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Chamber and committees

Official Report: search what was said in Parliament

The Official Report is a written record of public meetings of the Parliament and committees.  

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Dates of parliamentary sessions
  1. Session 1: 12 May 1999 to 31 March 2003
  2. Session 2: 7 May 2003 to 2 April 2007
  3. Session 3: 9 May 2007 to 22 March 2011
  4. Session 4: 11 May 2011 to 23 March 2016
  5. Session 5: 12 May 2016 to 5 May 2021
  6. Current session: 12 May 2021 to 27 November 2024
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Displaying 2155 contributions

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Finance and Public Administration Committee

Scottish Fiscal Framework: Independent Report and Review

Meeting date: 14 November 2023

John Mason

You are saying that, having been at 129 per cent, rightly or wrongly, we are on a decline to 120 per cent?

Finance and Public Administration Committee

Scottish Fiscal Framework: Independent Report and Review

Meeting date: 14 November 2023

John Mason

Professor Spowage, as well as responding to that, could you also comment on where we are now with regard to Scotland-specific shocks?

Finance and Public Administration Committee

Scottish Fiscal Framework: Independent Report and Review

Meeting date: 14 November 2023

John Mason

If there was a specific shock to particularly Scottish sectors such as tourism or food and drink, would that cause us a problem?

Finance and Public Administration Committee

Scottish Fiscal Framework: Independent Report and Review

Meeting date: 14 November 2023

John Mason

At previous meeting, the Deputy First Minister told us that both Governments were having to make compromises. Do you see that the UK has made any compromises in this?

Finance and Public Administration Committee

Scottish Fiscal Framework: Value Added Tax Assignment

Meeting date: 14 November 2023

John Mason

I am happy to come in on that subject, actually, because I was just going to make a comment. When VAT assignment was first announced, I thought that it would be a good thing, partly because, as David Phillips explained, there are different models. I assumed that, if we attracted a factory to Scotland, that factory would add value. The whole point of VAT is that it is a tax on added value, so attracting more factories—and we have been quite successful at inward investment—would allow us to build up VAT in that way.

However, as we heard in the briefing this morning, clearly, that is not the model that is being looked at. It is purely about the end point where consumers spend their money. Like everyone else—I agree with what Michael Marra said—I am very sceptical about this going ahead as it is. I am not quite as sceptical as Charlotte Barbour, who said that it would be horrendous to devolve VAT. Clearly, other small countries—not just sub-nations but Norway, Sweden, the Netherlands and Denmark—all operate their own systems, I assume, even though they are in a single market. It should be possible to devolve it and then, as and when we become independent, we will have our own VAT system. That is not unmanageable, but I accept that, at the moment, the costs are probably outweighing the advantages.

Finance and Public Administration Committee

Scottish Fiscal Framework: Independent Report and Review

Meeting date: 14 November 2023

John Mason

That is helpful. I will just say where I am trying to go with this: it is about the impact of London. As I understand it, London is an outlier, certainly in the UK and possibly in Europe. Broadly speaking, in most things, Scotland competes quite well with the rest of England, Wales and Northern Ireland—the rest of the UK, apart from London and the south-east. If London grows faster than the UK average on the economy, tax and all the rest of it, as it has tended to do, we have no control over that, but we are being punished for it.

Finance and Public Administration Committee

Scottish Fiscal Framework: Independent Report and Review

Meeting date: 14 November 2023

John Mason

As you said, Scotland has above average spending, but the Barnett formula is designed to reduce that gap, as I understand it. On top of that, despite what you have said, it still seems to me that, given that London in recent years has been doing better than the rest of the UK, the fiscal framework is disadvantaging Scotland. I take the point that a collapse of the London economy would benefit us, but that does not seem to be the evidence so far.

Finance and Public Administration Committee

Scottish Fiscal Framework: Independent Report and Review

Meeting date: 14 November 2023

John Mason

But there has not been any assessment of needs for quite a long time I think. If needs includes rural areas, we have got big challenges with that.

Finance and Public Administration Committee

Scottish Fiscal Framework: Value Added Tax Assignment

Meeting date: 14 November 2023

John Mason

I have a couple of questions, and David Phillips may have partly answered the one I was going to ask him, which was what he meant by the phrase

“I think the noise versus signal ratio would adversely affect the financial incentives”

and so on. My other question was to Mark Taylor. You said that you thought that this would be difficult to audit. I wondered what that meant.

Social Justice and Social Security Committee

Scottish Employment Injuries Advisory Council Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 9 November 2023

John Mason

Yes, thank you. That is useful. I am learning as we go along.

You said that, in one sense, you are reactive, but, on the other hand, you could look at almost anything that you are asked to. What would have to happen in order for your role to be changed? Would it require legislation at the Scottish level or at the Westminster level, or would legislation not be needed?