Economic Priorities (Amendment 3)
S6M-04815.3: As an amendment to motion S6M-04815 in the name of Liz Smith (Economic Priorities), leave out from "is deeply" to end and insert "endorses the priorities set out in the Scottish Government’s spending review of tackling child poverty, addressing the climate crisis, building a stronger economy and improving public services, while supporting those people struggling with the increased cost of living; notes that the overall Scottish Budget has fallen by 5.2% in real terms between 2021-22 and 2022-23 and that the Scottish Fiscal Commission has confirmed a further 1% real-terms reduction until 2025-26; agrees that current financial fiscal arrangements between the UK Government and the Scottish Government are deeply flawed; highlights the persistent dismal failures of leadership in the UK Government, with the UK currently having the highest inflation rate of any G7 country, compounded by Brexit increasing food prices; notes recent research from the Glasgow Centre for Population Health highlighting the brutal reality of a decade of austerity under the UK Government, and believes that, with full control over the economic and financial powers, the Scottish Government could take further action to build the economy that Scotland deserves."

Original motion(S6M-04815):
That the Parliament is deeply concerned by many of the trends published within the recent analysis of the Scottish economy undertaken by the Scottish Fiscal Commission; is concerned, in particular, by the revised downward growth estimates and decline in real earnings, and that the Scottish Government has imposed higher tax rates on Scotland without increasing revenues, compared with the block grant adjustment, due to the ongoing issues relating to weaker productivity and inflexibilities within the Scottish labour market; is further concerned by the real-terms cuts of more than £1 billion announced by the Scottish Government, which will affect local government, the police and higher education, among key services; calls on the Scottish Government to commit to ensuring that no one in Scotland pays more income tax compared with people in the rest of the UK, when finances allow, ensuring that policies to deliver long-term growth, including collaborative projects with the UK Government such as city deals, are a priority within Scottish Government spending plans; calls for a finance bill mechanism to be introduced to evaluate the effectiveness of public spending, and further calls for plans for a second independence referendum to be taken off the table.