Budget (Scotland) (No 2) Bill: Stage 3

Part of the debate – in the Scottish Parliament at on 6 February 2013.

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Photo of Patrick Harvie Patrick Harvie Green

That might happen if it is done in association with demand management on the roads, but all too often, projects that have been justified because they will achieve modal shift end up achieving modal spread, and we get more of everything. We will debate that another day.

We heard some announcements about additional spending on housing, including on energy efficiency measures, yet those announcements come just a week after the figures on emissions from homes and communities show a dramatically lower level of ambition in 2013 and 2014, with an extra 200,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent in those two years.

Whether it is reversing part of a cut in college provision or saying that we are doing a little bit more on transport or housing when last week we said that we would do so much less, I am reminded of nothing more than a shop window emblazoned with a great sale sign proudly displaying a 10 per cent cut in prices when the shop quietly hiked the prices by 20 per cent last week. The customers are still being fiddled.

We need to do a great deal more in the long term as we face even deeper cuts from Westminster. After the budget has been passed, I urge the cabinet secretary to revisit his opposition to reviewing local government revenue. We need to be willing to raise revenue from those who can afford to pay more if we are going to offset those Westminster cuts and make future budgets easier to bear.