The lack of transparency surrounding the negotiations between the UK and Scottish governments over the new funding deal for Holyrood was “unsatisfactory”, the Deputy First Minister has told a Westminster committee.
John Swinney said the decision “not to give a running commentary” on efforts to secure an agreement on the fiscal framework to accompany the new Scotland Bill meant the Westminster and Holyrood parliaments were not aware of the issues being explored.
Mr Swinney also told the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee (PACAC) that he had not been convinced a deal would be reached up until the last day of negotiations.
The two governments were locked in discussions for almost a year before a deal was finally agreed last month.
Mr Swinney told a meeting of the PACAC in Edinburgh: “I accepted at the outset – as a willing participant, it wasn’t in any way forced upon me – that we would conduct those discussions on an intergovernmental basis, and that the line we used was that we wouldn’t give a running commentary on the details of those discussions.
“I think, looking back on it retrospectively, I think that was really quite difficult, because that meant that very little information, if any, was being shared with the respective parliaments, and I think that made it very difficult for members of Parliament, whether in the Scottish Parliament or the UK Parliament, to feel fully involved or aware of the issues which were being explored.”
He added: “It was unsatisfactory that respective parliaments were not more fully aware of the issues being discussed.
“I do reflect on that. I don’t think that was a satisfactory way of operating – that we were not able to be as transparent as parliament really would have a reasonable right to expect.”
Reflecting on the final agreement, which will be reviewed after five years, Mr Swinney said: “My objectives throughout the discussions were to ensure that we achieved an agreement that was consistent with what the Smith Commission had recommended and set out, and my objective was to secure that.
“For the overwhelming majority of the negotiation period, indeed until the very last day, I was not convinced we were going to be able to do that, and ultimately what was agreed was, in my view, a practical and pragmatic way of implementing the Smith Commission agreement.”