Communication between UK and Hollyrood ‘worsening’ – Forbes

Communication between the Scottish and UK Governments has worsened recently, says Scotland’s finance secretary.

Kate Forbes said she only learned on Twitter that the UK Budget had been cancelled.

Ms Forbes said the “semiregular” meetings between the Treasury and the devolved administrations have fallen by the wayside in recent months.

She said: “Unfortunately, in the last few months I would suggest that those open lines of communication have not been working as frequently as they should be.

“It takes two to have a conversation and something as simple as giving us a heads up about scrapping the Budget doesn’t strike me as particularly difficult to do and it would make our lives a lot easier.”

She said the lack of communication mirrors a similar situation around a cut in stamp duty announced during the summer economic update by Chancellor Rishi Sunak. In response, the Scottish Government had to move quickly to provide a similar cut in Land and Business Transaction Tax (LBTT) to mitigate the effects of the Treasury announcement on the Scottish housing market.

On the cancellation of the Budget, Ms Forbes said: “This is not about the UK Government disregarding the Scottish Government, when it comes to the Budget this is about our health service, this is about local government, this is about our taxpayers having certainty.

“We are required to set a balanced budget over the winter period and it is almost impossible to do that without confirmation of figures from the Treasury.”

A Treasury spokesman said: “At all stages of the pandemic we have sought to work constructively with the devolved administration in Scotland and we will continue to do so.”