Chamber and committees

Okay. We have talked about the new chief executive. Will the Scottish Government or its agencies be involved in that, or is it just a matter for yourselves?

Yes, I have a brief question about supply chains. It has been reported that the former Minister for Transport, Graeme Dey, said £1.5 billion could be needed for replacement ferries. That could be an opportunity for shipbuilding, but contracts to build ferries have gone to Turkey—as you are well aware. How can the strategy support our shipbuilding sector and ensure that Caledonian Maritime Assets is looking at yards here—not only Government-owned yards, but others—and ensuring that procurement processes work, and how can the strategy work with the UK Government’s refreshed shipbuilding strategy?

You have not had any interaction with regard to—

The convener has covered the views of the Fraser of Allander Institute, but a number of other organisations and pretty eminent people have raised concerns. In the chamber, I raised with you the response of Professor Ronald MacDonald, who said:

“This report provides a widely known and understood diagnosis of the problems facing the Scottish economy but, on solutions, it is simply a rehash of all the failed scripts that we have seen since 2007 ... The kind of substantive issues we need to discuss are simply not there.”

You have talked about your hopes for the strategy and delivery. How will you measure that delivery and keep us updated on where the strategy is in that regard?

Right. Did the Scottish Government inquire about the reasons behind the resignation?

It is a board matter, and the board’s final choice will be put before the cabinet secretary for appointment.

There was no—I am trying to think of the correct term—non-disclosure agreement, gagging order or anything like that, so she would be quite available to speak.

I do not want to put words into Professor MacDonald’s mouth, but I think that he was suggesting that you have not diagnosed the problems. They have been well known in the economics sector, and there seems at last to be a recognition in Government of some of the issues.

The Fraser of Allander Institute has concerns about whether, even if the measures are achieved, that will lead to the plan succeeding as you believe it will. I appreciate that you said that we cannot read the future, but are you concerned that, even if the plan’s objectives or ambitions are achieved in terms of deliverables, that might not lead to the success that you want?

It would certainly be useful to get more detail on the cases, because that would give us an idea of where the backlog is having an impact and who it is impacting on.

You have also talked about expediting. What are the criteria for a case to be expedited? Is it about the size of an organisation or the number of cases that it has?

For clarification, when is it expected that the corporate plan will be published?