– in the Scottish Parliament at on 22 November 2023.
Alasdair Allan
Scottish National Party
8. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its plans to issue Government bonds. (S6O-02764)
Shona Robison
Scottish National Party
The First Minister announced on 17 October that, subject to market testing and due diligence, the Scottish Government will go directly to the bond market in our own right for the first time.
The issue of bonds is part of a wide-ranging package of recommendations from an investor panel of senior figures from investment finance. The Scottish Government will issue bonds when the value-for-money case supports it from a fiscal and economic perspective.
It is deeply disappointing that the Chancellor of the exchequer failed to provide the funding that devolved Governments need in the autumn statement. That makes the challenges for our budget next year even more severe, so it is right that the Scottish Government pursues all of its fiscal and economic levers to boost investment in Scotland, including the issuance of bonds.
The next steps will be set out in the 2024-25 Scottish budget on 19 December.
Alasdair Allan
Scottish National Party
It is clear that bonds represent an important opportunity to use our powers to invest in infrastructure during a time that, judging by today’s autumn statement, will clearly be one of continued Westminster austerity. Can the Cabinet secretary say any more about how the bonds could help to raise Scotland’s profile and engagement with international investors?
Shona Robison
Scottish National Party
The investor panel provided its first-stage work to the Scottish Government in September, and it covers a wide range of findings and recommendations on how Scotland can attract mobile capital to support the just transition to net zero.
That piece of work also includes a recommendation that would involve additional costs but could result in Scotland’s profile being significantly raised in international capital markets through the use of existing devolved powers to issue debt. That would provide a motivation for regular engagement with investors and an opportunity to market Scotland’s investment story, and it would also allow the development of relationships with providers of debt, a track record and a credit rating. However, as I have stressed, the proposal has to meet the value-for-money test, which will be set out by the Scottish Government before we proceed.
The investor panel has produced a valuable piece of work, and I thank it for its efforts and the information that it has provided.
The chancellor of the exchequer is the government's chief financial minister and as such is responsible for raising government revenue through taxation or borrowing and for controlling overall government spending.
The chancellor's plans for the economy are delivered to the House of Commons every year in the Budget speech.
The chancellor is the most senior figure at the Treasury, even though the prime minister holds an additional title of 'First Lord of the Treasury'. He normally resides at Number 11 Downing Street.
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
The cabinet is the group of twenty or so (and no more than 22) senior government ministers who are responsible for running the departments of state and deciding government policy.
It is chaired by the prime minister.
The cabinet is bound by collective responsibility, which means that all its members must abide by and defend the decisions it takes, despite any private doubts that they might have.
Cabinet ministers are appointed by the prime minister and chosen from MPs or peers of the governing party.
However, during periods of national emergency, or when no single party gains a large enough majority to govern alone, coalition governments have been formed with cabinets containing members from more than one political party.
War cabinets have sometimes been formed with a much smaller membership than the full cabinet.
From time to time the prime minister will reorganise the cabinet in order to bring in new members, or to move existing members around. This reorganisation is known as a cabinet re-shuffle.
The cabinet normally meets once a week in the cabinet room at Downing Street.
