Official Report: search what was said in Parliament
The Official Report is a written record of public meetings of the Parliament and committees.
All Official Reports of meetings in the Debating Chamber of the Scottish Parliament.
All Official Reports of public meetings of committees.
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Finance and Public Administration Committee
Resource Spending Review Framework
Meeting date: 8 March 2022
John Mason
Ms Congreve, would you like to comment on any of that? Should we be focusing on keeping existing services going or should we be going into new areas?
Finance and Public Administration Committee
Resource Spending Review Framework
Meeting date: 8 March 2022
John Mason
Another challenge that you have raised, which is especially relevant in a time of fiscal scarcity, is the question of making new commitments against funding existing programmes. At the present time, given that money is likely to be tight for the next few years, should we be holding back on new developments and emphasising keeping existing things going? How do we get the balance right in that regard?
Finance and Public Administration Committee
Resource Spending Review Framework
Meeting date: 8 March 2022
John Mason
We have covered a lot of ground already. I will go back to a general question and will start with Ms Congreve. Previous witnesses have suggested that the whole spending review is at too high a level and needs to be more detailed. What is your feeling on that?
Finance and Public Administration Committee
Resource Spending Review Framework
Meeting date: 8 March 2022
John Mason
Professor Heald, you covered that area. The framework document talks about priorities and objectives. Am I right in saying that you argue that those are not the same things?
Finance and Public Administration Committee
Resource Spending Review Framework
Meeting date: 8 March 2022
John Mason
Turning to another point, you wrote:
“Getting the balance of expenditures right is a challenge for all governments”.
When you talk about getting it right, are you arguing that there is a right balance between, say, health and local government, or are those purely subjective tastes?
Finance and Public Administration Committee
Resource Spending Review Framework
Meeting date: 8 March 2022
John Mason
But you would accept that, politically, it is very difficult not to do that.
Finance and Public Administration Committee
Resource Spending Review Framework
Meeting date: 8 March 2022
John Mason
As Ms Congreve suggested, the three objectives—if we can call them that—could rub against one another a bit. Do we need to set a priority among those three and say which is the most important out of child poverty, climate change or the economy and recovering from Covid?
11:00COVID-19 Recovery Committee
Coronavirus (Recovery and Reform) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
Meeting date: 3 March 2022
John Mason
I would like to stick with Mr Smith on the issue of scrutiny. I am still trying to get my head round what should be in primary legislation and what should be in secondary legislation. Would you argue that, generally, the scrutiny of primary legislation is easier and better than that of secondary legislation?
