SCOTLAND’S public spending watchdog has called for greater transparency from the Scottish Government over its spending on the coronavirus pandemic.
Auditor General Stephen Boyle said the Scottish Government had received an extra £9.7 billion to its budget of more than £40bn in the current financial year.
He said this reduced funding uncertainty, but also created challenges in financial management.
More than 170 public spending announcements had been made in relation to Covid-19, and called on all levels of government to ensure the “pandemic pound” delivered value for money.
“It will likely become increasingly hard to identify what is, and what isn’t, Covid spending, as spending links more widely with economic development issues, and other government goals,” said Boyle.
“This means that transparency over spending pressures, progress and risks to delivery must be maintained.
“Scottish Government responses need to work alongside UK Government and local government measures.
“The frequency of spending decisions by the UK and Scottish governments and individual public bodies, such as NHS boards and local authorities, has made tracking how interventions are working together more complex.
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“In such a fast-moving environment, it is more difficult to demonstrate how each measure has been chosen and how overall spending is being managed.”
Boyle said it was “not surprising” that all the pandemic pound had not yet been allocated.
“Some spend, like business grants, is demand-led and other pots, like the £100 million for school attainment, are spread over more than one year,” he said.
“But it’s getting harder to identify what is, and isn’t, Covid-19 spending … because of the volume of announcements – over 170 to date – and, increasingly, how the spending naturally links with wider economic development and government goals. That increases the need for transparency around spending.”
The Auditor General said the longer the pandemic continues, the more the financial consequences of disruptions to services increased.
The furlough scheme is also due to finish at the end of April with unemployment forecast to rise.
Boyle added: “The Scottish Fiscal Commission expects the economy to contract by 11%, with a return to pre-pandemic levels by 2024. But the only thing we can be truly certain of is that forecasts will change.”
Asked about the report at yesterday’s coronavirus briefing, the First Minister said she had not yet had a chance to read it, but added: “One of the frustrations we’ve had is the way in which money has been allocated without any certainty upfront on what it is expected to cover, which has meant that we’ve had to make sure we don’t overspend in some areas and then find that we don’t have money to cover over things.”
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A Scottish Government spokesperson welcomed the report but noted it only included funding commitments and spending to the end of December.
They said throughout the pandemic Finance Secretary Kate Forbes had regularly updated Parliament on spending, and the latest detailed expenditure since September will be laid out in the Spring Budget Revision, due to be published today.
The spokesperson added: “It is simply not true that funding remains unallocated. Every penny of the £8.6bn in coronavirus (Covid-19) consequential funding guaranteed to the Scottish Government for 2020-21 has now been allocated to mitigating the impact of the pandemic.
“A further £1.1bn of funding was confirmed last week by the UK Government. However, this was too late in the financial year to be deployed before March 31, 2021, which is why the Treasury agreed it could be carried forward to next year where it will support a range of measures, including the continuation of business rates relief.
“We are committed to accounts which fully report on the stewardship of public funds. Scottish Government Consolidated Accounts, which were given a clean bill of health by Audit Scotland, were published in December 2020 and the accounts of other relevant bodies are also publicly available. The pressures of pandemic response has impacted on the capacity to develop Scottish Government reporting further, but we remain committed to doing so.”
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