Tuesday 7 August 2012 SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT Finance Ken Macintosh (Eastwood) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide a breakdown of how it calculated the underspend in the (a) Rural Affairs and the Environment, (b) Education and Lifelong Learning and (c) Finance, Employment and Sustainable Growth portfolio that were reported in Provisional Outturn 2011-12 and Shovel-Ready Projects. Holding answer issued: 25 July 2012 (S4W-08317) Gavin Brown (Lothian) (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide an explanation for the cash departmental expenditure limit (DEL) underspend in 2011-12 for the Finance, Employment and Sustainable Growth portfolio. Holding answer issued: 1 August 2012 (S4W-08419) Gavin Brown (Lothian) (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide an explanation for the cash departmental expenditure limit (DEL) underspend in 2011-12 for the Health, Wellbeing and Cities Strategy portfolio. Holding answer issued: 1 August 2012 (S4W-08420) Gavin Brown (Lothian) (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide an explanation for the cash departmental expenditure limit (DEL) underspend in 2011-12 for the Education and Lifelong Learning portfolio. Holding answer issued: 1 August 2012 (S4W-08421) Gavin Brown (Lothian) (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide an explanation for the cash departmental expenditure limit (DEL) underspend in 2011-12 for the Justice portfolio. Holding answer issued: 1 August 2012 (S4W-08422) Gavin Brown (Lothian) (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide an explanation for the cash departmental expenditure limit (DEL) underspend in 2011-12 for the Rural Affairs and the Environment portfolio. Holding answer issued: 1 August 2012 (S4W-08423) John Swinney: The Provisional Outturn 2011-12 and Shovel-Ready Projects paper of 27 June 2012 provided unaudited figures in respect of performance against budget. As in previous years, the Scottish Government will publish an Analysis of Major Variances (including these DEL variances) based on audited figures in the Scottish Government Consolidated Accounts. The accounts for the year ended 31 March 2012 are expected to be published in late September. Gavin Brown (Lothian) (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party): To ask the Scottish Executive what the provisional total departmental expenditure limit (DEL) underspend has been in each of the last five years. Holding answer issued: 1 August 2012 (S4W-08411) Gavin Brown (Lothian) (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party): To ask the Scottish Executive what the provisional cash departmental expenditure limit (DEL) underspend has been in each of the last five years. Holding answer issued: 1 August 2012 (S4W-08412) Gavin Brown (Lothian) (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of the departmental expenditure limit (DEL) cash budget the provisional cash DEL underspend has represented in each of the last five years. Holding answer issued: 1 August 2012 (S4W-08413) Gavin Brown (Lothian) (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party): To ask the Scottish Executive what the provisional non-cash departmental expenditure limit (DEL) underspend has been in each of the last five years. Holding answer issued: 1 August 2012 (S4W-08414) John Swinney: The Scottish Government is required to manage its Departmental Expenditure Limit (DEL) cash and non-cash budget within the framework of the Consolidated Budgeting Guidance published by HM Treasury on an annual basis. The figures in the following table are provided on the basis of the rules in place for the respective years and reflect the provisional outturn underspends announced to the Parliament. Financial year 2011-12 was the first year of the Devolved Administrations Budget Exchange Mechanism with the scope for a planned carry forward to 2012-13. Provisional HM Treasury DEL Underspend by Cash/ Non Cash – 2007-08 to 2011-12 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 £ million £ million £ million £ million £ million Budget Exchange planned c/f (1) - - - - -100 Fiscal DEL -42 -125 -168 -12 -79 Non-cash DEL (2) 0 94 121 -86 -8 Total DEL Underspend -42 -31 -47 -98 -187 Fiscal DEL% of Total SG DEL -0.2% -0.5% -0.6% -0.04% -0.6% Notes: 1. The Budget Exchange Mechanism is effective from 2011-12 for the period of the current Spending Review. 2. Under HM Treasury Consolidated Budgeting rules, non-cash was monitored separately from 2008- 09 onwards. Gavin Brown (Lothian) (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party): To ask the Scottish Executive how much control it has over the (a) cash and (b) non-cash departmental expenditure limit (DEL) underspend. Holding answer issued: 1 August 2012 (S4W-08415) John Swinney: The Scottish Government is required to manage its DEL cash and non-cash budget within the framework of the Consolidated Budgeting Guidance published by HM Treasury on an annual basis. Accordingly, the Scottish Government monitors performance against budgets authorised by the Scottish Parliament and HM Treasury limits. Budget Exchange arrangements for the Devolved Administrations has replaced End Year Flexibility and will operate across the UK 2010 Comprehensive Spending Review period. This provides a facility to plan budget carry-forward within agreed limits. The Devolved Administrations Budget Exchange Mechanism allows the Scottish Government to carry forward any underspends from one financial year to the next up to a limit which is calculated as a percentage of the DEL budget. Gavin Brown (Lothian) (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide a breakdown of the cash departmental expenditure limit (DEL) underspend in 2011-12 for each portfolio, broken down by resource and capital. Holding answer issued: 1 August 2012 (S4W-08424) John Swinney: The following table provides a breakdown of the provisional HM Treasury cash Departmental Expenditure Limit (DEL) underspend in 2011-12 for each portfolio, broken down by resource and capital. Provisional HM Treasury DEL Cash Underspend by Portfolio Split by Capital/Resource: 2011-12 Resource Capital Total Fiscal DEL £ Million £ Million £ Million Finance, Employment and Sustainable Growth -52 38 -14 Health, Wellbeing and Cities Strategy -8 -1 -9 Education and Lifelong Learning -17 -3 -20 Parliamentary Business and Government Strategy -1 0 -1 Justice -7 2 -5 Resource Capital Total Fiscal DEL £ Million £ Million £ Million Rural Affairs and the Environment -40 -13 -53 Culture and External Affairs -2 0 -2 Infrastructure and Capital Investment 7 -7 0 Administration -2 1 -1 Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal 0 0 0 Local Government -2 0 -2 Total Scottish Government -124 17 -107 Food Standards Agency 0 0 0 Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body -2 0 -2 Audit Scotland -1 0 -1 Total Scottish Block -127 17 -110 Funding secured for Carry Forward to 2012-13 -44 -35 -79 Budget alignment transfer 22 -12 10 Year End DEL Underspend -149 -30 -179 Gavin Brown (Lothian) (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide a breakdown of the capital projects that had altered timescales that resulted in a £30 million capital departmental expenditure limit (DEL) underspend in 2011-12. Holding answer issued: 26 July 2012 (S4W-08425) John Swinney: Capital projects, by nature, are often managed over a number of financial years and as such the Scottish Government recognises that there will, on occasions, be minor and marginal movements to timescales caused by, for example, weather or planning delays, with a subsequent impact on the expenditure profile of the project. This requires a flexible approach to managing capital budgets over time. In respect of financial year 2011-12, the following projects experienced marginal movements in timescales – the Forth Replacement Crossing, the Victoria and Albert Waterfront project, the Port Edgar project, the Stromness Harbour extension project. Accordingly, appropriate budget will be reassigned to these projects in 2012-13 through the Budget Exchange Mechanism. Gavin Brown (Lothian) (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party): To ask the Scottish Executive what its prediction was in (a) October, (b) November and (c) December 2011 for the 2011- 12 provisional cash departmental expenditure limit (DEL) underspend for (i) resource and (ii) capital. Holding answer issued: 26 July 2012 (S4W-08426) Gavin Brown (Lothian) (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party): To ask the Scottish Executive what its prediction was in (a) January, (b) February, (c) March and (d) April 2012 for the 2011-12 provisional cash departmental expenditure limit (DEL) underspend for (i) resource and (ii) capital. Holding answer issued: 26 July 2012 (S4W-08429) John Swinney: The Scottish Government is engaged in the proactive management of the capital and resource departmental expenditure limits budgets throughout the financial year. Financial information at key points in the year is used to support decision making by ministers to ensure the best use of the resources available to the Scottish Government. This is conveyed to the Scottish Parliament’s Finance Committee through the Autumn and Spring Budget Revision processes. Gavin Brown (Lothian) (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the