A HOLYROOD committee has called on the Deputy First Minister to deliver his budget on December 15 to allow forecasters to help ministers “take informed decisions”.
MSPs have warned that the Scottish Fiscal Commission has 10 weeks to produce its forecasts, meaning a decision would need to be made by Thursday to meet the timetable.
Holyrood’s Finance and Public Administration Committee has stressed that any later date would prevent Parliament from effectively scrutinising the Scottish Government’s budget.
The committee has written to John Swinney, who is temporarily also the Scottish Government’s Finance Secretary, calling for the timetable to be set out.
The letter, from committee deputy convener, Daniel Johnson, points to a letter sent by Mr Swinney last month.
It says: “We welcome your efforts to initiate dialogue on this matter, building on productive collaboration between the committee and ministers around budget processes and timetables in previous years.
“The committee understands the importance of ensuring proper time for both the Scottish Fiscal Commission (SFC) to complete its analysis for its economic and fiscal forecasts and for the Scottish Government to be able to take informed decisions on budget proposals.
“We also consider that it is vital that we seek to protect time to achieve effective and meaningful parliamentary scrutiny of the final Scottish Budget 2023-24 document once published.”
It added: “I am confident a balance can be struck to deliver the requirements of government, parliament and the SFC.
“Given this, the committee considers that the Scottish Budget 2023-24 document should be published on 15 December 2022, with the committee then reporting its views as soon as possible after 24 January.
“The committee is aware that the deadline for notifying the SFC of this publication date is Thursday 6 October and I am therefore writing to you now to enable that notification to take place this week. The committee looks forward to hearing from you regarding this proposal.
“In the meantime, we would be happy for the clerks to the committee to continue their ongoing dialogue with your officials.”
The Scottish Government has been contacted for comment.
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