Finance Committee, 27 Jun 2000

Meeting date: Tuesday, June 27, 2000

Official Report 106KB pdf

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Budget Process Draft Written Agreements

Item 4 concerns the written agreements on the budgeting process, which have been circulated to you. You have also received a copy of the minister's letter to me, with the proposed addition. It was uncontroversial, so I took the decision on behalf of the committee, which I hope you will endorse, to agree to it. That enables the agreement to be addressed in the debate on the budget proposals tomorrow.

Three motions will be taken without debate tomorrow afternoon; two in my name and one in the name of Andrew Welsh on behalf of the Audit Committee. Although they will be taken without debate, there will of course be the opportunity to raise in the general debate any matters relating to the agreements. I will certainly refer to them in my remarks.

I hope that the committee is happy with the agreements. It has been a long road to get these agreements finalised, but we have done so and the Parliament will formally approve them, I hope, tomorrow afternoon.

Is the agreement on in-year changes to expenditure allocations in the agreements that will be formally approved tomorrow afternoon?

Yes.

What else?

The agreement on the budgeting process and the agreement on budget documents. From the audit perspective there is the agreement on the format of accounts and powers of direction.

There is the agreement between the Finance Committee and the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body on budgeting arrangements and, likewise, the agreement between the Finance Committee and the Scottish Commission for Public Audit, which the committee discussed last week.

I am not sure whether my records are amiss. Have we signed off the final agreement on the budget process? Did the Minister for Finance agree to everything?

Yes.

That is the end of a long year.

Yes, but one that has been fairly successful in that we are where we want to be; perhaps not quite as soon as we would have liked, but we have got there. Is there anything else on item 4?

I have been advised that I should get formal agreement on the in-year changes to expenditure allocations agreement. Is that agreed?

Members indicated agreement.