Chamber and committees

When can we expect to see that?

Okay. Thank you. We will watch that with interest.

You used the word “challenging” a few times. It is worth noting, for the record, that the word used by the Auditor General is “concerning”. In paragraph 17 of the report, he said:

“The financial position of the NHS in Scotland is concerning.”

There is, I think, a suggestion there that things are not as they should be and that there are potential consequences for the kind of treatment that people can expect to get.

I will turn to what is, I suppose, at the heart of many of the questions that we are asking you this morning. How long does the Scottish Government think that it will take to clear the current backlog and fully recover healthcare services to a pre-pandemic level?

Yes, but the conclusion that has been drawn by the Auditor General is that you need to work more closely with the NHS boards.

Thanks. I turn to Bill Kidd for the final series of questions.

I take it from that that your answer is not yes. Do you accept the recommendation from the Auditor General?

I have a couple of questions about the wider business picture and the future of the yard. I think that I can speak for the committee as a whole in saying that we ask these questions because we want the yard to succeed and have a long-term future.

The present management team is involved in an arrangement with BAE Systems. From memory of what we heard when we visited the yard, that does not just involve sending FMPG employees down to the BAE Systems yards in Glasgow; it is also about work being brought from BAE Systems to be carried out in Port Glasgow. In the report that we have before us this morning, you say that some cash-flow issues arose from uncertainties about the financial arrangement between BAE Systems and FMPG. Could you elaborate a bit more on what those uncertainties are?

I was referring to the line in your report that states that FMPG considers there to be

“limited shipbuilding skills available in Scotland and that, to date, it has been unable to compete effectively with the private sector for skilled staff.”

Do you want to address that point?

You have both spoken about the other income being small-scale. Can you give the committee an idea of what it is, as a proportion of the income that is going into FMPG? Is it 2 per cent, or 10 or 15 per cent?

Yes—we will let you move on, and you can come back to that.

My other question concerns the FMI report; I guess that I am asking you if you want to add to what you said about that earlier. Is the FMI report the report that has been commissioned by the Government and the yard? Is there other work going on? What is the synergy between the Scottish Government sponsorship team and the yard in developing a plan for a viable, long-term future?

I am interested in shipbuilding skills.