International experts will undertake an independent review of the Scottish Fiscal Commission this summer.
This review is a legal requirement for the Commission and is in line with internationally-agreed best practice for independent fiscal institutions. The review will be led by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
In addition to OECD staff, the review team will include three international experts: Mostafa Askari, Chief Economist at the Institute of Fiscal Studies and Democracy and former Deputy Parliamentary Budget Officer at the Canadian Parliamentary Budget Office. Carlos Marinheiro, member of the Board for the Portuguese Public Finance Council and Assistant Professor at the Department of Economics of University of Coimbra. Scott Cameron, (technical reviewer), Parliamentary Budget Office Training Program Manager (Cambodia) and former Fiscal Manager at the Canadian Parliamentary Budget Office.
The independent review team will assess the Commission’s analytical capacity, independence, accountability and visibility, measuring it against the OECD Principles for Independent Fiscal Institutions. It will use an evaluation framework developed by the OECD Network of Parliamentary Budget Officials and Independent Fiscal Institutions and will include a specific technical review of the Commission’s analytical models.
The review team’s report will be published and laid before the Scottish Parliament later in the year.