Mike MacKenzie: No, thank you. I have a lot to get through. Health and council budgets have been protected, with councils maintaining their share of Scottish Government funding. Families have been protected by maintaining the council tax freeze and small businesses have been protected by the small business bonus, which is especially important because some commentators suggest that recovery will come from the...
Mike MacKenzie: Therefore, it is all the more remarkable that the cabinet secretary has also found money for a range of preventative spend measures, recognising that it is important to have an eye on the future. I was surprised that the Opposition parties called for evidence of the effectiveness of and savings created by those preventative spend measures, as if, in this area, we can spend one day and see a...
Mike MacKenzie: I am pleased to support this budget. Weighing all the circumstances, I think that it is a good budget. It is good economically, in that it will provide capital stimulus; it is good financially, because inevitably the books will be balanced—
Mike MacKenzie: And it is a good budget politically, as it will maintain manifesto commitments and therefore the trust of the Scottish people.
Mike MacKenzie: Will the member take an intervention?
Mike MacKenzie: Will the member give way?
Mike MacKenzie: Will the member take an intervention on that point?
Mike MacKenzie: Will the member give way?
Mike MacKenzie: Does the member accept the OBR figures that suggest that, as Mr Swinney outlined in his speech, capital expenditure gives a multiplier of 1 while revenue expenditure has a multiplier of 0.6?
Mike MacKenzie: Will Margaret McDougall give way?
Mike MacKenzie: 3. To ask the Scottish Government what consideration has been given to the impact that potential court closures may have on island communities in relation to travel. (S4O-01751)
Mike MacKenzie: Does the cabinet secretary agree with me that there is also scope for greater consideration of travelling times and difficulties when scheduling court cases, especially cases that involve travel to and from islands? Does he agree that such consideration of scheduling could also lead to efficiencies in the court system?
Mike MacKenzie: Once again, the local government finance settlement is, considering all the circumstances, a generous one. It maintains local government’s share of the Scottish Government’s budget, which is higher now than it was in 2007-08. Once again, council tax will be frozen, ensuring that hard-pressed households are protected, supported by £70 million allocated on a needs basis. That is...
Mike MacKenzie: I regret that I was unable to take part in last week’s debate on payday loans, but I listened to it with interest and found myself agreeing almost completely with Kezia Dugdale. My only point of disagreement is that Ms Dugdale and her colleagues on the Labour benches seem content to allow the UK coalition to keep hammering the Scottish people at every turn while apparently suggesting that...
Mike MacKenzie: Will the member give way?
Mike MacKenzie: Does the member not agree that, despite the fact that some witnesses expressed that view, all the evidence is that companies continue to invest in renewable energy in Scotland and that those who are sceptical and talk about uncertainty as a result of constitutional change are really just scaremongering with a political agenda?
Mike MacKenzie: Will the member take an intervention?
Mike MacKenzie: First, I commend my colleagues on the Economy, Energy and Tourism Committee for their extensive work on this important inquiry. I also commend our team of clerks and advisers for their patience and professionalism and I thank the many witnesses who gave evidence. The result is a comprehensive and valuable report on a subject that is of the utmost importance to Scotland. The issue is big and...
Mike MacKenzie: Will the member give way?
Mike MacKenzie: The member mentioned that there is a single UK market. The committee heard in evidence that, in future, we will move into a European market with a North Sea interconnector. When electrons are pushed down the wires, consumers do not care what the country of origin was. When they pay for them at the eventual point of use—
