Chamber and committees

The next question is from Colin Beattie.

We have lost connection with Adrian Gillespie. Will Douglas Colquhoun respond to that, please?

Please turn on Douglas’s microphone.

Adrian Gillespie is back online. I will give him a chance to contribute as he has managed to join the meeting. I understand that he had connectivity issues.

Good morning, and welcome to the fourth meeting in 2021 of the Economy and Fair Work Committee. I am pleased to welcome Maggie Chapman who has now joined the committee as a full member, replacing Lorna Slater. I look forward to working with Ms Chapman.

The first item of business is for me to invite Maggie to declare any interests that are relevant to the committee.

Our next item is to agree to take items 5 and 6 in private. Are members content with that?

Members indicated agreement.

Can you briefly respond to the comments we had from the FSB and Scottish Chambers of Commerce, who raised concerns about continuing complexity around the funding issues.

Thank you. We need to make some progress so I am going to hand over to Michelle Thomson for the next questions.

Thank you, Michelle. We will now move to Colin Beattie. I remind members that we have a busy agenda this morning, so it would be helpful if questions and answers could be succinct.

I just have time to bring in Maggie Chapman for a question.