Chamber and committees

We turn to questions from Jeremy Balfour.

There are members with additional questions, so may I bring you back in on that?

Thank you.

Jeremy Balfour is going to start our questions on cost of living consequentials and child poverty.

Jeremy Balfour has a follow-up question.

I thank Gordon MacRae and Frank McKillop for coming along. If there is anything that they feel they need to follow up in writing with us, they should feel free to do so.

The First Minister will, no doubt, share my deep concern about research by KPMG that states that the cost crisis is forcing three in 10 people in the United Kingdom to rely on savings in order to afford basic necessities such as food, shelter and fuel. Does she agree that the Westminster Tory UK Government’s crashing of the economy can only make the situation worse, and that missing-in-action Prime Minister Liz Truss must ditch the policies from last week and think again?

We move to our final theme for the panel, which is the equality and fairer Scotland budget statement. To start the questions, I will hand over to my colleague Jeremy Balfour, and then to Foysol Choudhury.

Thank you very much for that, and thank you both for coming along and sharing your thoughts and insight in giving evidence. It has been very helpful. I suspend the meeting briefly, to allow for a changeover of witnesses.

Ed Pybus, do you want to come in briefly? We are starting to run out of time and we have loads of questions to get through.

I thank the witnesses for their attendance and the evidence that they have given, and I ask that they follow up in writing on any issues on which they think that that is required. We are keen to engage with the Poverty and Inequality Commission in relation to the offer that Morag Treanor made to Paul McLennan.

I close the public part of the meeting.