Chamber and committees

So, there is no effect, and I am correct in saying that that issue is, effectively, looked after by the Treasury at Westminster and does not impact on us at all, as it stands.

Right. I am still toiling a wee bit, but, anyway, I will keep going. That £20.7 million is part of a total of £223.9 million that is included as savings in the ABR at the bottom of that table. After that, paragraph 51 states that there is a balance of £191.5 million. What is the difference between those two columns—the one that shows a total of £223.9 million and the one that shows a total of £191.5 million?

Okay. There is a degree of uncertainty around that column, and it could be that a department that looks like it is overspending manages to catch up over the next few months. That would be good news, I guess.

Paragraph 53 says:

“The EBR process identified approximately £615 million of additional options for spending reductions”.

So, those are not definite. That suggests that there is a degree of uncertainty around that figure.

Right. The final area that I wanted to ask about was the question of the spillover dispute with the UK Government. I know that that is a debate that has been going on for some time. I think that we have a figure of £375 million now: is that what the Scottish Government was expecting. Is it more or less?

That was a good estimate, so that is good.

Looking at the current year—2022-23—and the £25 million or whatever it might be, given what Liz Smith has already asked about with regard to how we are a bit uncertain about the timing of the framework review, I am a bit concerned that that is involving the current year’s budget. Presumably, the uncertainty about that figure causes you quite a lot of uncertainty about what you can do this year. I do not know whether there are other figures elsewhere that will be backdated to 1 April, depending on when the spending review is. We might not even know that until next year.

I am not sure that it does. I was not going to ask you about that paragraph, but now you have raised it, I will. Can we say that the £25 million is small enough in the scale of things to mean that we can just cope with that? We are looking at other figures, and I do not know whether the £25 million is in the £324 million or whether the £324 million is different.

I will pursue that point with Dr Cameron. Is there a big difference between large and small employers? It strikes me, from some of the things that we have heard from other witnesses, that although job sharing or training and reskilling people while they are in employment, for example, may work for big employers, they might be a problem for small employers.

Who should lead on that support? Should it be the employer, Skills Development Scotland or somebody else?

Thanks. That is helpful.

Long Covid has been mentioned. We had a brief answer that employers should do more to support workers—especially women—with long Covid. Can you expand on that and say what kind of help is needed? What should employers do?

I will leave it at that, convener.