, Finance Committee
Fiscal Inter-governmental Relations: Evidence session 8
—or an auditor, or whoever it might be?
, Finance Committee
Fiscal Inter-governmental Relations: Evidence session 8
Would that be a King's Counsel or a judge, or the Office for Budget Responsibility—
, Finance Committee
Fiscal Inter-governmental Relations: Evidence session 8
Is that at official level, then?
, Finance Committee
Fiscal Inter-governmental Relations: Evidence session 8
Before I bring Peter in, just because you've touched on disputes and that element, FISC does have a way of trying to resolve disputes—has that been engaged with at all in these discussions around HS2 and other aspects that you've been laying out just then? Is…
, Finance Committee
Fiscal Inter-governmental Relations: Evidence session 8
So, changing the goalposts all of the time means that you can't plan.
, Finance Committee
Fiscal Inter-governmental Relations: Evidence session 8
So, there's no easy mechanism for you to be able to challenge that. I'm sure you're working—. You said it was a challenge and it took a long time.
, Finance Committee
Fiscal Inter-governmental Relations: Evidence session 8
Of course. But once you've had time to digest it.
, Finance Committee
Fiscal Inter-governmental Relations: Evidence session 8
Just going back to the fiscal event day, when you get those tables, is there any challenge involved in that, as in, you go, 'I don't think you've got that right'? Or is it, 'This is it' and there's no pushback whatsoever?
, Finance Committee
Fiscal Inter-governmental Relations: Evidence session 8
But it's your intention, if it comes sooner, that we'd have those budgets sooner.
, Finance Committee
Fiscal Inter-governmental Relations: Evidence session 8
Could we have your commitment that, if the budget is sooner than you expected it to be, you'd bring forward your budget so that we'd have that time to scrutinise? Because that's something that we're always discussing. It's just making sure that we're on the…
, Finance Committee
Fiscal Inter-governmental Relations: Evidence session 8
Not delving into my crystal ball too much about what might or might not happen tomorrow, but if you look at the polls and with a potentially very large majority for the next incoming Government, is it an opportunity to actually advance some of that work and…
, Finance Committee
Fiscal Inter-governmental Relations: Evidence session 8
—with different Governments in different places. Sorry, Mike.
, Finance Committee
Fiscal Inter-governmental Relations: Evidence session 8
And that's very much across party as well—
, Finance Committee
Fiscal Inter-governmental Relations: Evidence session 8
And I think that's one thing that this committee has found useful is our relationships with our equivalents in Scotland and now in Northern Ireland as well, so, working side by side with them on a tripartite basis is quite useful. And something that we might…
, Finance Committee
Fiscal Inter-governmental Relations: Evidence session 8
Do you meet—? If the CST isn't there, would you meet anyway?
, Finance Committee
Fiscal Inter-governmental Relations: Evidence session 8
Mike, we'll come on to some questions from you.
, Finance Committee
Fiscal Inter-governmental Relations: Evidence session 8
To have a reset.
, Finance Committee
Fiscal Inter-governmental Relations: Evidence session 8
Peter, and then I'll bring Mike in afterwards.
, Finance Committee
Fiscal Inter-governmental Relations: Evidence session 8
So, in a way, giving you more autonomy to manage your own budgets effectively.
, Finance Committee
Fiscal Inter-governmental Relations: Evidence session 8
That parity of esteem, really, between Governments, rather than as a—. I know we talked last autumn around switches from capital to revenue and that you'd have to ask the Treasury to be able to do it, and that you potentially could be dealt with as any other…
, Finance Committee
Fiscal Inter-governmental Relations: Evidence session 8
Thank you. You mentioned a revolving door at the Treasury with regard to changes to Chief Secretaries. How does that affect the cultural aspect within the Treasury of how they deal with devolved Governments? Some of the evidence that we've received seems to…
, Finance Committee
Fiscal Inter-governmental Relations: Evidence session 8
Excellent, okay. Thank you.
, Finance Committee
Fiscal Inter-governmental Relations: Evidence session 8
Okay. Sarah, did you want to come in on that?
, Finance Committee
Fiscal Inter-governmental Relations: Evidence session 8
One of my colleagues might come into this later, but with the scrutiny that this committee gives to those meetings—and we get that communiqué—it's hard sometimes to put the meat on the bone from a piece of paper without the context. So, how do you see that…
, Finance Committee
Fiscal Inter-governmental Relations: Evidence session 8
And I suppose a bit more focusing on the things that are on the agenda and being able to take that time. And, remind me, are the terms of reference and the agendas published?
