmed date for the Scottish Budget 2022-23, the framework will be published on 9 December. I intend to publish the resource spending review by end May 2022 alongside the MTFS. As per the Written Agreement between the Committee and the Scottish Government, the framework for consultation will set out the economic and political context, the criteria which will govern the assessment of budgets and the process and timetable for review. Both the drafting of the framework and design of the consultation approach are currently underway.
I welcome your interest and look forward to continued engagement with the Finance and Public Administration Committee on these matters in the coming months. If you wish, I can ask my officials to liaise with yours ahead of framework publication on the 9 December.
Yours sincerely