Scottish Government ‘below OECD average’ for budget transparency

Ministers have been urged to act after a report found the Scottish Government only publishes “limited information” about its budget.

The latest Open Budget Survey said while Scotland had made “more progress than many other countries” with regards to budget transparency, it was still below the OECD average in this regard.

While Scotland topped the global rankings when it comes to budget oversight, ministers are being urged to publish more information both ahead of the budget and after it.

The Scottish Human Rights Commission made the plea as the Open Budget Survey 2023 was published, comparing the openness of Scotland’s budgetary processes with those of 125 other countries around the world.

The research looks at budget transparency, the level of public participation there is in the process, and budget oversight.

On this third category Scotland scored 91 – the highest of any of the countries examined in the research and well ahead of both the global average of 51 and the UK’s score of 56.

However, Scotland scored 60 out of 100 for budget transparency – with this placing it in the “limited information available” category.

Scotland was behind both the UK and Portugal, which scored 62, and the US, which scored 69, while both France and Canada achieved scores of 74, according to the report. Meanwhile, Italy and Germany both scored 76, with Norway achieving 80, Sweden on 85 and New Zealand achieving the highest score, 87.

The Scotland’s Open Budget Survey report for 2023 said: “Whilst making proportionately more progress than many other countries and now sitting above the global average, Scotland remains below the OECD (participating countries) average for transparency.”

In response the commission called on the Scottish Government to “prioritise the publication of a pre-budget statement and regular in-year reports or budget revisions” – with ministers told producing these reports “are key to achieving international best practice”.

A pre-budget statement sets out plans for government spending ahead of the budget announcement, while in-year reports detail how money is being spent by ministers.

According to the commission, this data “would help ensure the Scottish Parliament and independent audit bodies play a crucial role in holding the government accountable for financial decisions”.

The report highlighted how Scotland had “decreased the availability of budget information”, saying the 2021-22 draft budget was published less than the “gold standard” of three months before the start of the new financial year.

It also said there had been “delays in the publication of a number of the key documents” – although it added that this had been in part due to UK Government delays and the impact of Covid.

Jan Savage, executive director at the Scottish Human Rights Commission, said: “The current fiscal climate is one of the hardest times in recent history, with tough decisions required within a tight fiscal envelope.

“It has never been more important for Scotland’s budgetary decisions to be open and transparent in order to support public engagement and facilitate formal and informal oversight.”

She added: “Scottish Government budget setting and spending decisions must take full account of people’s human rights.

“Scotland has made progress across all three areas of open budgeting, at a time where many countries have stalled or slipped backwards and Scotland’s score for budget oversight also sits at the top of the table.

“This modest progress in fiscal transparency is not yet translating into opportunities for meaningful public engagement with the budget.

“Progress also remains insufficient to facilitate a rights-based analysis of the budget, which is concerning as Scotland progresses to incorporate economic, social and cultural rights into domestic law.”

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “The Scottish Government is continually improving the information it produces in support of the Scottish budget, and will carefully consider the Scottish Human Rights Commission report.

“We have been working closely with the Scottish Parliament to improve the transparency of information published.

“The SHRC has highlighted that Scotland has made progress across all three areas of open budgeting, at a time where many countries have stalled or slipped backwards.

“Through successive Open Government National Action Plans we have worked closely with Parliament, civil society partners and other stakeholders to improve the understanding of our public finances.”

Don’t miss the latest headlines with our twice-daily newsletter – sign up here for free.