Green MSP Patrick Harvie seeks assurance that no part of the developers contribution will be borne by taxpayers.

Mr Mackay confirms this will not be the case as the burden will still be on the developers to fulfill their obligations.

The committee moves into private to consider the eivdence heard.

SNP MSP Angela Constance explains the development is part of the City Deal.

The Edinburgh and south east Scotland city deal was formally signed off by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and Prime Minister Theresa May in August.

The UK and Scottish governments are investing £300m each in the project.

Ms Constance says it is important to know the when and the why of how the Scottish government got involved.

Mr Mackay says he supposes the financial element was between the developers and the council, leading to finding out what the Scottish government was willing to to to ensure the development happens.

Mr Mackay says he supposes the financial element was between the developers and the council, leading to finding out what the Scottish government was willing to to to ensure the development happens.

He explains the government aims to minimise the risk .

Mr Mackay says this is exceptional because of the scale.

Normally developers would end up walking away but because of the public benefits, the local authority has sought other ways to ensure it can continue he explains.

Tory MSP Alexander Burnett asks if the issue is banks becoming more restrictive in lending and therefore if this could be the first of several requests.

Mr Mackay says this is a useful financial tool for the government to ensure a worthwhile development can go ahead.

He emphasises the various safeguards in place which means that approval is required from parliament before finance can be given.

Image source, bbbc

Will Quinn from the Scottish government explains the delivery of the school is a planning requirement and the developer can't front fund it.

Mr Crawford asks if at the beginning of this process it was anticipated that the government would be required to be involved.

Mr Quinn explains the developer and West Lothian council have been negotiating for many years.

Image source, bbc

Finance Secretary Derek Mackay explains he is here to invite MSPs to approve a £15m contingent liability to unlock the development of a major site at Winchburgh in Central Scotland.

Mr Mackay warns the development is on the point of stalling and urgent Scottish government action is required.

Committee convener Bruce Crawford asks how we have come to this state of affairs.

Mr Mackay explains there has been a lot of up front costs and ultimately it is about planning consent and why this financial tool is required.

We are hearing from:

• Finance Secretary Derek Mackay
• Will Quinn from the Scottish government
• Michael Walker from the Scottish government

Finance Secretary Derek Mackay will now give evidence to the committee.

The cabinet secretary wrote to Bruce Crawford in regard of "a high leverage economic stimulus in the form of a “Standby Loan Facility” necessary to unlock the development of a major site at Winchburgh in Central Scotland."

Mr Mackay explained: " Winchburgh in West Lothian is a key economic growth area, one of seven strategic priority sites for development identified in the Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region (ESESCR) Deal signed on 7 August.

Image source, PA

Mr Mackay says: " Unlocking the development of Winchburgh will result in the delivery of two new secondary schools, at least two new primary schools, transport infrastructure including a new railway station and motorway junction, 3450 new homes, and community facilities including a library and health care facilities."

The finance secretary warns that the development could fall without a financing solution.

He calls for the unlock solution, which involves the proposed Standby Facility which would incur a contingent liability with a maximum total financial exposure of £15 million, to be approved by the committee.

Read more here., external

Tory MSP Murdo Fraser asks if 2017-18 is a "blip" and whether GDP growth will revert to being below the UK figure.

Dame Susan Rice says the SFC extracted the construction data to consider trends in the sector for the long-term view.

This means the 2017-18 figures were "flattened" in the long-term view, so this did not change much.

Prof Smith adds that all the indications suggest there will be still be subdued growth.

Image source, bbc

SNP MSP Angela Constance, the former social security secretary, begins by expressing great interest in the difficulties the SFC had getting data from the DWP, "which just for the record I find truly shocking".

Ms Constance explains the SFC are particularly reliant on the DWP data.

She asks about the SFC working with other UK bodies and if that best practice could be applied to working with the DWP.

Dame Susan Rice explains this is an "evolving landscape" and explains everyone is learning.

She says with the UK bodies there has been a very good working relationship with the OBR and an understanding with HMRC and good progress has been made there.

Dame Susan adds she would like to see the memorandum of understanding enhanced.

Scotland's public finances have continued to show some improvement over the past year, according to Scottish government statistics.

The Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland (Gers), externalreport said the country spent £13.4bn more than it raised in taxes in the past financial year.

The deficit as a percentage of the country's GDP dropped from 8.9% to 7.9% - still four times higher than the UK.

The UK's spending deficit dropped by £6.4bn to £39.4bn in 2017/18.

This was the lowest figure since since 2007, and the equivalent of 1.9% of the UK's GDP.

• Gers: One report, many interpretations
• What is Gers and how is it calculated?
• Read the Gers report, external
• Gers: Who's 'subsidy', and where?
• Read more here

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SFC commissioner Professor Alasdair Smith explains there were problems in the construction sector data.

"It was hard to believe they were so accurate, they were jumping around so much."

It is for the Scottish government statisticians to deal with this and they have produced an unusually large revision, he states.

Image source, bbc

Convener Bruce Crawford raises the £550m gap from income tax receipts, asking why this would have no impact on the budget.

Dame Susan Rice says 2016-17 is the baseline, which means this is the point when the block grant is altered.

This means there is no net impact on the budget, she states.

Image source, bbc

Committee convener Bruce Crawford asks about not being able to secure informaton from the DWP, who treated the SFC request as an FOI.

Mr Crawford asks if these matters have been raised with the Social Security Committee.

Dame Susan replies: "It was a significant challenge."

She tells Mr Crawford the committee has yet to sit and she explains the SFC needs to act independently and needs to get its own data, not via the Scottish government.

Mr Crawford points out this is a primary requirement and urges the SFC to write to the Social Security Committee.

Image source, bbc

Scotland's economy is set for five more years of "subdued" growth, lagging behind the UK as a whole, the Scottish Fiscal Commission has warned.

The forecaster cut its estimates for the coming years, saying growth will fail to exceed 1% in the years to 2023.

It also predicted that wages will fall in real terms this year, and will not start to rise until 2020.

The Scottish government insisted the "challenging" outlook was a result of UK government austerity policies.

But opposition parties claimed the "grim" forecasts showed that the SNP should focus more on economic matters than the constitution.

• Look back on the financial strategy statement on Holyrood Live
• Read more here

Turning to economic forecasts, Dame Susan says the official forecasts were revised up to 1.3% for 2017-18 due to large revisions in construction activity.

The original estimate of 0.7% for 2017-18 now looks too low, she states.

However, Dame Susan explains the average growth since 2011-11 has fallen slightly.

Our review is that there is no evidence to alter our analysis about underlying subdued growth, she adds.