First Minister's statement to the Scottish Parliament’s Conveners Group: FOI release

Information requested

Appearing before the Scottish Parliament’s Conveners Group on 18th September 2024, John Swinney made the following statement:

“So essentially the value of the budget has been eroded over a 3-year period by 18%.”

Please provide the following:

(1.) Any information held by the Scottish Government which substantiates John Swinney’s statement.

(2.) All correspondence involving the First Minister’s Private Office on the subject of whether John Swinney should, or should not, make the Conveners Group aware of having made an inaccurate statement.

Response

The First Minister was setting out the cumulative impact of inflation measured by the Consumer Price Index as 18% over 3 years. We can confirm that this cumulative impact was slightly higher at 19%. This broad impact on public spending was acknowledged by the Chancellor in her statement to the House of Commons in July as departmental budgets had not been reset to account for inflation.

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