Chamber and committees

What does 3 per cent represent in cash terms, and what private sector investment would that bring in over, say, five years?

I wonder how difficult it is going to be to find a joiner, a plumber or an electrician in Australia in 2050 if they move to 80 per cent of the workforce going into tertiary education.

I call John Mason, to be followed by Michelle Thomson.

Vikki, you have said:

“To enable the economy to grow, it is critical that support is given to the small businesses who make up almost all enterprises”.

You have mentioned

“the reintroduction of targeted reliefs for the retail, hospitality, and leisure sector.”

We know that £685 million is going into rates relief across the board this year but, given that the Scottish Government is under severe pressure with its budget, which is more or less fixed—unless we put taxes up, which no one seems keen on at this point, apart from John Mason—and given what we heard from David Lott, who said that £10 million or £15 million of additional funding for research could perhaps bring in eight times that amount in economic activity, should scarce money not go to that sector to create greater innovation, productivity and output, rather than to small businesses, for example, if there is additional money available? That is the kind of question that the Government is wrestling with, so what would you say in response to that?

One of the interesting things that you said in your submission was:

“One high-level observation we would make on this consultation exercise is that in many cases it asks the wrong questions.”

You go on to talk about that in some detail, but can you explain why you believe that it asked the wrong questions, and what questions should have been asked?

Professor Heald, taxation is one area in which you have great expertise, and you spent a great deal of time on it in your submission. Correct me if I am wrong, but, when I read your submission, a great feeling of frustration came across. You basically said that the United Kingdom tax system is a complete mess and that the Scottish Government has not really done anything to ameliorate that. How should the Scottish Government make progress on addressing that issue?

Ms Manson, do you want to comment on regulation?

If the UK Government is not of a mind to do that—I do not see any evidence that it is, at this point—what can the Scottish Government do with its budget to make things more rational?

Richard Robinson, you said in your written submission that

“any tax strategy to consider the overall costs and benefits”

should

“be clear about how these align with its tax framework.”

Should the Scottish Government therefore publish information about the behavioural impacts that are anticipated from its decisions?

Professor Bell, in your submission, you said that

“carefully planned public sector investments will be crucial to help to achieve the increase in productivity growth that is critical for the future of our economy and the public finances.”

Of course, there is great concern about productivity at the moment. In what areas do you believe that capital should be invested in order to boost productivity at this time?

They are worried about being able to get from A to B.