COVID-19 Recovery Committee - Pre-Budget scrutiny

Closed 9 Sep 2022

Opened 30 Jun 2022

Contact

0131 348 6226

covid19.committee@parliament.scot

Published responses

View submitted responses where consent has been given to publish the response.

Overview

The Scottish Government is expected to publish its Budget 2023-24 in December 2022. In advance of this, the COVID-19 Recovery Committee is undertaking pre-budget scrutiny with the aim of influencing the Scottish Government’s thinking when preparing its forthcoming budget.

The Committee is interested in how the Scottish Government plans to fund the COVID Recovery Strategy and the ongoing costs associated with the pandemic that are outlined in the Strategic Framework. The latter includes measures, such as the vaccination programme, provision of procured personal protective equipment (PPE), surveillance and work on future pandemic preparedness.

Your response to this call for views will inform the pre-budget scrutiny by the Committee and related oral evidence sessions.

Background

In advance of the publication of its budget, the Scottish Government published a number of fiscal documents in May 2022, some of which are relevant to the committee’s pre-budget scrutiny namely:

The Committee will also consider the following Scottish Government publications as part of its pre-budget scrutiny:

  • COVID Recovery Strategy published in October 2021. It states that it “sets out its vision for recovery and the actions it will take to address systemic inequalities made worse by Covid, make progress towards a wellbeing economy, and accelerate inclusive person-centred public services.”
  • COVID-19 Strategic Framework updated in February 2022. It states that it “takes stock of where we are in the pandemic and sets out our actions to respond to COVID-19 and its associated harms, and our approach to managing it effectively but also sustainably for as long as necessary.”

Key questions

COVID Recovery Strategy

  • Is there sufficient clarity and transparency surrounding the indicative spending plans in the Resource Spending Review associated with Covid recovery and the ongoing costs of the pandemic?
  • To what extent is the Covid Recovery Strategy reflected in the Resource Spending Review and the Medium-Term Financial Strategy (MTFS)?
  • What are your thoughts on the level of detail provided on the provisional spending allocations for Covid recovery contained in the Resource Spending Review and MTFS?
  • The Covid Recovery Strategy states its aim to make progress towards a “wellbeing economy”. What do you understand “wellbeing economy” to mean, and is there any link with this and the allocations for Covid recovery in the Resource Spending Review?
  • The Equality and Fairer Scotland Statement show evidence where the impact of Covid has not been felt equally across Scottish society. Do the Resource Spending Review and MTFS provide sufficient detail as to how the Scottish Government will provide funding to address the inequalities associated with the impact of Covid throughout the recovery period?

COVID-19 Strategic Framework

  • To what extent is the Strategic Framework reflected in the Resource Spending Review and the Medium-Term Financial Strategy (MTFS)?
  • What should be prioritised for funding in the Scottish Government’s COVID-19 Strategic Framework?
  • What level of funding should the Scottish Government be allocating to future pandemic preparedness and long-term resilience?
  • Any other comments.

Please answer any of the questions that are of interest to you. You don’t need to answer all the questions.

Please note that we can only accept submissions via the online platform. If you require assistance to share your views via the platform for accessibility reasons, please contact the clerks.

How to submit your views

Please submit your views using the online submission form, linked to below.

We welcome written views in English, Gaelic, Scots or any other language. 

The call for views closes on 9 September 2022.