 The question at the end of his statement, and so there should be no interventions or interruptions. Minister, I call you to make the statement. Thank you very much, Presiding Officer, and I welcome you to your new role. I welcome the opportunity to update the Parliament on the provisional outturn against the budget for the financial year 2020-21. The provisional outturn demonstrates once again that this Government is prudently and competently managing Scotland's finances, even more so in these extremely challenging and uncertain times. Taking into account, as it does, all of the Covid-19 expenditure up to 31 March. The financial challenges of managing our response to the pandemic have been unprecedented. This is an economic crisis as well as a health crisis, and the Covid-19 pandemic has been the biggest fiscal and policy challenge facing the Scottish Government over the past two decades of devolution. The pandemic has reached almost every area of our lives and has required the Scottish Government to respond quickly and decisively, providing substantial additional funding for public services and support for individuals, businesses and the economy. Whilst our collective efforts in tandem with the success of the vaccination programme are helping us to win the fight to overcome the virus, this has not come without cost. I would like to personally thank the members of the NHS, emergency services and front-line staff across the whole of the public sector for the amazing work that they have done over the past year. I would also like to recognise businesses and the public for the sacrifices that they have made. Every penny received by the Scottish Government to tackle Covid-19 has been channeled to where it was needed the most. To date, we have announced over 170 Covid initiatives, providing bespoke financial support to businesses, individuals and organisations to support them through the pandemic. In 2020-21, we allocated more than £9 billion to support the health, economic and social challenges created by the pandemic. That is more than the Covid funding passed to us by the UK Government. That includes more than £3 billion to support health and wider public health initiatives, more than £3 billion to support Scottish businesses, £1 billion to local government to support the welfare and wellbeing of our communities, £850 million to support our rail and bus networks and £450 million to support education and skills. Those figures demonstrate the scale and breadth of our response to that unprecedented situation. It is against this extremely challenging financial backdrop that we report our provisional outcome today. Although the path to recovery remains uncertain, the Scottish Government remains committed to ensuring that, as a country, we get back on our feet and the right steps are taken to support and guide Scotland's longer-term recovery. The pandemic has put a spotlight on the challenges that we face with having such restricted fiscal powers. There is an imbalance between the risks that the Scottish budget is exposed to and the levers that we have to manage those risks. That includes strict limits on how much and for what purpose the Scottish Government can borrow, leading us to be overly dependent on UK Government policy. There is a time lag between the UK Government's announcements and the confirmation of further devolved funding, which makes real-time response and recovery planning extremely difficult. The uncertainty of the funding and application of certain Covid policies when there needed to be varying local responses to the pandemic, a prime example being the furlough scheme, and the single-year funding model, which means carry-forward of our budget between financial years is extremely restricted. Covid-19, unfortunately, does not stop at the end of the financial year. The 2020-21 guarantee on Barnett consequentials provided by the UK Government was a welcome development. However, that only served to reduce the risk of late deductions to our budget, which we are again facing for 2021-22. What is not in doubt is that significant budget challenges lie ahead, and those funding challenges will continue as we target our resources at stimulating a safe, swift and sustainable recovery for our communities, our public services and our economy. There remains significant uncertainty over the extent to which the UK Government will support the on-going cost of the pandemic, which is why we have requested a guarantee of funding for future funding similar to that in 2020-21. That is why I, along with the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Economy, will continue to make the case to the UK Government for more proportionate fiscal powers to help to manage pressures and volatility in Scotland's financial position and to allow the Scottish Government to respond fully to the crisis. The forthcoming fiscal framework review must take place in that context, and a narrow technical review of the framework will not deliver what the people of Scotland need or want. Turning now to the 2020-21 provisional outturn. Under the current devolution settlement, the Scottish Parliament is not permitted to overspend its budget. At the same time, the carry-forward of budget between financial years is highly restrictive, meaning that phasing of expenditure between financial years is extremely restricted. There is therefore a balance to be struck to ensure that we maintain spend within our budget limits but do not generate high carry-forward between financial years that would risk breaching our reserve cap and result in the loss of funding. We have once again managed to maintain that balance. I can report that the provisional outturn for 2020-21 is £48 billion against a total fiscal budget of £48.5 billion. The remaining budget of £449 million, which represents just 0.9 per cent of our total budget, has been carried forward in full through the Scotland reserve. That was proactively managed with £431 million already being anticipated within the 2021-22 budget reserve carry-forward. It is therefore important to note that there is no loss of spending power to the Scottish Government as a result of the carry-forward. Every penny has been allocated in full, allowing us to implement Covid response measures at the most optimal time, rather than being constrained to a single financial year. The £449 million is made up of £374 million fiscal resource, £8 million capital and £67 million financial transactions, which, of course, can only be used for loans or equity investments in entities outside of the public sector. The provisional outturn is in line with our strategy to actively minimise the amount of capital in the reserve to create headrooms for the FTs and resource carry-forwards, which are required to support the 2021-22 budget position agreed by Parliament. I highlight that those outturn figures for 2021 remain provisional as they are subject to an on-going audit process. Finalised figures will be reported as usual in the annual Scottish Government consolidated accounts and a statement of total outturn for the financial year 2020-2021 later this year. To conclude, the provisional outturn demonstrates that the Scottish Government has maintained a firm grip on Scotland's public finances in the context of a year that has presented the most significant financial challenges in the last two decades of devolution. We have demonstrated that, once again, the Scottish Government has effectively managed Scotland's public finances and maintained the balance of not breaching our fixed budget limits and ensuring that the reserve balances will be deployed in full to fund 2021-22 spending priorities. I commend today's figures to Parliament. Thank you. The minister will now take questions on the issues raised in his statement. I intend to allow around 20 minutes for questions after which we will move on to the next item of business. It would be helpful if members who wish to ask a question were to press the request to speak buttons now. I call Liz Smith. Can I first of all join the minister in thanking all those who have been very much on the front line as we grapple with the pandemic, which is obviously forcing Scotland to face up to very difficult circumstances? Indeed, it just takes a quick look at yesterday's statistics published to recognise the scale of the challenge that lie ahead, especially when it comes to securing people's jobs. Of course, those challenges are budgetary, too. I have three questions, minister. First of all, can I turn to the underspend and the concerns that the on-going very serious pandemic continues to be, obviously, a large sum of public money that many sectors want to see spent as a matter of urgent support? For example, there is an underspend in the health budget of £183 million, and at the same time, obviously, there is a backlog of health treatment, so those are very serious issues. Can I ask the minister to provide the Parliament with very full transparency within the budget lines as to exactly how the Covid recovery money, including that that is provided to Scotland by the UK Government, has been spent and how it will be spent across each sector? Secondly, in relation to transport, which is once again the largest underspend and which comes just days after the Scottish Government announced that it had missed its climate change targets for the third year running, what money will be given to green transport and infrastructure projects to ensure that the effects of climate change will be mitigated? Finally, the First Minister was accused by members of the national economic forum this week that not nearly enough effort has been made by the Scottish Government to provide business community with that meaningful engagement when it comes to planning ahead for the future. Can I ask the minister what is being done to urgently address that problem? Thank you, Presiding Officer, and I take this opportunity to welcome Liz Smith to her new position. I would just like to pick up on that last point and recognise the outstanding contribution that our businesses have made throughout this pandemic. I'm sure that we can all think of examples in our own constituencies of businesses going above and beyond the call of duty, and she's absolutely correct to raise that today. I'll turn to each of the points that you raised in turn. With regard to the health underspend, that came about due to the late consequentials of £200 million, and it was judged that that was not going to align with public health spending cycles. As I made a reference to in my statement, it is better that that money is deployed at the optimum moment, rather than just to fit within the strictures of a financial year. Within transport, there has been money that has been underspent in capital. That is ultimately just a consequence of the restrictions and the pandemic, and I think that that is something that you will see across a lot of capital lines, with restrictions in place, with construction closed for large parts of last year, that inevitably has led to some slippage within capital. However, there has been money that has been redeployed from capital for purposes of green transport, and I'd be happy to provide more detail to the member in writing if that is something that she would desire. With regard to business support and the overall question of how much money has been deployed, the Scottish Government has received in total £8.6 billion of consequentials, but we have went further and spent more than £9 billion in supporting our communities through the pandemic. With regard to business, the total is over £3 billion. That includes £2.6 billion, and various grant schemes amounting to more than 170 bespoke financial support packages for businesses and our communities. There is also the support that we have given and non-domestic rate relief. We are where we are only part of the UK to give non-domestic rate relief for 100 per cent to retail, hospitality, leisure and aviation, and that is a commitment that we have delivered that would in total cost over £960 million. I hope that that demonstrates to Liz Smith that this Government is absolutely committed to business. It has supported business through this pandemic and it will continue to do so, but I can say that there would be so much more that we could do if we had these additional fiscal levers. I sincerely hope that Liz Smith will use what influence she has within her party to encourage the chancellor to engage constructively in talks with the Scottish Government, with the cabinet secretary, as we take forward the fiscal framework review. I thank the minister for early sight of the statement and indeed welcome him to his position. A £449 million underspend, while so many businesses are struggling to keep their head above water will seem like a cruel irony to many. I understand that the timing of some of the funds from the UK Government might have made an underspend unavoidable. However, the lack of clarity about what the substantial figure is being used for is not so understandable. In particular, with the extension of restrictions, the deepening cash flow crisis may prove terminal for businesses such as taxi drivers, wedding planners, hospitality and tourism. Can the minister provide more detail on how the allocated funds have been allocated and confirm that they are being spent to support those businesses if they have been impacted by the extension of restrictions? Can he also set out plans to improve the transparency of Covid funds, as called for by the Auditor General in February? Can I come back to the issue of health spend? How can the Scottish Government manage an underspend in the health budget in the middle of a health crisis? Turning to his last point about health spending, which I addressed in my response to Liz Smith, those were very late consequentials that arrived in February. I am sure that the member would agree with every member across the chamber that what should determine how money is spent in health is how it can be spent away but delivers the optimal impact rather than just within the structures of a financial year. I am sure that the member will reflect on that point of view. On the underspend overall, as I have explained and set out in my statement, that has been managed prudently through the Scotland reserve. Indeed, £431 million of that was anticipated in the budget. With regard to transparency about how the money has been spent, we had the unprecedented step of a summer budget revision in the last financial year. The cabinet secretary has been engaged fully with the Parliament with the then Finance and Constitution Committee. Indeed, we will be writing to the newly constituted Finance and Public Administration Committee ahead of summer recess to illustrate what our thinking is going forward. Of course, we will all be happy to appear before committee in due course. I just point out that we have quite a number of members seeking to ask a question, so if we could have more succinct questions and more succinct answers, that would be really helpful. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I welcome both you and the minister to your new posts. The pandemic has shown a spotlight on the need for additional fiscal flexibilities to be devolved to Scotland on an on-going basis, including greater boring powers, reserve limits and year-end flexibility. Those powers are essential to secure and consolidate a strong recovery from the crisis. The minister has mentioned engagement. Can he advise what engagement the Scottish Government has had to date with the UK Government about the demolition of future fiscal flexibilities? I thank Mr Gibson for his question, and he is absolutely right to correct to raise the issues that he does. The key challenge that we have had throughout is the fluidity of the overall funding position. When announcements are made, we do not know when we will receive the consequentials. We did have the Barnett guarantee last year. We currently do not have the Barnett guarantee, so we do not know about negative consequentials. That makes budget planning extremely difficult in normal times. That is compounded in the context of a pandemic. The cabinet secretary has written to the chancellor looking to set up a quadrilateral meeting with the other devolved administrations. I very much hope that the chancellor will take that option up. We are obviously looking forward to taking forward the fiscal review next year, and what is key for taking forward the fiscal review is ensuring that the remit of that is as broad as possible. I hope that, together as a Parliament, we can work to ensure that this Parliament receives the powers that it needs so that we can fully respond to the crisis and take Scotland forward in recovery. I refer members to my entry in the register of members' interests, which shows that I am still a member of Aberdeen City Council. From talking to other local councils, there is still real pressures when it comes to funding in local government. I know that the minister will quote more money for local government, but most of that is coming in and going straight back out again for business support and ring-fenced initiatives. Will the minister commit to using some of the underspend to support local government who are doing so much work in local communities? I thank the member for his question and welcome to the Parliament. It is the first opportunity I have had to do so. I also want to join him in recognising the extraordinary contribution from local government throughout this pandemic. All of the money that has been carried for when it is committed, £430 million of that was anticipated within the budget process, so that is part of the overall local government settlement that was agreed by Parliament earlier this year. With regard to the local government funding throughout the pandemic, an excess of £1 billion was given on top of the funding that was allocated in the budget last year, and that funding has went to supporting the wellbeing and welfare of our communities, supporting initiatives to support people on low incomes, free-skill meals and winter support packages. If the member would like to discuss these matters further, will the opportunity to go into the budget process later in the year, and I am more unhappy to engage going forward? I commend the Government on being so accurate with its budgeting coming within 0.9 per cent. Can the minister say anything about tax volatility, because Covid is likely to lead to some uncertainty around tax? He is absolutely correct to raise the issue of volatility. This is something that is addressed in the medium-term financial strategy, and it is also why we have prudently used our resource borrowing powers to mitigate that volatility. Clearly there would be more that we could do if we had further powers in this Parliament, so I would reiterate the calls that I have made already for people across the Parliament to work together ahead of the fiscal framework review to ensure that we can have the powers in this Parliament that we require to fully manage volatility. Last year, the Government gave £191 million, no strings, subsidised the private bus company owners, and underspent the transport budget by £343 million. Will the Government consider taking equity stakes in bus companies and other transport firms going forward to extend public ownership across the transport system to better enable us to have an integrated greener public transport system in Scotland? I thank the member for his question. I will take this opportunity to welcome to the chamber on the substantive point that he raised, as I am happy to reflect on that, on the specific issue of money going to bus companies. I referenced that in an earlier answer. There was an underspend in that area, but that money has been carried forward as part of the Scotland reserve to be redeployed on front-line spending in this financial year. I congratulate Tom Arthur on his appointment as a minister. No doubt it is a difficult job, but there is a concern that, in managing its own finances, the Scottish Government has pushed some of the pressure down the chain to local government and to arms-length bodies such as Glasgow Life. What more is the Scottish Government intending to do to ensure that facilities run by such bodies, such as the White Inch library, about which decisions are being made this afternoon, and many other libraries, leisure centres and community centres, are not lost as we see Covid recovery? What more will the Government do to ensure that those services are protected? I thank Patrick Harvie for his question. I absolutely recognise the vital importance of those local services to our communities, as Patrick Harvie knows well. The budget for local government is set as part of the overall budget, and it is ultimately a matter for local authorities to decide how they spend those resources. I am sure that that will be a topic, but that will be much discussion as we approach the budget process later on this year. I welcome the minister to his position. A minister has already touched upon the fact that the Scottish Government cannot overspend its budget. It is almost balanced throughout the year, so can the minister provide any details as to how the current percentage underspend compares to other devolved Governments that require to balance a budget such as the Labour Government in Wales? Yes, I would be happy to. Mr McMillan is absolutely correct to raise the fact that we cannot overspend our budget, and we have a very narrow envelope to enable us to carry forward any additional resource to the following year. Under spend for 2020-21 is in line with comparative years. The 2020-21 data for, for example, the Labour Government in Wales is not yet available. However, I can confirm that under spend in 2019-2020 was £189 million, which represents 1.3 per cent of its total budget, which compares to the underspend of not 0.9 per cent in this year's Scottish budget. When businesses, especially tourism businesses, are crying out for support, they will find it baffling that millions of pounds of business support is stuck in Government accounts. The minister acutely dodged Daniel Johnson's question on how those funds have been allocated. Can he tell me how much of the underspend has been allocated to tourism businesses, especially those dependent on international visitors? I thank Willie Rennie for his question. We spend every penny of resource that we receive, and what I would say to Mr Rennie is that the £431 million of that carry forward was anticipated in the Scottish budget. If I recall correctly, Mr Rennie voted for that budget. The economic shock of the pandemic has been compounded by the shock caused by the Tory's Brexit disaster. Can the minister advise what steps the Scottish Government is taking to mitigate the impacts of Brexit on Scotland's public finances? I thank Mr Coffey for his question. He is absolutely correct to raise the issue of Brexit. The pandemic, of course, has been the biggest economic challenge that we have faced in the last decade, but it has been compounded by Brexit. However, once again, as I indicated in the statement, the Scottish Government is prudently and competently managing Scotland's finances, even against the most challenging backdrop. We have been clear throughout that we will do all that we can to support businesses throughout the pandemic, and we will continue to do that and also to support businesses that are impacted by Brexit. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer, and I also welcome the minister to his role. The minister says, and I quote, to date, over 170 Covid initiatives, providing bespoke financial support to businesses to support them through the pandemic have been announced. The fact is that too many people in the business community are telling us that they are not receiving the support that they need, and it is not clear who can access what, and it is not clear the timescales for business support grants. Businesses are complaining about the lack of engagement from the Scottish Government, and one question may ask the minister what he is going to do about this lack of engagement and when? Along with the First Minister, the Deputy First Minister and the Cabinet Secretary for Finance, I had extensive engagement with businesses yesterday morning as part of the national economic forum, and I will continue to do so. Thank you, Presiding Officer, and welcome to your new post. Thank you, Minister, for his clear statement and welcome him to his new role. Can the minister provide any further detail as to what measures the Scottish Government is taking to provide certainty for our vital public services during this difficult time? I thank Bill Kidd for his question. Due to our prudent management of Scotland's finances, the Scottish Government was able to protect our most vital public services without overspending our budget. During the last financial year, we have responded to the pandemic by allocating an additional £3 billion to health and wider health initiatives, an extra £1 billion to local government through measures such as our lost income support scheme, winter support packages and free-skill meal scheme, ensuring that our rail and bus networks remain sustainable via an additional £850 million of funding, and providing an extra £450 million to education to ensure that extensive support measures could be implemented. I welcome the minister to his new position and, as he rightly identified, this is now an economic crisis as much as a health crisis, and so how these public funds are used is vitally important. However, the last publicly available minutes on the Scottish Government's website for a meeting of the First Minister's Council on Economic Advisers is from June 2020, so I could ask the minister whether that is the last time that the group met and when the next meeting of that group and also the advisory group on economic recovery are scheduled to be, and whether there are any plans for the membership of either of those groups to give a stronger voice to Scotland's business community. I thank Jamie Halcro George for his question. I did not catch all of his question, but the body that he refers to has me since then. I apologise, but I did not pick up the rest of his question, but if the member wants to write to him, I will be happy to respond to him. Thank you minister, and that concludes the statement. We will move on to the next item of business.