 Diolch. The first item of business today is portfolio questions, and the first portfolio is COVID-19 recovery in parliamentary business. I would ask those members who wish to request the supplementary question to press their request to speak button during the relevant question or to indicate in the chat function by pressing the letter's RTS during the relevant question. Question 1, Tess White. Dwi'n dod o draws y Cyffredinidau a'r ddwy同 o gaelio i gaelio o'r parffodus o'r Cyffredinidau yn y coronavirus, Rhefoac terfomwyl Scotland Act 2022. Y ddelch yn yr Argych Assumwy Yn y 32 actu sefydlu oedd y Prifysgol Tyfnod 2022 gyda'r Llyfr, gwiriau hefyd. Mae y cwestiynau, ond, yn llawer mewn ydysgu terfodol, decide whether they should be extended. That review must include consultation with those ministers, which those ministers consider appropriate. If ministers do decide that any measure should be extended, they will lay two documents before Parliament, draft regulations to extend the measures by one year and a statement summarising the review findings, the consultation undertaken and the reasons given for seeking an extension. Any regulations would be subject to the affirmative procedure. The Coronavirus Recovery and Reform Act gave the Scottish Government the power to release prisoners prematurely at the stroke of a ministerial pen. This power was used to disastrous effect during the pandemic when at least 40 per cent of those were released early by this Government. They went on to re-offend. At the very least, will the Cabinet Secretary rule out extending those powers to release prisoners early, given how disastrous the power was used the first time? I wouldn't, for a moment, accept the characterisation of the difficult issues with which we wrestled during the Covid pandemic that Tess White has offered in the supplementary question to me today. The issues that she raises are issues that must be considered carefully by ministers, as I have said in my original answer, be subject to consultation with relevant interested parties. Of course, on that particular power, there would have to be very extensive consultation and dialogue with interested parties, and particularly with victims. I give Parliament the assurance that the Government will carefully consider all of those issues as we would be expected of us under statute. Sharn Dowie To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact on the delivery of its Covid recovery strategy of the auditor general's comments that it underspent its budget by £2 billion in the financial year 2021-22. The Covid recovery strategy is focused on reducing inequalities in tackling poverty, and the Scottish Government is using all available resources to support those in most need during the on-going cost crisis. The Scottish Government annual accounts provide explanations of all significant variances in the portfolio-outturn statements and make it clear that the underspend that was reported does not represent a loss of spending power. The underspend includes more than £900 million of non-cash and ring-fence budgets. It is before allowing for late funding adjustments of more than £500 million and makes use of the limited carry-forward in the Scotland reserve. The Scottish Government has reported transparently at the provisional outturn, and we will confirm the final outturn positioned to Parliament shortly. All funding is fully utilised in supporting the 2022-23 budget. The Deputy First Minister cannot claim that an enormous underspend of £2 billion made no difference to Scotland's recovery from Covid, but let's now focus on making sure that this does not happen again. The auditor general Stephen Boyle has called for greater transparency around the Government's spending. He has said that the Government's accounts do not tell us the full picture. The auditor wants to see a single public sector account. Last week, the Deputy First Minister deflected and refused to give a straight answer, but can the public now have a clear decision? Will the SNP Government be more transparent with its spending or not? The Government is immensely transparent about its expenditure. The Minister for Public Finance has set out to Parliament in a provisional outturn statement. I have come to Parliament about the financial challenges that we face this year in relation to two occasions, which I did not need to do. I came here voluntarily and offered a statement. The Opposition never asked for it. I came here and offered two statements voluntarily involving significant adjustments to our budget for this year. I have to return to the points that I made when I answered Mr Fraser's question on this last week, or perhaps the week before, to Sharon Dowey. It is just simply, completely and utterly economically illiterate for it to be suggested that there is money within that total that I could have spent. I cannot. There are ring-fence budgets of about £900 million that it is beyond my right to spend. If the Conservatives could possibly look at the official report—I went through all of this with Murdo Fraser on 6 December, which is just last week. I went through all of this with Murdo Fraser, and if Sharon Dowey would perhaps go and read the official report, she will understand how ridiculous the question is that she has just put to me, and perhaps put a question to me in due course that perhaps gets nearer to the substance of the issue. Last month, the Deputy First Minister cut £400 million from health and social care budgets, including the primary care improvement fund, which supports GPs to increase capacity in local practices. Does the Deputy First Minister understand why staff and patients are concerned that ministers are picking their pockets by cutting funding, claiming that they have no other choice despite the fact that they sat on an underspend of £2 billion last year? Will he take the opportunity now to indicate that he will reverse those cuts for the next year's budget? I am going to have to send Jackie Baillie a copy of last week's official report. I thought that Jackie Baillie would have known about the fact that there are large parts of the total figures that were set out in the Government's accounts that the Government cannot redeploy for other purposes. Just to reassure Jackie Baillie in case she is worried about this, all available spending power that was not fully utilised last year is being able to be utilised in this and future years, so there is no loss of resources. On the subject of picking pockets, the Government has reallocated resources within the health budget. Nothing has been removed from the health budget. It has been re-prioritised within health to do what? To make sure that we can afford a 7.5 per cent pay deal for agenda for change staff within the health service. We are, in fact, putting money into the pockets of staff, and I am delighted that members of the trade unions Unison and Unite have voted to accept the Government's pay offer. The quality of dialogue between the Government and the trade unions in Scotland is significantly better than the discussions between the United Kingdom Government and the trade unions in England. I might also add that there is Mr Weiss' streeting and the Labour Party in England and the trade unions south of the border. I ask if the Deputy First Minister agrees with me that it would be good to know whether Sharon Downey or any of her Tory colleagues have made any representations to the UK Government ahead of the budget statement to be set out tomorrow for Scotland to be granted borrowing powers that would allow the Scottish Government to manage its budget effectively and to respond to the repeated economic shocks that are created by the ill-judged and damaging economic policies of the UK Government? I assume that you will take from that question, which was not directed per se at you to cover areas within your remit. I certainly will endeavour to do so. The point that Cocab Stewart makes is an important one about the management of the public finances and ensuring that we have sufficient resources at our disposal. If I go back to the point about the under—Sharon Downey asked me if I would avoid any underspend in this year and that it would never happen again. There has been an underspend in every year since the establishment of the Scottish Parliament, so last year was not really any different. I will have more to say to Parliament tomorrow about the current financial position that we face. One of the advantages of the underspend last year is that I have been able to access resources to deal with the enormous financial strain that we are facing this year in the absence of resource borrowing powers that allow me to borrow to deal with the volatility in the public finances. Before I call question 3, I would remind members that they need to be here on time for portfolio questions, which starts at 2 pm. Two members did not manage to do that. When I call those members, I will expect them to apologise to the chair, to the ministers and to other members and also to give them an explanation as to why they were late. To ask the Scottish Government how the development of a talent attraction and migration service will impact on the delivery of its Covid recovery strategy. The Scottish Government is developing a talent attraction migration service, which will launch in 2023. It will attract people to come and live in Scotland, help those moving to Scotland to settle into their communities and support employers to navigate the UK Scotland's complex immigration system. The Covid recovery strategy, which aims to reduce inequalities in reform public services, includes a focus on creating good green jobs across Scotland. The talent attraction migration service will support our wider ambitions in this space by attracting and welcoming people with the necessary skills to contribute to a net zero economy. As he knows, American Space Technology company Mangata has announced press week as a site of its new manufacturing, engineering and operations hub. That will bring a much welcome boost for the local and the national economy. To ask the Scottish Government how its proposed talent attraction and migration service will assist with such projects. I am absolutely delighted with the news that has come forward from Mangata about the investment at Pressweek Airport. It has been a very strong collaborative project involving Scottish Enterprise, South Ayrshire Council and the Ayrshire Growth Deal and the Scottish Government. I am thrilled with the opportunities that have opened up for Pressweek in Siobhan Brown's constituency. The talent attraction and migration service will assist us in trying to support companies who are trying to attract individuals to work in particular ventures. I would imagine that Mangata will be a company that will seek some support from the service to make sure that we can attract the particular and correct skills that we need to make a contribution to the Scottish economy. Obviously, it helps us to overcome some of the issues that are significant obstacles for us just now as a consequence of the loss of free movement of individuals following from the Brexit decisions. To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of how any additional cost of living pressures will impact on the rebuilding of public services as set out in its Covid recovery strategy, particularly in relation to public services here in Edinburgh. The Scottish Government is prioritising funding to support people in most need and to protect the delivery of public services. The emergency budget review confirmed a range of additional support for those in most need, including the expansion and increase of the Scottish child payment. That prioritisation is guided by the principles of the Covid recovery strategy. The overarching ambition of the Covid recovery strategy is to reform public services to ensure that they are ffiscally sustainable and delivered in line with the principles of the Christie commission. In the current context, we are considering all options for reform, which will allow us to deliver that ambition and to continue to deliver high-quality public services across Scotland, including in the city of Edinburgh. The capital has some of the highest vacancies in our public services and also has some of the highest costs of housing and childcare. I have previously raised the potential development of an Edinburgh waiting in pay with the Scottish Government. If you will agree to meet with me to discuss that further, will the Government look to commission university research into the potential need for an Edinburgh waiting, as we have seen taking place in London? Mr Briggs raises serious issues, and I will happily meet him to discuss that concept. On that occasion, we can develop further the thinking about any particular research that will be necessary in that respect. I suspect that there must be some work that has been undertaken. It is a few years since I have been close to that question, but our dear late colleague, Margot McDonnell, was never backwards at coming forwards with me in budget processes in arguing on the issues that Mr Briggs raises with me, so I will happily meet him to discuss that question. With every week that passes, we see the impact of the disastrous mini-budget that trust in our chancellor get carried away continuing to affect Scotland's Covid recovery from the Covid pandemic. Will the Deputy First Minister agree that, given the key policy levers to address this Tory-inflicted cost-11 crisis, it is held by the UK Government? It is high-time of Tory colleagues called on the UK Government to get on with the job of supporting Scottish people through tough times rather than expecting the Scottish Government to continually clean up? The implications of the mini-budget in September will be long-lasting for people and for the public finances of Scotland and the United Kingdom. The irresponsibility of that event—I cannot call it a fiscal event because there was nothing fiscal about it—will have far-reaching implications. We have already seen significant increases in interest rates as a consequence of those decisions. There will be householders and businesses put under pressure as a consequence. The Scottish Government—I will have more to say about this in the budget statement tomorrow—will do all that we can to help people through the cost of living crisis, but we have to acknowledge the severity of the difficulties that were created by the mistakes that were made in the mini-budget in September. Question 5, Rachael Hamilton. First of all, Presiding Officer, can I apologise profusely to you and my colleagues in this chamber for being a couple of minutes late? I started committee at 9.45 and until 1 o'clock, and then I went to see Hoyke High School, who have made the precarious journey up to the Parliament, to answer questions about what we do in this place. I thank Ms Hamilton for the explanation. Obviously, it is not a matter for the chair what other engagements a member seeks to try to figure into. Sorry, you did ask me to. You already have a busy day, but I am pleased with— Point of order, Presiding Officer. Point of order, Rachael Hamilton. You asked me to apologise to my colleagues, to you and to give a reason as to why I was late to the chamber. If I could respond to that point of order specifically, I hear what Ms Hamilton has said by way of an explanation. I was just trying to be helpful for future reference to point out that, obviously, it is not a matter for the chair to work around individual members' busy schedules on a daily basis. I appreciate that the schedules are busy, but equally, a start-time of 2 p.m. remains a start-time of 2 p.m. I would ask Ms Hamilton now to please ask her question. Scottish Government, what it considers to be reasonable grounds to postpone the passage of legislation through Parliament? Thank you, Presiding Officer. I thank Rachael Hamilton for her question. The Government keeps its primary and secondary legislation programmes under careful review and adapts them as necessary. For example, as members are aware, steps were taken to pause delivery of some legislation last session at the height of the pandemic. However, once in Parliament, timing of legislation is for Parliament to agree. Rachael Hamilton. I thank the minister for that answer. This morning, the rain committee of which I'm a member considered the Hunting with Dogs Bill at stage 2 for a second week. The bill was delayed by two weeks as a result of the minister's trip to COP27 in Egypt. We were also afforded the opportunity to hear further evidence on a part of the bill that was causing confusion. In stark contrast, despite the unavailability of a raft of extra evidence—the interim cast review, for example, the UN special rapporteur on violence against women and girls, two separate court rulings on the effect of obtaining a GRC on the definition of women—I could go on. The GRR bill has been railroaded through this Parliament with a total disregard for the need to consider that additional evidence. Why is it that we have one rule for one bill and another rule for GRR? Does the minister recognise the need for us, as legislators, to be allowed to do our jobs and apply adequate scrutiny to legislation using all of the evidence available to us? Thank you, Presiding Officer. I thank the member for her question. The two bills she mentioned show us the flexibilities that are available within the Parliament to actually afford bills to go through. As always, my role as Minister for Parliamentary Business is to work within parliamentary procedure. The timings of bills are dependent on the size and detail of the legislation. Once a bill is in the Scottish Parliament, it is for the Parliament to decide how it proceeds. On some occasions, that might take a faster route than others, depending on what the legislation is and what it is trying to achieve. Parliament itself, Presiding Officer, decides the timings of all bills. Question number 6, Jim Fairlie. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I would like to ask the Scottish Government how its Covid recovery strategy considers the needs of rural communities. Presiding Officer, the Covid recovery strategy sets out an ambitious vision for recovery that is focused on bringing about a fairer future for those most affected during the pandemic, including people living in rural communities. The Covid recovery programme board, which I co-chair alongside the president of COSLA, oversees work to achieve this vision and recognises the need for local communities to inform on-going priorities for recovery. Policies such as the place-based investment fund and the regeneration capital grant fund support investment and regeneration projects that are shaped by the needs and aspirations of local communities and deliver inclusive growth for remote communities. Jim Fairlie. Thank you, the cabinet secretary for that answer. Rural communities, as you know, are often reliant on reliable bus routes that link them to the shops, facilities and amenities in their larger towns and cities. The industry has an acute shortage of drivers, and as the Deputy First Minister will be aware, in October, more than 140 bus departures in Perth and Cunross were cancelled in one day. It is clear as we recover from Covid that Brexit is still having a clear impact on these shortages. I can ask the Deputy First Minister when the Scottish Government last engaged with the UK Government on this, and given the powers to fix it or reside with them, whether they have given any indication on what they intend to do to improve the situation for our rural communities. I acknowledge the significance of the issues that Mr Fairlie raises. We obviously share constituency boundaries, and I am aware of similar issues that have been wrestled with in my constituency. As Constance would have it, the Minister for Transport hosted the second bus task force meeting earlier today, which the United Kingdom Government Minister, Richard Holden, attended to discuss the issue of driver shortages. Obviously, there are, as Mr Fairlie will know, acute shortages of employees across a whole range of different sectors, and it is particularly acute among bus drivers. It has been exacerbated by the loss of free movement of population and the pressures that have been put on our labour market. Yesterday, we had very high levels of employment, announced very low levels of unemployment, so we still have a very tight labour market. We are continuing to work with operators and our partners across the public sector to promote the bus sector as a place to work, while recognising that many of the levers to address the issue of population migration rests with the United Kingdom Government. Driver shortages is an issue, and I have experienced that in my North East Fife constituency as well. We need to make progress on that issue. However, there have been cuts in services in my constituency. In stagecoach tells me that it is because of the fall in usage of buses since the pandemic. I am interested in how the Government is going to drive up passenger numbers and improve usage, and is the community bus fund going to be used to help that? Mr Rennie raises a number of legitimate points in relation to the provision of bus services, and we are trying to support the industry to increase usage. For example, the extension of the concessory travel scheme to young people has had a discernible effect. Obviously, as a consequence of that, there are concessory fares that are contributed by the Government based on usage. Measures like that are designed to try to increase usage of bus services. Obviously, there will be various ways in which we can support the industry. The Government looks to work with the industry to find the most effective ways in which we can do that, and the points that he has made about the community bus fund are points that the Government will consider. Willie Rennie has raised an important point in relation to people seeing bus services being withdrawn entirely for many people living in a rural community. Those who are elderly, for example, who rely upon a bus to get to medical appointments or to avoid social isolation, that causes real concern for them. What will the Scottish Government do in its budget tomorrow to try and support bus services? As it is for me to disclose the details of the budget to Parliament today, Mr Fraser will understand that I cannot do that. I am very mindful of those issues because ensuring that we encourage people to use public transport, particularly for them to be credible bus services that people can choose to, is very much part of the Government's agenda of decarbonising transport as part of our move to net zero. To ask the Scottish Government how its policies across Government will support disabled people living in the north-east to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic. The impacts of the pandemic were not felt evenly across Scotland, and some people, including disabled people, were disproportionately affected. The Scottish Government recognises that the Covid recovery strategy is focused on delivering a fairer future and addressing the systemic inequalities that were exacerbated during the pandemic. In September, the Scottish Government accepted the findings and recommendations of the supported employment review report. Those recommendations include the development of a national infrastructure programme of supported employment quality standards and insurance approach for Scotland and funding for people with lived experience to deliver training to employers to myth bust and raise aspirations. Will the Deputy First Minister provide timelines for the implementation of those recommendations through No One Left Behind and the publication of their planned new policies on supported employment arising from the report's recommendations? I can confirm that the issues raised by Maggie Chapman will be fully addressed as part of the No One Left Behind work that the Government is undertaking. The next stage of development is expected to commence early in the new year and will obviously involve the delivery of specialist support services. I am very happy to update Maggie Chapman on the progress that is made, but it is important that we continue to deliver services to meet the needs of individuals with disabilities and to support their participation within our society and economy. I can call question number eight, but only if the questions are brief and the answers are brief. Question number eight, Paul Sweeney. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I apologise for being two minutes late to this session of Parliament and also due to being a meeting to do with racism in the Scottish society. Mr Sweeney, please take a seat. I think that in terms of being equal to everybody, I would just remind you that it's not a matter for the chair to fit around a member's schedule. It starts at 2, you were three and a half minutes late, it's a point of fact. Whilst I hear your explanation, it's not really a matter for the chair, but I know that you have apologised, so please now ask your question, but reflect on that perhaps for future portfolio sessions. Thank you, Madam Deputy Presiding Officer. To ask the Scottish Government what impact industrial action by public sector workers will have on delivery of its Covid recovery strategy. The Scottish Government recognises the concerns of public service workers and the need for sustainable pay deals and fair working conditions. Indeed, the Scottish Government has supported public sector pay increases at an anticipated additional cost of £700 million. The Government will continue to engage with different workforces as part of our work to implement the principles of the Covid recovery strategy, which focuses on reforming public services and reducing systemic inequalities. Can I commend the Government for finally stepping into avert industrial action being proposed by nurses in Scotland? It could have and should have been done sooner, but it is certainly better late than never. The minister will know that nurses are not the only public sector workers set to take industrial action if their pay demands are not met, so they commit today to this Government showing the same respect to other vital public sector workers, including hardworking teachers who are in dire straits due to the cost-loving crisis and who are desperately needing a pay increase greater than what is currently on offer. I simply point out to Mr Sweeney that the Government has been actively involved in trying to resolve pay disputes for some considerable time. We were involved. I spent a large part of the summer working to resolve local government pay issues. I spent a large part of the autumn trying to resolve civil service and health service issues. I am delighted, as I said in my answer to Jackie Baillie, that Unison and Unite have accepted the offer that the Government has made. I acknowledge the claim that has been made by members of the teaching profession. I simply say that all claims must be affordable. Mr Sweeney knows very well that the Government is significantly constrained in this financial year by the availability of resources. I have explained all those issues to the leaders of all the teaching trade unions to set out the very real challenges that exist in trying to deliver the pay increase that the teaching profession has put forward, which is, in the Government's view, unaffordable. We are open for negotiations, but the propositions must be affordable and the Government and our local authority partners must be able to find the resources to finance them. Thank you, Deputy First Minister. That concludes Covid-19 recovery and parliamentary business portfolio questions. We will now move on to the next portfolio questions, which is finance and the economy. I remind members that questions 1 and 2 are grouped together and that, therefore, I will take any supplementaries on those questions once they are both answered. If a member wishes to request a supplementary question, they should press the request of speak button or indicate zone chat function by entering the letters RTS during his relevant question. I call question number one, Mercedes Galber. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will incorporate the costed package of tax increases recommended in the Scottish Trade Union Congress commissioned report options for increasing taxes in Scotland to fund investment and public services into its 2023-24 budget. Minister Tom Arthur. The Scottish Government welcomes the report published by the Scottish Trade Union Congress and recognises the contribution such publications make to public discourse on Government finance and tax policy. The Scottish Government will set out its budget position for 2023-24, including proposals on tax policy, fully costed by the Scottish Fiscal Commission tomorrow. The Government is well aware of the indefensible wealth inequalities that blights Scotland, yet when I called on the First Minister to support even the principle of a wealth tax back in June, I was told that this is, quote, not something that this Government has the power to put in place. Last week, the Scottish Trade Union Congress outlined exactly how a wealth tax could be implemented. Instead of pleading powerlessness, can the minister tell us what this Government has done with 15 years in power to develop a wealth tax? The provisions to introduce new national taxes are contained under section 80B of the Scotland Act, which requires an order in council, which requires the agreement of the UK Government. I suggest to the member that that is perhaps the barrier. If she thinks that the Prime Minister will be amenable to the introduction of a wealth tax and the devolution of that power to Scotland, and she has any particular strategic insight in how that can be achieved, I would be most happy to hear from her. Question 2, Gillian Mackay, has joined us remotely. To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the papers on taxation policy recently published by the Scottish Trade Union Congress and Institute for Public Policy Research Scotland. As outlined in my answer to the previous question, the Scottish Government welcomes both the Scottish Trade Union Congress report and the report by the Institute for Public Policy Research Scotland. We recognise the value of such publications in promoting public discussion on Government finance and tax policy, and we will set out our budget position for 2023-24 tomorrow. I thank the minister for that answer. If he agrees that the reforms previously agreed between the Scottish Greens and the Scottish Government during the last parliamentary session have resulted in a more progressive version of income tax than anywhere else in the UK, were those who earn less pay less and those who earn more pay a bit more, as well as raising additional funds for public services, and does he also agree that a progressive and fair approach to tax in Scotland in stark contrast with the UK Government's chaotic mini-budget tax giveaway to the rich and multiple U-turns has ensured that Scotland is a more equal place and has helped to deliver major projects, such as free bus travel for under 22s and topping up the Scottish child payment. Minister. I do agree with Gillian Mackay. I sense the devolution of income tax. We have created a fairer, more progressive income tax system in Scotland that raises vital revenue for the Scottish budget. That has seen those who are able to contribute a little more while protecting those who are not. That approach has allowed us to maintain the most generous social contract in any part of the UK, with a range of social security payments and public services available uniquely in Scotland. That ensures that Scotland remains a great place to live, work, study and do business in. Our decisions on tax policy for 2023-24 will be set out tomorrow, and we will continue to be guided by the principles of fairness and progressivity set out in our framework for tax. The Office for Budget Responsibility expects living standards to fall by 7 per cent over the next two years due to Tory economic incompetence, meaning that even low to middle earners will inevitably pay more tax. What discussions has the Scottish Government had with the UK Treasury regarding reducing tax avoidance, which the OBR only yesterday estimated at £35 billion a year across the UK to ensure that everyone pays a fair share? Is this something that he believes the Tories take seriously, given who are the Channel Islands and Islayman tax havens, just offshore? Mr Gibson is absolutely right to highlight the OBR's conclusions and that people in Scotland are ultimately paying the price for the UK Government's mistakes. Although the majority of taxes are currently still reserved to Westminster, Scotland's framework for tax specifically sets out that our taxes are designed to combat tax avoidance, and the UK Government should follow our lead. Tax avoidance takes away money that should be used to support households and public services. Funds are needed even more so now, so I will continue to urge the UK Government to tackle tax avoidance of any kind. Question 3, Willie Rennie. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on support for liberty steel DL. Minister Ivan McKee. The Scottish Government continues to work closer with Dell Site Management through its agency Scottish Enterprise with the company continuing to trade through a challenging economic climate. The member has recently been advised that payments of the loan provided to DL by Scottish Enterprise have not been made in time, however, debt for bearance is not uncommon in the current market. When the minister reported on the state aid issues to Parliament last December, he said that Tata would need time to reflect on its position. However, our freedom of information release found that Tata had already reflected. It specifically warned the Scottish Government the night before the statement that it would be prepared to take them to court. That was in an official letter on the eve of the ministerial statement. Why did the minister choose not to tell Parliament about the risk of court action the very next day? On 15 December 2021, we advised that Tata Steel were informed of the matter and were provided prior notice of the statement that was delivered in the Scottish Parliament on that date to allow them to consider any commercial implications for the business and ensure that they had time to notify their head office in Mumbai. At the time of the statement that was delivered, it was understandable that Tata Steel would need time to reflect and consider their position. As previously stated, we will continue to have supportive dialogue with Tata and the company of access to our officials as they require. Thank you for asking the Scottish Government when it last met Orkney Islands Council regarding the Scottish budget 2023-24 and what issues were discussed. Scottish Government ministers last met Orkney Islands Council on 30 November 2022 when I met with Councillor James Stalkin, the leader of Orkney Islands Council, to discuss revenue and capital funding regarding the 2023-24 budget, the 2023-24 local government finance settlement and funding for the Orkney Islands Council ferry services. I understand that Councillor Stalkin has written to Mr Swinney this week outlining proposals to operate the special islands needs allowance, which has remained static since 2008-09 when it was cut by 24 per cent. Mr Swinney will know my long-standing and serious concerns about the large disparity in funding that disadvantages Orkney compared to the other island authorities. However, the proposed change to Sina could help to narrow that gap while still benefiting other local authorities throughout through the redistributive floor mechanism. Will the Deputy First Minister take on board the reasonable and progressive proposals and look to include them in the budget for next year? The issues that Mr MacArthur put to me were clearly the issues that were put to you by Councillor Stalkin. Obviously, there is a lot of complexity around the local government finance formula and there is also a procedural question, which is that local government itself is essentially the body that considers changes to the distribution formula through the work of the settlement and distribution group, which is entirely a local authority-led process. I have heard the issues that have been raised by Councillor Stalkin. There is an interaction in some of those questions with the setting of the floor for the local government finance settlement, which is obviously very relevant to that question as well. Those points will be reflected on as the Government formulates its budget and considers that through its passage in Parliament in the course of the next few months. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the public consultation regarding the Scottish aggregates levy. The public consultation on developing a Scottish tax to be placed in UK aggregates levy closed on 5 December. 25 responses were received. Those are currently being analysed and a consultation analysis report will be published in due course. I appreciate the diverse perspectives provided by the range of organisations who responded to the consultation. Consistent with the Scottish approach to taxation, as set out in Scotland's framework for tax, we will continue to consult and engage with stakeholders to help inform the development of the tax. I thank the minister for the answer. Given the concerns raised by many different organisations regarding the short length of time provided for public consultation, how will the Scottish Government ensure that stakeholders are listened to and given a strong voice in the design of the tax? I thank the member for his supplementaries. He will be aware from our framework for tax, one of our principles is engagement. Although the consultation is an important part of the engagement exercise, it does not represent the entirety of the engagement exercise. I remain committed to engaging with stakeholders. My officials have met with stakeholders recently with regard to that, and I will continue to do so going forward. I would be happy to meet any member who has any particular issues that they wish to raise with me on the matter of an agregat tax. To ask the Scottish Government how it will support innovation and entrepreneurship in Scotland's digital economy, including the game sector. The Scottish Government recognises that innovation and entrepreneurship is the real engine of economic growth, and we are supporting Scotland's founders, innovators and entrepreneurs in many different ways by delivering on our national strategies for economic transformation through our forthcoming national innovation strategy and leading entrepreneur and a search review of women and enterprise. Most recently, we launched our national tech scaler network, a £42 million investment that will widen access to entrepreneurial opportunities and support founders, including games company founders, offering free commercial education and mentorship programmes, while also building a dynamic community of innovators and entrepreneurs. Changing misconceptions about the game sector is vital to unlocking its enormous potential, and I was pleased to host the inaugural Scottish Games Week reception here in the Parliament. The game sector message is clear. Through joined-up policy support, it has the potential to be transformative for both Scotland's digital and creative futures. Will the minister be willing to engage with the Scottish Games Network and lize with his counterpart in the culture portfolio to examine how we can support the industry, foster that potential in Scotland's digital and creative futures? I was delighted to attend the event in the Parliament for Scottish Games Week, that Claire Adamson organised, and to be able to speak to the businesses and others that were present at that event, to show the Scottish Government support and recognition of the importance of the sector and how we can work together to build its future. I would be delighted to meet the member to discuss that further. I have no doubt that my ministerial counterparts with responsibility for culture feel likewise on the issue, and, as she indicated, other countries have performed well in this area. It is something that Scotland can absolutely learn from to ensure that our game sector in Scotland fulfills its full global potential. If he will welcome the announcement this morning from the University of St Andrews about the establishment of a new business school, which will focus specifically on innovation, entrepreneurship and the dissemination of digital education. Absolutely, I will. That is part of the very strong and ever-expanding ecosystem across Scotland on innovation, entrepreneurship, our recent investments in NMIS, MMIC and much else that is happening in Scotland's universities and elsewhere, as a real testament to the strength of Scotland's economy now and in the future. The BBC yesterday reported a slowdown in recruitment in the game sector in Scotland as it responds to the cost of living crisis and economic uncertainty. Given Scotland's historic place in the industry, has the minister had a discussion with the sector about the support it needs to continue growing and realise its full economic potentials? We continue to work closely with the game sector, others across the digital economy and across the whole economy. Those businesses, as many others across the whole economy, continue to suffer from a shortage of skills, talent and labour to fuel the growth potential. We continue to work to make sure that those skills are provided as necessary. Despite the comments that the member makes, on that specific issue, the sector will continue to go from strength to strength. The demand is strong, the skills here are great, the businesses are very well founded and we work with them to transmit that and find opportunities globally. Question 8, Grymson. To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the comments from the oldest general in his 2021-22 audit of the Scottish Government consolidated accounts that financial support for burnt island fabrications limited, Ferguson Marine engineering limited, Presswick airport and the Lochaber aluminium smelter has not delivered expected outcomes and is unlikely to achieve value for money. The Scottish Government's financial support of those businesses is on-going and it is therefore not possible to make a full assessment of the final outcomes or value for money at this point. Where a business face is difficult to that cannot be addressed by a market response and the business is critical to the economy or is a long-term strategic asset, we will rightly consider options for support. The Scottish Government will continue to work with those businesses to deliver value for money for the public purse. That was not really any kind of answer. If we look at Ferguson Marine, the oldest general says this, during 2021-22 the Scottish Government wrote off £52 million from the capital value. The value of vessels 801 and 802 in the consolidated accounts was £78 million. So far, as we know, the cost of building them has been well in excess of £200 million for vessels that are worth £78 million. That gap is only going to get wider, so does the Minister believe that that is value for money? The steps that we have taken to preserve commercial shipbuilding on the Clyde for now and future generations and to maintain that strategic asset in Scotland's economy, we believe, is hugely important. Certainly, the workers and the communities that are employed in Ferguson's would think so. Certainly, those who value the importance of Scotland's commercial shipbuilding assets would think that that was the case too. My colleague the Deputy First Minister has reported back to the Parliament on the specific roundabout the challenges that yards face and the Government support that has been put in place to ensure that the yard continues to operate and deliver those ferries and ferries going forward into the future and will continue to do so. The minister seems very casual in response to losses of hundreds of millions of pounds in the various industrial interventions. Has the minister learned anything from those episodes and those losses? If so, can he tell the chamber what they are? Willie Rennie should have a look at the assets that are in play. The L is still operating and employing a significant number of people producing steel and keeping Scotland's steel production in play. Locarba continues to operate. The smelther is operating very successfully, as is the hydro that is part of that site. Again, it continues to employ hundreds of people on that site. We are glad that we made those interventions back in 2016. We have now had six or more years of continuous production and employment as a consequence of that, paying tax into the Scottish economy, supporting local communities and keeping those strategic assets in play. I do not think that we have got anything to apologise for that. As I have indicated in my previous answers on the subject, of course the Government will step in where, as I have said, there is a strategic asset to be kept in play or something that is of importance for the Scottish economy. By virtue of the fact that it is very nature, those are situations that the private sector has declined to support. The Scottish Government is of course taking itself into a situation where there is a risk of things not working out as we would all hope that they would, but I think that, on balance, much of that has been successful and continues to be so. With regard to Ferguson Marine, does the minister not agree that it is faintly ridiculous that a publicly owned shipyard such as Ferguson's is now dependent almost entirely to avoid redundancies by building subcontract work for B systems on a tech 26 programme for the ministry of defence, whilst the Scottish Government is handing £100 million ferry contract to Turkey's shipyard and probably likely to award another £100 million ferry contract to Turkey's shipyard? Is that not completely contradictory to any idea of a national ferry building or shipbuilding strategy? No, it's not. We've made the decisions on where we're going to place work based on criteria that are in place. We make decisions on supporting and working with strategic assets to ensure that they continue to operate and we work with and encourage other partners across the sector and beyond to co-operate where it makes sense to make sure that businesses flow into different operations and support employment and the future of the sector as a consequence. Thank you minister. That concludes proof of the questions on finance and the economy. There will be a very short pause before we move on to the next item of business. Thank you.