Chamber and committees

On a slightly different issue, I am guessing that Covid-19 has kicked the national performance framework into the long grass with regard to measuring outcomes and so on. In your submission, you talk about

“financial pressures”

that are having

“an impact”

on the performance of

“some public services”

and the impact on delivering the national outcomes. Given the comprehensive impact of Covid-19, that is probably not surprising, but can you give us a bit more background on that?

If there is some clarity somewhere down the line, are you ready to carry out any additional work that might be necessary? That, of course, assumes that you will have a role and that there will be some function in Scotland in that respect.

That would be helpful. The second topic that I will talk about is labour shortages; perhaps they are part and parcel of the supply chain difficulties. We have all seen media reports that we are 100,000 truck drivers short and that 2,000 are leaving the trade every week with only 1,000 being recruited. I cannot guarantee those figures from the media; maybe Dave Moxham has something to say on the topic.

Can Rose Marley tell us about the trade environment and how skills shortages and supply chain difficulties are impacting it?

Is there anything that the Scottish Government can do, either immediately or in the long term, to create better resilience in supply chains? Is it completely outwith our control? Is there nothing we can do? Are the levers to make the decisions all in the hands of the UK Government? Perhaps I can bring Barry McCulloch back in on that.

Perhaps Charandeep Singh could comment on that. I am interested in the impact on sectors other than construction and food. Have you had feedback from your members?

I will focus on a couple of areas. The first is supply chains. We have all seen the apocalyptic pictures of supermarkets with empty shelves. I know from my area that building materials are at a premium; I have seen cement being rationed and councils being unable to carry out repairs to their tenants’ premises because they cannot access materials such as plasterboard. What impact is that having on the Scottish economy and on your businesses? I will not name a particular witness, because I think that the matter affects everyone.

Just to—

Is there anything that the Scottish Government can do to improve the supply chain or the availability of labour?

Perhaps Carolyn Currie can comment on supply chains and skills shortages.