Chamber and committees

There is just one more question from me, and then I will open up to colleagues round the table. In paragraphs 8 and 9 of annexe B to your report, you say that

“Scotland’s lagging earnings growth since 2016-17 has been exacerbated by much stronger earnings growth in the financial services sector in London and the South East”,

and that

“Scottish employment linked to activity in the North Sea has ... fallen, lowering the average participation rate in Scotland. These jobs ... were generally high paying, which has likely contributed to the divergence in average earnings between Scotland and the UK.”

What kind of pace are we talking about? What decline in overall earnings is coming from that sector, relative to the rest of Scotland? Obviously, that is fundamental—including for the green transition process that we are trying to undergo.

Given that we are coming out of a pandemic and that we have the Ukraine war, the cost of living crisis and high inflation, a GDP forecast error of 0.2 per cent is remarkable. I know that there have been one or two areas in which the figure has been quite high, but the Scottish Fiscal Commission has still done an excellent job.

I open up the meeting to colleagues.

Good morning, and welcome to the 21st meeting in 2023 of the Finance and Public Administration Committee. I hope that everyone has had a good summer recess.

We have received apologies from Michelle Thomson.

Before we start, I thank those who participated so actively in our pre-budget scrutiny event last week in Largs and on the following day in West Kilbride. I know that members had lively and interesting discussions with local people, organisations and businesses about their priorities for the Scottish budget, which will help us with our pre-budget scrutiny. We will publish a summary of the discussions on our website in due course.

I record our thanks to Douglas Lumsden for all his hard work in supporting the committee’s scrutiny. I am pleased to welcome Jamie Halcro Johnston as a new member of the committee. We are also joined by Gordon MacDonald, who attends the meeting as a substitute member in Michelle Thomson’s absence.

I invite first Jamie, and then Gordon, to declare any relevant interests.

Right—so, the revenue from that group is not decreasing. I asked the question because there seems to be a contradiction between what is said on page 19 and what is said on page 46. One talks about—

I touch on that issue because about one sixth of income tax comes from 0.7 per cent of taxpayers. Throughout the document, you make a point of talking about the volatility of that specific group. I therefore think that we have to keep an eye on that issue.

Another point that comes through quite strongly in the report on a number of occasions relates to self-assessment. Looking at the graph on page 21, I was quite astonished at the jump in the outturn figures for self-assessment—they far exceed any others. Can you, for the record, explain that a wee bit?

Okay. Time is against us, so I will not push that any further. Thank you for that. I will open the session to colleagues. The first person to ask a question is John Mason, to be followed by Douglas Lumsden.

What is “fair and sustainable funding”?

Mr Tough, you also provided a lot of detail on your digitalisation strategy. You hope to invest in digitalisation but recoup that cost ultimately. Have you a time over which you think you will be able to recoup the cost of digitalisation, or will it always be something that you are never quite able to manage?

Okay. Thank you for that.

You know what I am going to ask you, Mr Burr. Question 9 was:

“How, if at all, is your organisation working collaboratively with other public sector organisations to produce joint service reform plans for the public body landscape and use of resources (for submission to the Scottish Government later this year)?”

The reason why I was surprised by your “Not applicable” response was that you talk about a single islands partnership. I would have thought that you would be working with the other public bodies on the islands, such as the NHS. I am sure that you do work closely with those bodies. Can you give us a wee response to those questions?

Thank God you are not pushing that, John.