6. To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it has had with the United Kingdom Government regarding any impact of the autumn statement on Scotland’s public finances. (S6O-02762)

As I outlined to Parliament yesterday, I wrote to the Chancellor of the Exchequer ahead of the autumn statement to set out the Scottish Government’s priorities for action. I also spoke to the new Chief Secretary to the Treasury this morning, when I again emphasised the need for investment in public services and net zero, and the need to support people with the cost of living. The Welsh finance minister and I previously discussed the need for additional investment in devolved Government budgets with the previous Chief Secretary to the Treasury at the most recent meeting of the finance interministerial standing committee.

It is very disappointing that, today, the chancellor has failed to provide the funding that devolved Governments need, which increases the challenges for our budget next year.

As we heard earlier, hospitality businesses particularly suffered throughout the pandemic and they have faced rising costs as a result of inflation and increased energy prices. Have any discussions taken place to ensure that specific support is provided for the hospitality sector?

My ministerial colleagues and I regularly meet representatives of the hospitality industry. The Minister for Community Wealth and Public Finance chairs the new deal for business non-domestic rates sub-group, which includes representatives of the hospitality industry.

We responded to business’s biggest ask on non-domestic rates and froze the poundage in 2023-24, thereby ensuring that Scotland had the lowest non-domestic rates poundage in the UK for the fifth year in a row. Our rates package is estimated to be worth £749 million. As a result of our providing the most generous small business bonus scheme relief in the UK, around half of properties in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors in Scotland will pay no rates.

Going forward, we will set out our decisions on non-domestic rates in the budget that will be set out on 19 December.

According to the Office for Budget Responsibility, the outlook for the United Kingdom is pretty subdued, and inflation, as well as interest rates, will be higher for longer. Much has been made already of the impact of Tory decisions on the consequential funding that Scotland will receive, but does the cabinet secretary accept that it is a double whammy, because not only will we receive less, but our costs will remain higher due to Tory incompetence?

Kate Forbes’s summation—she describes it as “a double whammy”—is absolutely on the button. The question for us is how we reconcile a reduction in our budget and a real-terms cut in capital. In fact, the additional capital departmental expenditure limit is a total of £10 million for next year’s capital allocation from the UK Government. That puts in context some of the questions that we heard earlier about infrastructure investment priorities.

I look forward to hearing what the Tories’ priorities are in the face of the chancellor’s decisions today. When each and every one of them comes here asking for more money, I will be reminding them of the chancellor’s priorities today—[

Interruption

.]

The Deputy Presiding Officer:

Members!

— which will have an impact on every single one of their constituencies and the public services in them.