Portfolio Question Time – in the Scottish Parliament at on 25 September 2024.
Rachael Hamilton
Conservative
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the comments of Professor Graeme Roy, chair of the Scottish Fiscal Commission, that Scotland’s net position in 2022-23 was around £624 million lower than it would have been had Scottish economic performance matched that of the rest of the United Kingdom. (S6O-03760)
Shona Robison
Scottish National Party
Previous Scottish Government analysis, as reported in the 2022 medium-term financial strategy, outlines the historic impact of the downturn in the oil and gas industry and strong growth in earnings and financial services around London and the south-east of England, with the associated effect on Scottish income tax revenues due to the operation of the fiscal framework.
The Scottish Fiscal Commission acknowledges that more recent economic data is positive, with faster 2022-23 and 2023-24 earnings growth in Scotland than in any other part of the UK. Our programme for government and upcoming tax strategy will build on that, identifying areas that can support economic growth though creating good, well-paid jobs that support our tax base and revenue.
Rachael Hamilton
Conservative
The Scottish National Party Government has been in power for 17 years and is not a powerless bystander. The Cabinet secretary’s argument has been torpedoed by the Scottish Fiscal Commission. The £624 million figure is remarkably similar to the fiscal gap that the cabinet secretary is trying to meet at the expense of the people of Scotland, including those in my Constituency in the Borders. Will the cabinet secretary admit that ordinary working-class people in Scotland are bearing the brunt of the SNP’s hapless spending choices?
Shona Robison
Scottish National Party
Rachael Hamilton forgets one point, which is that that figure refers to a previous financial year, not this one, where the gap is driven largely by the UK pay review body’s recommendations being accepted, which adds £800 million this year to our in-year pressure. Rachael Hamilton is comparing different years.
Let me say this, which is very positive: the SFC’s judgment is that, although the income tax policies that have been announced for 2024-25 are not economy moving, the Royal Bank of Scotland’s growth tracker is reporting Scottish business confidence as being at an 18-month high and gross domestic product per person, growth in productivity, earnings growth and foreign direct investment all outstripping those of the rest of the UK.
It would be good to occasionally hear some positive news from members on the Tory benches about the Scottish economy, because there is a lot of positivity to talk about.
Willie Rennie
Liberal Democrat
If the finance secretary is taking credit for all the things that she has just listed, does she accept any responsibility for the £624 million gap?
Shona Robison
Scottish National Party
I have explained that the gap is linked to the operation of the fiscal framework and the block grant adjustment in regard to earnings growth. The comparison at that point was due to a downturn in the oil and gas industry in Scotland, which bore down on revenues, at the same time as strong growth in earnings and financial services in London and the south-east of England. If members know how the fiscal framework operates, they will know that that widened the gap to £624 million. That is how the fiscal framework operates.
I am saying, however, that the SFC acknowledges that more recent economic data shows faster earnings growth in Scotland than in any other part of the UK, which consequently means additional revenues for the Scottish budget. That is how the fiscal framework works.
Question Time is an opportunity for MPs and Members of the House of Lords to ask Government Ministers questions. These questions are asked in the Chamber itself and are known as Oral Questions. Members may also put down Written Questions. In the House of Commons, Question Time takes place for an hour on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays after Prayers. The different Government Departments answer questions according to a rota and the questions asked must relate to the responsibilities of the Government Department concerned. In the House of Lords up to four questions may be asked of the Government at the beginning of each day's business. They are known as 'starred questions' because they are marked with a star on the Order Paper. Questions may also be asked at the end of each day's business and these may include a short debate. They are known as 'unstarred questions' and are less frequent. Questions in both Houses must be written down in advance and put on the agenda and both Houses have methods for selecting the questions that will be asked. Further information can be obtained from factsheet P1 at the UK Parliament site.
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.
In a general election, each Constituency chooses an MP to represent them. MPs have a responsibility to represnt the views of the Constituency in the House of Commons. There are 650 Constituencies, and thus 650 MPs. A citizen of a Constituency is known as a Constituent
The political party system in the English-speaking world evolved in the 17th century, during the fight over the ascension of James the Second to the Throne. James was a Catholic and a Stuart. Those who argued for Parliamentary supremacy were called Whigs, after a Scottish word whiggamore, meaning "horse-driver," applied to Protestant rebels. It was meant as an insult.
They were opposed by Tories, from the Irish word toraidhe (literally, "pursuer," but commonly applied to highwaymen and cow thieves). It was used — obviously derisively — to refer to those who supported the Crown.
By the mid 1700s, the words Tory and Whig were commonly used to describe two political groupings. Tories supported the Church of England, the Crown, and the country gentry, while Whigs supported the rights of religious dissent and the rising industrial bourgeoisie. In the 19th century, Whigs became Liberals; Tories became Conservatives.
