Chamber and committees

That is helpful, and I agree with your analysis of the situation. As we come out of Covid, the issue is that the number of disabled people who are unemployed has gone up compared with the pre-Covid figure, and that is true across many other parts of the world, so it is not just a Scottish issue. However, the percentage of disabled people who are unemployed is now much higher in Scotland than it is, for example, in England. My concern is that those who are particularly disabled and want to get back into employment will not get those services. Is it your analysis that the figure is likely to grow higher and that more disabled people will be unemployed in the next six to nine months because they are not getting the holistic support that they need to get into employment?

I have just couple of questions, Deputy First Minister. How did you make the decision to cut that budget, and what effect will it have on encouraging people to use public transport rather than their cars?

I will pick up on the new youth concessionary travel scheme. I say this as somebody who is a non-driver and who therefore uses the bus a lot: it amazes me how many children in Edinburgh are still not using the scheme. They are putting their fare in and paying for the bus.

One reason for that is that the scheme is quite complicated to apply for; I say that as somebody who tried to get it three times for my children. There is variation across Scotland in how to apply and how easy it is to apply. I wonder, not necessarily for this project, but looking forward, whether the Scottish Government could make applying for the scheme easier. The issue concerns me, particularly as people who struggle to get access to the internet or do not have a passport are not necessarily picking up on the scheme. They may be the people who need the scheme more than those who have already applied for it.

I want to get a bit more detail on how the £82 million was going to be used in the first place. I am not sure that I could find that information within anything that has come to us. What was it going to be used for?

If I can push on that a wee bit, Deputy First Minister, I am not sure that I understand yet what that £82 million was going to be used for. I appreciate that the money goes into a big pot, and you described how that pot is spent. However, it is hard for the committee and the Parliament to know the intended purpose if we do not know how the £82 million was going to be spent. For example, was it for social security or education? Presumably, you had allocated £82 million to a particular Government department or budget. Where is that money coming from?

Thank you for making the time to speak to us this morning. To follow on from Pam Duncan-Glancy’s questions, what will be the practical effects with regard to the employability budget reduction? You said that there is an increase in the budget and that the changes will not affect services that are being provided. I am trying to work out what the extra £56 million was planned to do, if its absence is not going to affect direct services.

Maybe I will try just one more time. On a practical level, will it mean that a particular service is affected? It is a reasonable amount of money, so does it mean that a third sector charity will not be getting funding or that a particular project will not now be run? I appreciate that this is happening at a high level, but what consequence will it have for individuals in Scotland for the next six months?

Can you give us a list of those programmes?

Okay. I am a bit confused, but I am sure that others will pick that up.

Thank you, both, for coming. I appreciate the situation that you are in, but today we are trying to look forward to next year’s budget. We must remember that we are here to scrutinise the Scottish Government’s budget, not the UK Government’s budget. This is the Scottish Parliament and we are responsible for the decisions that are made here by our Parliament and our Government.

With regard to the budget for next year—we are considering next year’s budget, not the current position—what priorities do you want the Scottish Government to have?