We've all learned from this year's Budget negotiations

Feb 6 2009 by MSP Irene Oldfather, Irvine Herald

IT WAS something of a shock to read last week that during a routine inspection of the water supply in the Scottish Parliament in 2008, raised levels of legionella bacteria, which cause Legionnaires Disease, had been detected.

The “Parliamentary authorities” or “powers that be” (doesn’t every organisation have such people) decided in their wisdom, that the situation should be “contained” ie, better not to tell anyone, especially those MSPs!

Hence the first that I and many of my colleagues knew about it was, sitting on the train last week, reading the newspaper.So much for openness and transparency – the guiding principles of the parliament.

An independent audit of the matter concluded that the correct action had been taken in terms of dealing with the practicalities but that members should have been informed of the presence of the bacteria.

On a normal week this kind of news would have greatly focussed the minds of both the members and the media and I am sure that there would have been quite a hu-ha, about it all. (We in the parliamentary village do sometimes get carried away with such things.) However, as it turned out the public was saved from the trivia by issues of greater importance – the Budget.

Last week was an undoubtedly long and dramatic week in parliament with the failure of the Scottish Government’s Budget to pass the Stage 3 vote.

As I wrote a few weeks ago, the decision to vote for the Bill at Stage 1 was intended to strike a positive note and allow further discussion between the various parties and the government.

Since the current Scottish Government operates as a minority government, they do not have a majority of the votes and therefore require the support of other parties in order to get legislation passed.

The Scottish Labour Party made its position clear from the beginning that we would vote for a budget which among other things would substantially increase the number of young apprenticeships.

Young people, particularly those who are not inclined towards going to university, should be able to have wider access to apprenticeships during these challenging times.

Nowhere is this more vital than here in the local area. The push for more apprenticeships is consistent with recently proposed legislation from Scottish Labour.

It is rather ironic that had the two Green MSPs voted with the government, the Budget would have been passed and this proposal would not be back on the table. I am pleased that it now is.

It is in everyone’s interests to reach agreement on the new Budget.

That makes it more important than ever for the Scottish Government to continue discussions with all parties and come back with a Budget with which the majority of the Chamber can agree.

As we go to press, negotiations are ongoing and I hope that consensus will break out in parliament which will ensure that the Budget we approve, while not perfect, will be a better one for the Scottish people.

The Scottish Parliament is a relatively new institution and I believe that we have all learned lessons from this year’s negotiations that will make next year’s budgetary process not only more robust but clearer and agreed at an earlier stage.

Speaking of learning lessons, you never know perhaps even the “powers that be” might tell us next time, when we have significantly raised levels of legionella bacteria. On reflection, thankfully, there’s probably a better chance of passing the Budget.