Holyrood proposes to cut budget

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/scotland/8361264.stm

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Scottish Parliament bosses have put forward plans for a cut in their overall budget for the coming year.

Holyrood's management team, the corporate body, has said it needed £102.1m for 2010-11 - a decrease of £1.5m compared to the current year.

The figures came in a letter to the parliament's finance committee.

There would be a slight increase in the Scottish Parliament's "directly controllable" costs, of £100,000, which have been put at £46.7m.

Scottish Parliament chiefs are required to budget for areas which they do not directly control, such as MSP salaries, which are linked to pay for MPs set at Westminster.

The Scottish Parliament Corporate Body, whose budget also funds Scotland's commissioners and ombudsmen, also said it had improved service provision within existing funding levels.

Holyrood Presiding Officer Alex Fergusson stated in the letter: "We have a challenging responsibility to balance the financial impact on the public purse of these budget proposals with the need to ensure that officeholders are funded to undertake their statutory responsibilities."