Chamber and committees

Is there a dearth of people with the right skills or is the competition so wide that everybody is trying to access those people?

I just want to know whether data sharing can work. Most of the witnesses have said that the potential is very considerable, but we have to make it work.

I come back to the question about data sharing. Four of you have been up front about saying that there is considerable potential in that regard if we get it right, but you have flagged up issues around cybersecurity, the right kind of employment and confidentiality.

Are there any other potential barriers to that? Secondly, are they surmountable?

Obviously, there is a difference between the tax structures and the rates of tax, which, in many ways, tend to be much more political.

Ms Payne, when you answered the first question, you recommended that, with tax, we need to ensure that Scotland is competitive and is the best place to come to live, work and invest in. What recommendations would you make to ensure that, on a tax structure basis, Scotland is more competitive with the rest of the UK and, indeed, other countries?

Several months ago, when we had the Scottish Fiscal Commission in giving evidence on the general economic situation, it was strong in its view that a number of stakeholders—not just political parties—should be involved in a tax commission to look at the issue. Do you subscribe to the view that that would ensure that we would get at least some kind of consensus on what is economically and socially good for the country, rather than what is the political agenda? Would Reform Scotland support that?

I want to ask our Audit Scotland representative the same question. Obviously, you are not in a position to advise Government on policy as such, but from an economic and social perspective, do you think that, so serious are the future trends that we need to deal with—they are summarised in front of me—advancing a discussion about changing tax structures in line with our changing demographics is the best way forward?

One of the other findings of the Scottish Fiscal Commission—the Fraser of Allander Institute and all sorts of economic groups have said this—is that our ageing demographic is a serious problem when it comes to the tax take, as is the fact that the working population’s share of the total population is declining.

Therefore, as well as talking about changing tax structures, which I believe is very important, we must ensure that the rates of taxation, whether on consumers, businesses or personal income, make Scotland much more attractive than is currently the case. Scotland is in desperate need of more higher-paid, better jobs so that people are attracted to come here. The balance of tax structure debate, as opposed to the tax rate debate, is very important in that.

Your comments have been very helpful, because the problem is urgent, and we are getting the very strong message from the economists that we need to act, preferably on as cross-party a basis as we can.

Ms Payne, I take you back to one of your first answers this morning, in which you said that efficiencies do not equal reform. I entirely agree. I want to put that in the context of what the Scottish Fiscal Commission has forecast in its “Fiscal Sustainability Report”, which I have in front of me. It says that health spending will increase from

“35 per cent of devolved spending in 2027-28 to 50 per cent in 2072-73.”

It projects that there will be little decline in spending on social care and social security. That is pretty grim from the point of view of the money that we need in order to ensure that we are sustainable for the future.

Your answers—in fact, the answers of all our witnesses this morning—about what we need to do on public sector reform are interesting, but the other part of the equation is what we do about taxation. In your submission, you mentioned broadening the tax base, and you gave us some suggestions as to how that might be done. Just as important is whether we need to restructure the taxation system. You hinted, I think, in another answer that we probably need to do that. Will you give us your thoughts on reforming the taxation structure?

Professor Connolly, do you subscribe to that view, too?

My final question is this: would each of you like to see not just a fiscal framework between the UK Government and the Scottish Government—the current fiscal framework is being reformed at the moment—but a fiscal framework between the Scottish Government and local authorities? Would that help matters?