Chamber and committees

International trade and investment spending has seen an increase of 11.2 per cent. The Government’s target is to increase international exports by 25 per cent towards the end of the decade. The document that directs all that was published in 2019 and within priority 1 markets was the European Union. Obviously, that relationship has changed, so can the cabinet secretary give us an update on what it is hoped the increased spend will achieve and whether we will see a refreshment of that target in the export strategy?

Thank you. I have a final question on consolidated accounts, which the Public Audit Committee is looking at at the moment. The 2021-22 accounts show an underspend of £536 million in the finance and economy budget. I suppose that we will know the consolidated accounts for the year that we are currently in in December, but there have been a number of areas—I mentioned employability and Ms Hyslop mentioned VisitScotland—where we believe that, if it was available, small amounts of money could make quite a big difference. Is there any expectation that there will be flexibility in the coming budget as we move into the 2023-24 period?

Thank you. That brings us to the end of this evidence session. I briefly suspend the meeting.

Our next item of business is an evidence session on Scotland’s national strategy for economic transformation. We previously took evidence from the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Economy in March 2022, when the “Delivering Economic Prosperity” report was published. In October 2022, the Scottish Government published the delivery plans.

I ask members and witnesses to be as concise as possible. A number of issues have previously been discussed in the budget sessions, so targeted questions would be helpful.

This is our first session since the delivery plans were published. The strategy is a long-term one, so this is an opportunity for the committee to start to set out ways in which we will look to scrutinise its development.

It is fair to say that there were mixed reports when the strategy was published in March. Tom Hunter said that it was “a wish list”, and Roz Foyer made some critical comments about missed opportunities. I hope that the publication of the delivery plans will have provided people with more engagement and given them some confidence in the way forward.

However, I have some questions. How is the strategy different from previous strategies? Since the Parliament was created, we have had a number of economic strategies. Nevertheless, productivity in Scotland is still lower than it is among our European counterparts, and economic growth is not as high as we would like it to be. What is different about this 10-year strategy that will lead to a step change in Scotland’s economy?

That is helpful. The committee is about to undertake a short inquiry into the disability employment gap, so that will help to inform our discussions.

Our next item of business is an evidence session on the Scottish Government’s 2023-24 budget. The budget was published on 15 December 2022 and the stage 1 debate on the Budget (Scotland) (No 2) Bill is expected to take place in the next few weeks. Today’s evidence session is on the areas in the budget that come within the committee’s remit.

I welcome John Swinney, Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Covid Recovery. He is joined by the Scottish Government officials Colin Cook, director of economic development; Aidan Grisewood, interim director of economic strategy; Kathleen Swift, head of the economic directorate finance unit; and Richard Rollison, director for international trade and investment.

As always, it would be helpful if members and witnesses could keep their contributions as concise as possible.

I invite the Deputy First Minister to make a short opening statement.

That is helpful to know. How much will that increase be? Will it compensate for the £53 million cut?

I would hope that it would be during this calendar year, as it is an annual report. When you are in a position to give the committee a clear idea of at least which season we are looking at—whether it is summer or autumn—it would be helpful if you could tell us.

Colin Smyth has a supplementary question on business rates.

Before I bring in Graham Simpson, I have a quick question about our budget letter. We asked about the women’s business centre, which the Government had committed to. The Government’s response does not provide much confidence that that remains a policy commitment—it seems to be conditional on Ana Stewart’s review. Is there still a commitment to a women’s business centre in relation to the £50 million?