Chamber and committees

Thank you. Does anyone else want to come in on this one? If not, I am happy to leave it there, convener.

Just very quickly, convener, on a couple of things. As a committee, we have looked previously at the number of contractors that you use. I think that there are about 3,800 full-time equivalent staff. How many of them are contractors? I did not visit Dundee last week, but I have been twice. Can you tell us how many of the desks in the Dundee office are used daily? How much are people working at home compared to being in the office? It is a large office.

And the Dundee office?

With respect, cabinet secretary, it was agreed in the chamber last night that the Scottish capital budget has gone up this year; it has not gone down.

Before I go on to that, the cabinet secretary talked about wanting to help and work with local authorities, but I did not hear about any money lying behind that. Perhaps, for reasons of time, you could write to us about what extra money local authorities will get to help Ukrainian refugees. I appreciate that we have to move on.

Last year, the cabinet secretary wrote to us saying that she was “determined to move forward” with fairer funding “in the next financial year”—that is, 2023-24—for the third sector. Can you give us a brief update on what progress has been made and how much third sector funding will be made as two-year grants in the 2024-25 budget?

I am sure that it would assist.

This is my final question, and it is probably the easiest one of the day for you. Will you keep the committee informed of the number of funding notifications for 2024-25 that are made before the end of March 2024?

There is a clear link between homelessness and housing. In Edinburgh, people are turning up who are homeless and cannot get accommodation. If we cut the budget for the housing supply by 27 per cent, the long-term effect is that we will have more homeless people, because there will be no homes for them to live in. Will that short-term measure have immense long-term implications for homeless people across Scotland?

I am grateful.

I think that we are on the fourth cabinet secretary or minister who has made that promise of multiyear funding for the third sector. We are probably three or four years down the road now, but it still does not seem to be happening. What is the likely date when the Scottish Government will actually provide multiyear funding for the third sector, rather than just saying that it is a commitment?

Thank you. I will go on to my final question. What are the main elements of uncertainty in the costings for pension-age disability payment and pension-age winter heating payment? For the record, I am in receipt of the higher rate of PIP.