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Official Report: search what was said in Parliament

The Official Report is a written record of public meetings of the Parliament and committees.  

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Dates of parliamentary sessions
  1. Session 1: 12 May 1999 to 31 March 2003
  2. Session 2: 7 May 2003 to 2 April 2007
  3. Session 3: 9 May 2007 to 22 March 2011
  4. Session 4: 11 May 2011 to 23 March 2016
  5. Session 5: 12 May 2016 to 5 May 2021
  6. Current session: 12 May 2021 to 9 July 2025
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Displaying 2597 contributions

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Public Audit Committee

“NHS in Scotland 2024: Finance and performance”

Meeting date: 29 January 2025

Colin Beattie

In previous reports that have come to the committee, there has been no indication of any significant improvement in non-recurring expenses. What is happening now that is going to make a difference?

Public Audit Committee

“NHS in Scotland 2024: Finance and performance”

Meeting date: 29 January 2025

Colin Beattie

Eighteen months ago.

Public Audit Committee

Section 22 Report: “The 2023/24 audit of the Scottish Government Consolidated Accounts”

Meeting date: 22 January 2025

Colin Beattie

Permanent secretary, to start with an obvious aspect of the management of the finances, the consolidated accounts show a net expenditure in 2023-24 of £53.98 billion, which is £277 million less than was budgeted, and that is split between the resource budget at £193 million and the capital at £84 million.

What were the main reasons for the underspends?

Public Audit Committee

Section 22 Report: “The 2023/24 audit of the Scottish Government Consolidated Accounts”

Meeting date: 22 January 2025

Colin Beattie

I think that you are optimistic about the level of non-recurring expenditure in organisations such as the national health service. We have seen report after report from the Auditor General clearly stating that the majority of savings achieved by NHS boards come from non-recurring expenses. That is a huge thing to tackle and I am not hearing how it will happen. What is the initiative that will change that? What is going to transform those boards?

Public Audit Committee

Section 22 Report: “The 2023/24 audit of the Scottish Government Consolidated Accounts”

Meeting date: 22 January 2025

Colin Beattie

I am sorry to interrupt. You said that you keep £100 million, so is that across capital and resource?

Public Audit Committee

Section 22 Report: “The 2023/24 audit of the Scottish Government Consolidated Accounts”

Meeting date: 22 January 2025

Colin Beattie

Do you have a comprehensive understanding of the level of non-recurring savings throughout the public sector?

Public Audit Committee

Section 22 Report: “The 2023/24 audit of the Scottish Government Consolidated Accounts”

Meeting date: 22 January 2025

Colin Beattie

But if the Government is going to work throughout the public service on reducing non-recurring savings—in other words, on making them recurring in some way, providing a more efficient way of delivering a particular service or however it is done—it will surely need a comprehensive understanding of scale throughout the public sector that needs to be tackled. You also need a task force that can do that and cash resources so that you can put the money up front to implement the innovations and so on that are needed.

Public Audit Committee

Section 22 Report: “The 2023/24 audit of the Scottish Government Consolidated Accounts”

Meeting date: 22 January 2025

Colin Beattie

There is clearly a lot of work to be done on that.

The consolidated financial information and the work that is being done to bring it together—although it has taken a long time to get to the point that we are at now—is improving. How is that consolidated information being used by the Scottish Government?

It is not the same information that we have had before. Every year, we get a bit more, and every year, there is a bit of progress. That is fine—it is maybe not as fast as we would like it to be, but it is there. How is the Government using that information? It is not just for benefit of this committee; it has a purpose.

Public Audit Committee

Section 22 Report: “The 2023/24 audit of the Scottish Government Consolidated Accounts”

Meeting date: 22 January 2025

Colin Beattie

Far from trying to balance the budget, it sounds as though you are actually trying to underspend the budget. Do you have a target for an underspend?

Public Audit Committee

Section 22 Report: “The 2023/24 audit of the Scottish Government Consolidated Accounts”

Meeting date: 22 January 2025

Colin Beattie

That is a good thing, but it still does not explain how you will dig out the non-recurring expenses and replace them with something sustainable.