MSPs: John Swinney fails to produce growth Budget Details of the vote were contained in the committee's final report, published today. Gavin Brown, Scottish Tory finance spokesman said it represented an "embarrassing defeat" for the SNP. "The committee failed to support the Scottish Government's central proposition for the budget that it is a budget for growth and jobs," he said, arguing that the only one of the committee's witness who claimed it did was Mr Swinney himself. The SNP's budget started to unravel the day after it was delivered. That unravelling shows no sign of stopping. Michael McMahon, a Labour committee member, also accused of SNP members voting for a motion that was contradicted with the evidence they heard. "Witness after witness argued the opposite and it seems only those under the SNP whip believe this set of spending priorities is about creating jobs," he said. Along with Prof Bell, the Scottish Council for Development and Industry and the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations testified the £28.5 billion Budget focused on health instead of the economy. The NHS is to receive an extra £290 million next year despite the overall Budget falling in real terms. The committee's report questioned whether the Scottish Government had conducted any analysis of whether its spending choices were contributing to economic growth. MSPs welcomed Mr Swinney's decision to help the construction industry by switching more money to capital spending for new public roads and buildings. But they criticised the minister for failing to "explicitly" tell them the amount allocated for next year had been cut by more than half, from the £686 million originally planned to £338 million. Kenneth Gibson, the committee's SNP convener, welcomed the Scottish Government's emphasis on capital spending but called for greater clarity about their benefits and which projects were being supported. A Scottish Government spokesman said: "The reality is, the draft budget is focused on jobs and growth because this Government is doing everything it can, within its limited power, to stimulate economic growth."