Do we get value in terms of our taxes?
At this time of the year all eyes are often on budgets, both those for the UK Government and the forthcoming budget for the Scottish Government.
They focus minds on public spending and, of course, on where governments get the money from to pay for these commitments.
And there is no need to remind everyone of the pressures that Covid has put on public spending and the current inflationary pressures too.
A quick look at the petrol pumps prices tells us all we need to know in that respect.
But budgets should also be an opportunity to examine whether tax-payers are getting the best value for their hard-earned money and whether there is an open and transparent process which tracks this spending.
It is surely the right of every tax-payer to know exactly what their money is being spent on and why their elected representatives have taken particular decisions.
Scrutinising the Scottish Government’s decisions relating to public finance is central to the role of Holyrood’s Finance and Public Administration Committee and, of course, the role of Audit Scotland – which oversees public scrutiny.
We know that in 2018, the then Auditor General, Caroline Gardner, criticised the Scottish Government for the limited information that was made publicly available when examining public spending.
Indeed, when it came to scrutinising the extent of financial support to private companies such as Ferguson Marine, BiFab and Prestwick Airport, Audit Scotland had some strong words of warning about a lack of adequate scrutiny.
And, of course, we now know that these projects needlessly drained away substantial sums from the public purse and that there was a complete lack of transparency about what had happened and on what basis the Scottish Government had taken decisions.
The SNP needs to start listening to the recommendations of Audit Scotland.
Caroline Gardner’s successor, Stephen Boyle, rightly says that to deliver the best value we need both good governance structures and effective management ones.
After all, this is what is required of local government so why is this standard not expected in the case of the Scottish Government?
Then, the SNP must also listen to the Federation of Small Businesses, which is calling for a higher percentage of investment in smaller firms to support local jobs – many of which have been the bedrock of our communities during the pandemic.
While Covid-19 has not made things easy in terms of tracking money, neither should it be used as an excuse to diminish much needed transparency and accountability.
Openness and transparency are not only good practice to measure best value for tax-payers’ money but also because that openness and transparency is essential if there is to be renewed trust between government and the public.
There is much in the media just now about how politics – maybe politicians too – have lost their integrity and that is not good for society and it is not good for rebuilding Scotland after Covid.