This April, new tax powers are being transferred to the Scottish parliament; and with ‘the vow’ delivered, this will be soon followed by further devolution. It is clear that this must be accompanied by the tools needed to allow the public to scrutinise the use of these powers. The Scottish National party government must establish a Scottish Office for Budget Responsibility immediately for this purpose.
The Smith Agreement calls specifically for the Scottish parliament ‘to expand and strengthen the independent scrutiny of Scotland’s public finances in recognition of the additional variability and uncertainty that further tax and spending devolution will introduce into the budgeting process.’
Currently, all that has been set up in preparation is the Scottish Fiscal Commission, which has the remit ‘to review the government forecasts of receipts of devolved taxes.’ Unfortunately this body cannot claim to be independent, with members directly appointed by a finance secretary John Swinney, and has a tiny budget of £20,000 with which to operate.
On the doorsteps in recent months, voters have said to me time and time again, ‘I just want the facts to make an informed decision.’ During the referendum campaign, the Scottish public may have been bombarded with information, but were crying our for a neutral analysis to separate the facts from the propaganda. There is no better example than oil prices. Figures that were at best over-optimistic, at worst inflated, were given to make the economic case for an independent Scotland. The SNP’s estimate of $113 a barrel has been blown out the water with today’s price now below $50 a barrel; this could have left an independent Scotland’s public spending in tatters.
Just last week we discovered that the SNP has been sitting on a £444m underspend in the past year. This is particularly galling when they have repeatedly solely blamed Westminster cuts for reductions in public services, when it is now clear that Scots have been hit twice, by the coalition’s austerity measures and money being hoarded in Scottish government coffers. The Scottish Labour proposed SOBR would monitor the spending of the Scottish government.
And it is not just the government of the day that should be scrutinised by the SOBR. Just as Labour are calling for at a UK level, we want opposition parties to have their policies and manifestos costed by the SOBR to allow the public to make truly informed decisions before casting their vote.
Trust remains one of the most important values in politics, yet public trust in politicians is at an all-time low. To begin to rebuild this trust, policies must be shown to be credible and deliverable, and transparency must be increased if we are to maintain the Scottish powerhouse parliament we have promised to deliver.
I believe the SOBR would go some way to providing that neutral policy cost analysis that my constituents were calling for during the referendum and will continue to need in upcoming elections. If the SNP has nothing to hide, it should establish the SOBR without delay.
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Pamela Nash is member of parliament for Airdrie and Shotts. She tweets @pamela_nash
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