Public appointment: member reappointed to the Scottish Fiscal Commission

The Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Economy, Kate Forbes, announced the reappointment of Alasdair Smith as a Member of the Scottish Fiscal Commission.

Members

Alasdair Smith has been a Professor of Economics (now Emeritus) at the University of Sussex since 1981. His academic work focuses on the effects of international trade on competition, growth and the distribution of income and he has written extensively on the effects of the single European market and EU enlargement on competition. He was Vice-Chancellor of the University of Sussex from 1998 to 2007. He was a Deputy Chair of the Competition Commission and then an Inquiry Chair at the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) from 2012 to 2017 and he has also served on other UK public bodies dealing with pay and pensions. He is now a Senior Adviser to the Payment Systems Regulator. He has been a member of the Scottish Fiscal Commission since 2017. 

Reappointment 

This reappointment will be for one year and will commence on 1 April 2021 until 31 March 2022.

This reappointment is regulated by the Ethical Standards Commissioner.

Renumeration

The reappointments are part-time and attracts a remuneration of £339 per day for a time commitment of 78 days per annum.

Other ministerial appointments 

Alasdair Smith does not hold any other public appointments.

Political activity  

All appointments are made on merit and political activity plays no part in the selection process. However, in accordance with the original Nolan recommendations, there is a requirement for appointees’ political activity within the last five years (if there is any to be declared) to be made public.   

Alasdair Smith has not undertaken any political activity in the last five years.

Background 

The Scottish Fiscal Commission is a non-Ministerial Office. It produces the official and independent forecasts of Scotland’s GDP, devolved tax revenues and social security expenditure to help inform the Scottish Government’s Budget and its scrutiny by Parliament. It also comments on the Scottish Government’s borrowing projections.