Chamber and committees

As there are no more questions, that brings us to the end of the session. Thank you for attending this morning, minister.

I will suspend the meeting to allow for a change of witnesses.

We will make some progress. Maggie Chapman is next, to be followed by Kevin Stewart.

How are we going to monitor the impact of that £1.5 million so that we know whether it is making a difference? How is the Government going to measure the effectiveness of that investment in encouraging women into business?

There was previously a £50 million commitment. Is it anticipated that the £1.5 million for this year will increase in future years? It would take us almost 20 years to get to £50 million if we were to go at the rate of £1.5 million a year. Is the £50 million commitment still there?

Will that be shared with the committee? You have given a rough idea of how the £1.5 million is to be spent, but we might have questions about geographical spread, which the committee is interested in. Will we get a more detailed picture of how the money will be invested?

The minister referred to correspondence that we have had from the rural affairs secretary, who has raised concerns that there would be potential competition from producers in countries with lower animal welfare standards. Can the minister speak to that this morning? I appreciate that it was the rural affairs secretary who contacted us about that issue, but if the Scottish Government is going to monitor the impact of the agreement on Scottish producers, is that still an area of concern?

I have a technical question about the LCM. The Scottish Government says that the amendments

“do amount to material divergence from EU law, however they are very minor”,

and it recommends giving consent to the bill. One of the regulations involves the way in which a contract is advertised. Currently, there is an option to include the value of the successful tender, or the values of the highest and lowest tenders. To comply with the terms of CPTPP membership, the option to include the highest and lowest tenders instead of the actual contract value will be removed. Does that have any impact, or is there any significance to that change?

Our next item of business is an evidence session on the Scottish Government’s 2024-25 budget, which was published on 19 December 2023. The Finance and Public Administration Committee’s chamber debate on the budget will take place tomorrow.

I welcome Neil Gray, Cabinet Secretary for Wellbeing Economy, Fair Work and Energy. He is joined by Colin Cook, director of economic development; Aidan Grisewood, director of economic strategy; and Kathy Johnston, deputy director, economic analysis and head of economist profession, all from the Scottish Government.

As always, members and witnesses should keep questions and answers as concise as possible. I invite Neil Gray to make an opening statement.

Thank you, cabinet secretary. You have outlined areas of investment and spoken about energy policy. The wellbeing economy and fair work budget will reduce by 8 per cent in real terms compared with the current year. The committee recognises the difficult financial decisions that the Government has to make but, in this portfolio, we see a reduction. The Scottish Fiscal Commission in looking at the longer-term prospects for the Scottish economy, still sees subdued long-term gross domestic product growth and lack of productivity growth. We also have population challenges that come from an ageing population.

How does an 8 per cent cut to the budget align with the ways in which we are trying to address the long-term challenges that Scotland faces?

Last year, at the time of the budget, the committee raised similar concerns about the tourism and hospitality sector, and we received a similar response. It was said that there was no additional resource for that sector but that, if there were any flexibilities in-year, additional support for the sector would be considered. That did not materialise to any extent. Can you give us a clear indication today that you hear the sector’s concerns and that, if there were to be some flexibility, you would engage with the sector in order to consider how it could be supported?