Chamber and committees

That was helpful. As no one else wants to come in on that, I will move on.

Homes for Scotland has made suggestions about Government support schemes. Help to buy has been scrapped in Scotland. If we are heading into a period in which it will be more difficult for people to find a deposit to enable them to buy a home, what should the Scottish Government do? Should it put that scheme back in place, to help people to get deposits, or is there a different model to support private buyers and to enable private homes to go on being built? Fionna Kell, we heard you express concerns about a 30 per cent reduction in the number of affordable and social rented homes that will be delivered by a strong private build. What is your view on the future of help to buy and other models of support?

That was interesting. Thank you.

As no one else wants to come in on that point, I will move on, in the interests of time. What are the witnesses’ views on the UK Government’s Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill, and specifically on the missions in it that relate to housing? For example, the UK Government wants renters to have a secure pathway to ownership by 2030. What do the witnesses think about the bill and the impact that it will have on devolved areas?

If no one wants to comment, I will hand back to the convener.

Thank you.

In the interests of time, I will try to merge my questions on the equality and fairer Scotland budget statement. Could the Scottish Government have gone further in that statement by presenting, even in broad terms, how it has sought to minimise the impact of real-terms cuts in some budget areas? Could local government be one of those areas, given that it has had a £250 million cut? As the cabinet secretary has said, that will impact on the policy agendas that local government is tasked with delivering. The committee has been very passionate about free school meals, but councils’ ability to write off school meal debt is being impacted. Has the cabinet secretary considered the unintended consequences relating to other budget areas and delivering this portfolio agenda?

Specifically, and it has been raised already with regard to writing off public sector debt, we have heard a lot of evidence on free school meal debts. Some of the parliamentary questions that I have lodged have been answered by saying that that is for local authorities to decide, and they will tell us that they do not have the resources to do that.

We have heard evidence that council tax debt is likely to increase during the cost of living crisis, as it is one of the areas in which people decide that they cannot and will not pay. When it comes to a wider strategy around such debt, where is the Government on the potential writing off of some of it? School meals are also a priority area for all of us.

Good morning. I thank the cabinet secretaries and their officials for joining us this morning.

There are reports today that the £41 million that the Scottish Government received from the UK Government to alleviate the cost of living crisis has not been allocated. Where is that additional resource likely to be allocated? Will there be a statement to Parliament about that before the recess?

We have already discussed policies on tackling child poverty. What work is the Government undertaking to analyse how resources are being targeted in policies? We have had that discussion in relation to children in temporary accommodation on a number of occasions, and resources do not seem to be being well utilised, given that the cost is £27,000 per case. Is wider reform of resource allocation taking place?

What consideration has the Scottish Government given to improving debt management through a public sector debt management strategy?

We heard from the cabinet secretary about the importance of link workers. However, linking people in should be looked at not just across local government but in the national health service and in education services. We have heard that people sometimes do not get early intervention, or that they do not look for that support, so there might be an opportunity to build that in across Government and public services.

Yes. I was just going to hand back to you.

That is very helpful. Thanks very much.

That leads on to the discussions that are taking place at the minute between local government and the Scottish Government around the new fiscal framework. What is the Accounts Commission’s view on how that could work and how local flexibility could be built in, of which the committee keeps hearing councils want more? I would like to hear your views on the fiscal framework.