 The next item of business is portfolio questions, and the first portfolio today is Covid-19 recovery and parliamentary business. If a member wishes to request a supplementary question, they should press their request-to-speak button during the relevant question or indicate by entering the letters RTS in the chat function during the relevant question. As ever, I would make a plea for succinct questions and answers in order to allow as many members as possible to ask their questions. I call question number one, Collette Stevenson. To ask the Scottish Government how the expansion of the Scottish child payment will impact on delivery of its Covid recovery strategy. The Covid recovery strategy is focused on reducing systemic inequalities, tackling poverty and supporting people most affected during the pandemic, increasing financial security for low-income households and tackling child poverty essential to achieving our vision of a Covid recovery based firmly on a fairer future. The extension of the Scottish child payment to children under 16 means that over 400,000 are now potentially eligible. We have demonstrated our ambition to achieving our challenging child poverty targets by further increasing the value of the payment to £25 per child per week. Collette Stevenson, I thank the Deputy First Minister for that response and I welcome the actions in the Covid recovery strategy to address inequalities and the role the Scottish child payment will have in supporting families. However, recent analysis from the IPPR shows that removing the two child limit and benefit cap could lift 300,000 children out of poverty in the UK. Does the Deputy First Minister agree that, in the middle of a crippling cost of living crisis, it is nothing short of a scandal for the UK Government to continue prioritising bankers' bonuses rather than using the powers that they have to support families out of poverty? Time to first minister. I understand and sympathise entirely with the point that Collette Stevenson advances and the analysis that the IPPR has provided has demonstrated quite clearly the negative impact of the benefit cap and the two-child limit as being both unjust and unfair. All Governments must take actions to address the issues of child poverty. The Scottish Government has introduced, as I said in my opening answer, the Scottish child payment, which is only available in Scotland and is not available in any other part of the United Kingdom. However, our efforts to lift substantial numbers of children out of poverty would be substantially assisted by the removal of the two-child limit and the benefit cap, which could be of enormous assistance in addressing the issue of child poverty. To ask the Scottish Government when it expects the Scottish Covid-19 inquiry to conclude. Section 17 of the Inquiries Act gives an inquiry chair a loan rather than the minister's responsibility for deciding how an inquiry should operate. It will be for Lord Brailsford to determine how to strike the right balance between addressing the wide range of questions that people have and making sure that the inquiry can be delivered at speed so that we can learn and benefit from lessons as early as possible. The inquiry will provide information and updates on its website, Covid19inquiry.scot, as the inquiry progresses, as the chair considers appropriate. I thank the Deputy First Minister for that answer. From reading the terms of reference, it is not clear to me whether the Government's response to long Covid and its failure to take this issue seriously is part of this inquiry. Can the Deputy First Minister tell me if the Government's response to long Covid will be part of this inquiry or will we need to wait for another inquiry after we hear the handling of the issue? I am sorry that Mr Lumson takes that view, having read the terms of reference, but I answered a parliamentary question from Jackie Baillie, if my memory says me correct. I made clear two points. One was that the inquiry remit is set out in a fashion not to be prescriptive in that only the words that are in the remit can be addressed by the inquiry but to create the broadest scope to address the issues that are relevant to Covid. Secondly, in my judgment, the issues of long Covid are certainly at the heart of the inquiry remit and should be considered by the inquiry. It will be for Lord Brailsford properly and independently to decide what evidence he hears and considers, but I would be very surprised if the issue of long Covid was not scrutinised by the inquiry. In my view, the remit is set with sufficient breadth and scope to enable that to be the case. I hope that that reassures Mr Lumson. When Lord Brailsford was appointed, the Deputy First Minister gave me a reassurance about the centrality of bereaved families to the work of the inquiry. I wonder whether he is able to give the chamber an update on what steps have been taken to engage families. I cannot give a specific answer to that because it would clearly require me to have knowledge of the transactions of the inquiry. However, in my conversation with Lord Brailsford in the aftermath of my statement to Parliament in which I announced his appointment, he indicated to me that he was making early preparations to meet bereaved families and I am certain that will be the case. We are waiting for the Scottish Covid inquiry to conclude, but would it not be more sensible to have the details and recommendations of the inquiry before ploughing on with social care reform? Obviously, there are lots of issues to consider in relation to social care reform. As a Government, we look at all the available evidence. There is a parliamentary process under way in relation to the committee's scrutiny of the bill. That will have the ability to look at all manner of questions in relation to social care. Of course, ministers will listen with care to the evidence that is put forward. To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Scottish Information Commission's section 46 report for 2021-22, which reported a 29 per cent increase in freedom of information appeals. The Scottish Government notes with interest the commissioners' 2021-22 performance report recently presented to the Parliament. I recognise that this is a challenging time for the commissioners' team, and a marked increase in the number of requesters seeking information from Scottish public authorities who are exercising their right to appeal. I note that, in the report, the commissioner sets out steps that his office is taking to address the challenges associated with this, and the Scottish Government acknowledges the vital role played by the commissioner as an independent regulator of access to information laws in Scotland, appointed on the nomination in this Parliament. Donald Cameron, I thank the minister for the answer. The information commissioners' report makes clear that the 626 appeals received in 2021-22 were the highest number of appeals received since 2005-6, and 18 per cent of the valid appeals were about a public authority's failure to respond. So what action will he take now to ensure higher public authority compliance with freedom of information requests? I would like to say to Mr Cameron the action that the Government is currently taking. I would like to take that opportunity to add to what I have already said. As the Scottish Government is committed to learning from all appeals cases no matter what the outcome was, we are working to deliver on an FOI improvement plan that was launched in July 2022, helping the Scottish Government case handlers to recover from the disruption of the pandemic and to adjust to higher numbers of more complex cases. Over the past year, our response rates for FOIs in general have averaged 86.5 per cent, despite cases increasing by 48 per cent over a three-year period. We will, of course, continue to work with the commissioner and others internally to ensure that we address this and to ensure that we end up hitting the 95 per cent target. Question 4, Paul O'Kane. To ask the Scottish Government what the reduction in funding for Covid recovery will be as part of the emergency budget review. The aim of the emergency budget review was to support those in need of most help whilst also managing the nation's budget. That meant taking hard choices to further prioritise spending and finding savings. Many of the difficulties facing public finances are the result of the UK Government prematurely cutting funding intended to support our recovery from the pandemic, despite the Scottish Government warning against that action. The emergency budget review identified a further £615 million in savings. Those are not decisions that we would wish to make, but in the absence of additional funding from the UK Government, they are decisions that we are compelled to find in order to balance the books in this financial year, plus prioritising funding to help families, back business and protect the delivery of public services. Paul O'Kane. I thank the Deputy First Minister for that answer. The First Minister committed to building back better for Scotland as we recover from Covid, but what has happened to that ambition? We need investment and support for those whose lives have been fundamentally affected by the pandemic. The Office of National Statistics estimates that there are over 170,000 people in Scotland living with long Covid. The support from the Scottish Government to date has been inadequate. The Scottish Government committed £3 million in funding when the number of Scots with long Covid was estimated to be at 70,000. Even that has not been fully allocated. Funding has not increased by a proportion at well. Will the Deputy First Minister commit to working across Government to protect funding for long Covid sufferers in Scotland to help their recovery with access to physiotherapy and multidisciplinary rehab? I sympathise very much with the point that Mr O'Kane makes about the importance of ensuring that people with long Covid are able to access the support that they require to assist them in their recovery. In some cases, that will be clinical support. Of course, they should have access to that clinical support. In other respects, it may be additional assistance, which individuals require perhaps to help them on a journey into employability. I assure Mr O'Kane that the Government is working across portfolios to make sure that we put in place the support that is necessary to assist individuals in their recovery. The Scottish Government established a £25 million ventilation fund that businesses could apply to for support. The last time I checked, I think that just £1 million had been paid out from that fund. Is that still the case? Is that fund still available? If not, has that money been reallocated? If so, to where? Obviously, the figures that Mr Fraser quotes to my recollection are correct. In terms of the funding that was available there, if it is not being utilised, it will be made available to meet other budget pressures within the Government. Mr Fraser is familiar with the fact that I am wrestling with the challenge of balancing the budget. Any resources that are not needed for the purpose for which they are being allocated are being drawn into the centre so that I can meet funding pressures across the Government. It is impossible for me to give him a link between individual money that was allocated for one fund to other purposes within Government. He knows the way that Government funding works, but I remind Parliament that I am still working to balance the budget this year because of the significant and corrosive effects of inflation and the public sector pay deals. Parliament was well informed about the challenges that I faced by the Auditor General's statement that was issued last Thursday, which I think gave a fair and accurate account of the significant challenges that I faced in this financial year. To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made on implementing the recommendations of the institutionalising participatory and deliberative democracy working group published in March. In the most recent programme for Government, we committed to publishing a response to the report of our IPDD working group. That will be set out how we can involve people in communities, Government, children and young people in democratic decision making. We are in the process of carefully considering that further, assessing the new activities and skills that could make that a success and taking account of the resource demands that are needed that would be needed to create that. I thank the minister for that answer. I have certainly read the report and the question is what happens next. People need to know that. I noticed that the minister mentioned the programme for government, but in the 2021 programme for government it stated, and I quote, We are committed to reforming council tax to make it fairer working with the Scottish Green Party and COSLA to oversee the development of effective, deliberative engagement on sources of local government funding, including council tax, that will accumulate in a citizens assembly. We have controversial issues around drugs policy, around being able to raise further funding. There are a lot of issues out there that a citizens assembly would certainly be able to grapple with and, hopefully, bring forward the views of people and communities. So what is the likelihood? When are we likely to see some announcements on this? I think that the minister has cut to the chase and just said to Mr Rowley that we are probably going to write a response to the IPTD working group's report before the end of this year. That will be the starter for us all to be able to look at this and move things forward. I am quite happy, as always, to work with Mr Rowley and meet up with Mr Rowley to discuss many of the issues, but the Government is committed to finding a fairer way to go forward with council tax and we have various other options and other participatory groups that are actually available for others to engage with as well. It might be an idea for myself, Mr Rowley, Presiding Officer, to have an offline meeting and discuss this further. To ask the Scottish Government, in light of recently reported warnings by the Bank of England that the UK is about to enter the longest recession since the 1930s, what assessment has made of the impact that this could have on its Covid recovery strategy? The current economic landscape presents us with significant challenges. The approach of the UK Government in cutting public spending risks prolonging that recession, hampering efforts to restore the public finances. There are alternatives to austerity that invest in public services and the economy, including inflationary increases to devolve Government's 2022-23 budgets. It is unfortunately inevitable that some of the savings that we need to make will have negative impacts. There are no easy decisions, but we have prior to us help for those who need it most. The Scottish Government remains committed to delivering the actions set out in our Covid recovery strategy and our internal monitoring indicates the majority of the strategy's actions remain complete or on track. There is no doubt that the war in Ukraine is having a significant impact on economies across the world. However, yesterday we saw the renewed warnings from the OECD that the UK will be the second worst performer of the world's largest economies next year as a result of the Tory Government's disastrous Brexit and shambolic economic policies. Does the First Minister share my concern that, while countries such as Ireland will see their economies growing next year, Scotland can only watch on powerless as the UK continues its decline, accelerated by Brexit, making it more difficult to recover from this pandemic? I am not quite sure why Mr McDonald's question, which is based on the substantive analysis of the OECD, was met with the groans of the Conservative benches, because we are wrestling now in the United Kingdom with the economic consequences of Brexit, which was inflicted upon us against our will by the Conservative Government. That was added to by the folly of the mini-budget in September, which is all of Conservative design and which will cause significant negative impact for many years to come. Add to that the political inertia of the United Kingdom Government since the revelation of Partygate in December last year has resulted in essentially no effective functioning domestic government in the United Kingdom over that period, with the inflationary pressures arising out of energy cost rises that were not interrupted over the course of the summer. We are dealing with very acute economic difficulties as a consequence of decisions that are voluntarily taken by the Conservative Government, and the implications are significant. I will do all that I possibly can to try to protect people from the effects of the folly of the Conservatives, but I cannot protect people from every aspect of the damage done by the United Kingdom Government. To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact of increasing inflation on Scotland's public services as many are still dealing with the impact of the pandemic. The current financial years budget has been significantly diminished by the corrosive effects of inflation. At the same time, demand for government support and intervention is understandably increasing, and we have not received additional funding to compensate for the reduced buying power of that funding. The emergency budget review aims to support those who need most help, whilst also managing the nation's budget, which meant taking difficult decisions to further prioritise spending and to find savings. The Covid recovery strategy focuses on reducing systemic inequalities, tackling poverty and supporting people most affected during the pandemic, and has been agreed with local government. Despite the challenges that I have outlined, we remain committed to the strategy and its achievement of its outcomes. From our NHS and social care sector to our local authority colleagues, people coming to live and work in Scotland are a huge asset and should be welcomed with open arms. Yet Labour and the Tories are an absolute lockstep with each other as they continue to ignore Scotland's needs on every serious challenge facing us right now. Can the Deputy First Minister outline what powers the Scottish Government would need to ensure an open, welcoming system of migration that supports our public sector to deliver on the Covid recovery strategy? Thank you, Deputy First Minister. Perhaps we could focus on the impact of the increase in inflation in regard to those matters. I certainly will, because the effects of inflation are undermining the purchasing power of our economy. As a consequence of that, there are acute issues that Emma Roddick raises about the migration stance of the United Kingdom Government. There is acute pressure on the availability of individuals to enter the labour market. We have historically low unemployment and historically high employment in the Scottish labour market just now. That is creating acute labour shortages and acute inflationary pressures as a consequence. For Mr Lumsden's benefit, that is causing acute inflationary pressures. If Mr Lumsden wants to ask me a supplementary question, I will go into a lot of detail about the inflationary pressures that arise out of migration challenges, because all the available evidence highlights that particular point. The Scottish Government, through the work of our ministerial population task force, tries to develop concepts such as the rural visa pilot proposal, which is designed to address some of the questions that Emma Roddick has raised with me. Of course, we need to have a fuller range of responsibilities to enable us to address the negative effects of the migration stance of the UK Government. That concludes the first portfolio. Questions on Covid-19 recovery and parliamentary business. We will now turn to the next portfolio, which is finance and the economy. Again, if any member wishes to seek to raise a supplementary question, they should please press the request and speak button during the relevant question or enter the letters RTS in the chat function during the relevant question. Again, a plea for succinct questions and answers. I call question number one, Liam McArthur. To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with Orkney Islands Council regarding the Scottish budget 2022-23. The Scottish Government continues to meet with COSLA and individual local authorities on a regular basis to cover a range of topics, including current and future budget pressures. I was pleased to meet with Councillor Stockin on 31 August during my visit to South Uist, which, to the observer, will be known as not in Orkney, but it was on the occasion of a meeting with three island authority leaders in South Uist. I responded to Mr Stockin's most recent letter on 21 November, confirming that we will make arrangements to meet again at the earliest opportunity. I thank the cabinet secretary and confirm that we islanders are known to travel to different islands from time to time. Orkney Islands Council warned this week that the precarious state of the internal ferry fleet is risking, quote, life and limb, with the vulnerability of vessels exacerbated by recent repairs to ancient hulls and the grounding of the MV Varigan earlier this month. I understand that Mr Swinney will meet Councillor Stockin shortly to discuss those concerns in the context of OIC's forthcoming budget settlement. Does he accept that ferry replacement is now a matter of public safety? If so, what assurances can he offer my constituents that the Scottish Government is taking this seriously and committed to finding an urgent resolution to this long-running saga? First, I would like to say that in relation to the recent grounding of the MV Varigan, I was very pleased that everyone was safe in what was a worrying incident that took place. Councillor Stockin has raised the issues of the strength of the inter-island ferry fleet. I appreciate that it is an issue that causes significant concern to the islands council and to islanders, and there is a need to rely on regular services in that respect, and we have to make sure that those are operational and safe. It will be one of the points that Councillor Stockin and I discuss. I am aware that he has also discussed those issues with the transport minister, Jenny Gilruth. I assure Mr MacArthur that the Government is engaging constructively on the importance of renewing the ferry fleet to serve all of our island communities. I apologise that I will have to leave before the end of this session to another commitment, as I advised. The cabinet secretary will be aware that the rate-equivalent tariff, or RET, was delivered to ferry routes in northern Isles by the middle of 2018. However, during the intervening four and a half years, while Shetland has benefited from those arrangements, Orkney has been left behind, a failure to deliver on their pledge that will have clearly saved the Scottish Government considerable sums of money. Can the cabinet secretary confirm how much money the Scottish Government is estimated to have saved by not delivering RET as promised, and how will he ensure that that money will be reallocated in the budget to allow it to be used for the economic benefit of Orkney? Of course, what Mr Halcro Johnston misses out is the fact that the Government has substantially increased investment in ferry services in Scotland. When the Government came to office, or actually when the ferries plan was developed in 2012, if my member says me right, the budget was just a bit over £100 million, it's now well over £300 million, so substantial investment has been made in ferry services and in road equivalent tariff. The Government obviously works constructively with individual island authorities to maximise their economic potential, and that will continue to be the case with Orkney Islands Council. To ask the Scottish Government what discussions finance ministers have had with the Minister for Higher Education and Further Education, Youth Employment and Training to assess the number of construction apprentices and construction workers needed to support the recovery of Scotland's economy and meet its net zero targets. The Minister for Higher Education and Further Education, Youth Employment and Training and myself share the commitment to ensuring that our current and future workforce has the skills needed to support the transition to net zero. The construction sector will need over 25,000 more workers by 2026, and that includes workers with skills to support heat decarbonisation and offshore energy projects. The Scottish Government recognises that apprenticeship pathways are key to that, and we are working with the skills agencies to increase the number of apprentices back to pre-Covid levels. I'm grateful for that answer and I welcome the Minister's commitment. I did ask about specific discussions with other ministerial colleagues because the minister may be aware that last week in my capacity as a convener of the cross-party group in construction, myself and a number of industry stakeholders, including Unite the Union, met with the minister, Jamie Hepburn, because of the very serious issues affecting construction craft apprentices. The meeting was fairly positive. We hope that a solution is in sight, but there's a really serious backlog affecting around 1,700 apprentices. There's having an impact on employers, on the colleges, and we need a resolution at many to learn lessons. I get an assurance that discussions are going on behind the scenes in government and could we perhaps get a statement from the Government to Parliament by the end of the year to make sure that everyone who's waiting for good news receives it? I'll certainly convey the member's request for ministerial statement to the skills minister because I know that they had some productive discussions, as the member said just in the last week or so, and to assure the member and indeed Parliament that the climate emergency skills action plan is being refreshed, as she may be aware and will be published in 2023, and there are discussions going on across portfolios with the green skills minister, Lawrence Later, Jamie Hepburn and, of course, myself as just transition minister, and there are talks planned in the coming weeks as well to ensure that we do make sure the skills required are available. Indeed, yesterday I was in Aberdeen visiting North East Scotland College to discuss how they're using £4.5 million that they've secured from the Just Transition Fund for North East Scotland, and they're going to build a facility to ensure that apprentices are trained up as welders for offshore platforms, electricians for installing electric car charging points and so on. So there's a lot of activity across the country and I just want to assure the member that it's being co-ordinated as much as we can. We've been waiting for five years for the skills landscape reform, and the minister only acted after Audit Scotland criticised his lack of leadership in this area. The coherence and stability review for the college sector was largely delayed and in the middle of a college sector crisis. So what chance have we got of increasing the number of construction apprentices and workers if we've got this delay within the reform of the skills agenda? Well, as the economy is going to be transformed over the next 10 years to help us to get towards our net zero targets, it's clear that we have to keep our skills landscape under review given the 21st century challenges that we face and, of course, James Withers has been appointed for that skills review. This Government's got an excellent track record in delivering apprentices over the past few years. Of course, there has been a bit of a blip because of the impact of Covid, and we're making up for lost ground at the moment for that, and Skills Development Scotland has been instructed to deliver 25,000 apprentices from the start of this financial year and then build back up to 30,000 in due course. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer, to ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the potential economic benefit to Scotland of moving to a low-carbon economy and achieving net zero. Minister Richard Lochhead. There are benefits and many opportunities are rising from our transition to net zero, not least in the key energy transition sectors such as renewables and green hydrogen, but more broadly across the whole of the economy as we reduce emissions from transport from industries of our homes and as we build our natural capital resources. Those opportunities are set out in our national strategy for economic transformation and our hydrogen action plan. They will be further developed as we bring forward our energy strategy refresh with a just transition plan for energy in the coming weeks, as well as our new climate change plan and other just transition plans in the coming years. I thank the minister for that answer. I may be aware that there was a nut west that has estimated that moving to net zero could be worth £22 billion to the Scottish economy. However, they do warn that Scotland will have to increase the support to develop services in supply chain and SME businesses by a factor of greater than two, which is much quicker than required by the rest of the United Kingdom. Given that we are behind the rest of the UK according to the nut west report, can I ask the minister what the Scottish Government is doing to support the development of our SME sector to ensure that those opportunities for our supply chain and our support services needed to achieve net zero remain here in Scotland? I am sure that a member will want to welcome the report that was out last week, independent research from Skills Development Scotland with Warwick University and Strathclyde University, saying that now there are up to 100,000 green jobs in Scotland. That is an upper estimate and it is still being researched. That is a very good indication that the green jobs revolution has started in Scotland. We are not behind the rest of the UK. There are numerous reports from Price, Waterhouse and Coopers. There was a Fraser of Islander Institute report out just last week called International Scotland that are showing in comparison to the rest of the UK, Scotland is actually making excellent progress in this agenda. I do not think that we should talk Scotland down, but I agree with the member that there is a lot more to be done and he will be aware of the supply chain work in relation to Scotland and other projects that have the potential to deliver thousands of more green jobs in Scotland. The emergency budget review cut £38 million from energy efficiency and £45 million from heat in buildings. Could the minister outline what impact that will have for our delivery of our net zero targets? The member will be aware that we face a very difficult budget environment at the moment following inflation. Indeed, the acting finance secretary outlined some of the challenges in the previous questions just a few moments ago. However, we are making good progress. There is a lot of planning in the pipeline. The just transition plans for energy in the first instance will address some of the issues that will be published for consultation, so Parliament members can submit their views to that over a 12-week period once it is published in the coming weeks. As I said, there are good positive signs that we are making progress in terms of green jobs being created and the potential for many more in the near future. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on how it is investing to support the economy across the west of Scotland and greater Glasgow areas. The Scottish Government is a full partner in the Glasgow City region city deal, contributing £500 billion over 20 years to the infrastructure investment fund. The deal empowers Glasgow and its city region partners to identify, manage and deliver a programme of investments to stimulate economic growth and create jobs in their area. Similarly, the Scottish Government is investing £103 million in the Ayrshire growth deal, which will see transformational investments in projects across Ayrshire over the next 10 years to support long-term inclusive growth there. I thank the minister for that response. Minister, if Glasgow city region were to be awarded the Clyde Green Freeport bid, it would be a massive boost to the local economy in Glasgow and the wider region. It would provide high-quality jobs and investment opportunities in addition to accelerating net zero ambitions. Several Scottish Greens and SNP MSP have supported motions urging the Parliament to oppose the Clyde Green Freeport bid and all other Scottish freeport bids. Will the minister state his support for the Clyde Green Freeport bid and does he welcome the positive co-operation between the Scottish and UK Government? I understand that the member makes the case for her own region in terms of the bids, and she will be aware that they are under consideration at the moment from the Scottish and UK Governments in announcements, which will hopefully be in due course. Of course, there are a number of bids from across the country, but the members made her point well and she will have to wait for the final announcements that we made. To ask the Scottish Government for an update on the Advanced Manufacturing and Innovation District Scotland site in my constituency of Renfrewshire North and West, which will include two new world-class innovation centres, the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland and the Medicines Manufacturing Innovation Centre, and the projected impact that that will have on the economy of the west of Scotland and the greater Glasgow area. To Nathoddon, who, understandably, makes many of the benefits that the Scottish Government is fully supportive of this work, the Advanced Manufacturing Innovation District Scotland site is part of the £39 million city deal that is funded by Glasgow airport investment area project, and work is well under way to deliver on that ambitious project. Of course, the impact of the Glasgow city region deal will be transformational for local communities in attracting investment. Building on that investment, the Glasgow city region deal has created, as she will be aware, a regional economic strategy to help to shape the long-term, post-deal economic future of the region. To ask the Scottish Government how it is investing in rural broad brand. Minister Tom Arthur. I'm wrong indeed. Future proof digital connectivity is vital for our rural communities, and the Scottish Government delivery programmes have already connected around 1 million properties across Scotland to faster broadband. When investing more than £600 million through the R100 contracts, extending fuel fibre broadband access to some of the hardest to reach rural communities in Scotland, and our Scottish broadband voucher scheme also provides funding to connect those not part of the R100 contracts or commercial build plans. It's also imperative that we urge all the UK Government departments that are relevant to this to extend the gigabyte networks to Scotland's rural communities given telecoms is, of course, an entirely reserved matter. Alexander Stewart. I thank the minister for that response. The SNP pledged to have R100 scheme completed by 2021, but now, after failing to meet that target, the new estimate is predicted to be 2026. I have a freedom of information that shows that the R100 scheme has cost 21 million since it should have been completed last year. This is an enormous cost to the taxpayer and shows that the SNP pledge for 2021 is not going to take place. Does the minister agree with me that the failure, like the Ferris Fiascal, will ruin rural communities' chances for ever-getting transport and broadband connections that they deserve? I wish to ask Tom Arthur to answer that point. Can I just say to the member if his Tory colleagues in the UK Government who have exclusive confidence for telecommunications had acted a few years ago and got their act together, it would have been down to the Scottish Government to step in with hundreds of millions of pounds of investment to make up for lost time. The R100 project is game-changing for many parts of rural Scotland. According to Think Broadbands, which the UK Government also used to give the success of its own programmes, 95.1 per cent of premises across Scotland are now able to access superfast broadband speeds of 30 megabytes per second and above, up from just 59.3 per cent in 2014 when the deployment began. That is superb progress and the investment from the Scottish Government is making a real difference to rural communities in the south of Scotland and throughout the country. Given the disruption to EE's 4G mobile service, which my constituents in Uig have been enduring for six weeks now, effectively cutting a huge geographic area off from all broadband access and severely impacting on medical and other essential services, will the minister agree that EE's response has been truly woeful and also commit to facilitating a meeting in Uig between the R100 team and the community? I just say to the member that this is clearly a very serious issue in his constituency, and whilst on the issue of ensuring 4G mobile connectivity is maintained as a reserved part of the telecommunications legislation in the UK, which means that the Scottish Government doesn't have a mechanism to directly intervene in such matters, will certainly give consideration to the member's request, and I'll make sure that he is written back too shortly. Of course, responsibility falls upon OFCOM as the UK's telecoms regulator. However, as with the recent telecom outages that have suffered in Shetland, Col and now Uig, we urge operators to ensure that they rectify such issues as a matter of urgency. For our part, we are investing £28.75 million in the Scottish 4G infill programme, which is delivering 4G mobile infrastructure services throughout rural Scotland, including the Western Isles. To ask the Scottish Government what discussions finance ministers have had with ministerial colleagues regarding any plans to investigate the feasibility of a land value tax. Although there have been no recent discussions on the feasibility of introducing a land value tax in Scotland, we will continue to look closely at the Scottish Land Commission's recommendations on land reform and taxation, review any evidence in detail and assess that as part of our wider approach to tax policy. We are, as ever, hoping to explore how the Scottish Government could support land reform objectives using its limited powers over taxation to generate revenues to invest in our public services and to support a sustainable and inclusive wellbeing economy. Katie Clark It is estimated that 432 people own 50 per cent of the privately held land in Scotland. A record, £447 million was invested in the purchase of private Scottish estates in 2021, a 333 per cent increase from 2018. Given the financial backdrop, does the Government accept that it is now essential that we introduce a land value tax as a matter of urgency? As I said in my original answer to the member, we are considering recommendations carefully. Clearly, the introduction of any new tax is a substantial matter. For example, while the Parliament enjoys powers to introduce local taxis, national taxis do require new, devolved national taxis do require the agreement of the UK Government and the Westminster Parliament, we are considering the details carefully and any measures that we do take forward will be done so in a way that is consistent with our framework for tax. Arrianne Burgess It is clear from stakeholders and constituents that high land prices can impede regeneration efforts and hinder attempts to assemble land for community-led development. That is why the Bute House agreement commits to deliver an effective and fair mechanism for capturing for public benefit a share of the increase in land value when a development is supported through the planning system. Can I ask the minister what benefits he sees coming from that commitment and can he update on progress? Can I thank Mr Burgess for her question? We have of course been focused within planning on the preparation and delivery of our revised national planning framework. I very much look forward to appearing before the committee next week to give evidence. As we move into the new year and hopefully as we see Parliament adopt and approve the new national planning framework, we will then turn our attention and earnestly focus on the delivery of national planning framework. That will encapsulate a range of different actions, including the continued roll-out implementation of the planning act, our on-going review of planning obligations and taking forward the commitment between the Scottish Government and the Scottish Green Party on the matters that the member raised. To ask the Scottish Government what assessment has been made of the impact that the UK Government's autumn statement will have on Scotland's public finances. The autumn statement has shown that households across Scotland are paying a steep price for the economic mismanagement of the UK Government, with the OBR warning that average household disposable income will drop next year by some 7.1 per cent. Inflation is eating away at the Scottish budget, which has fallen by 10 per cent in real terms between this year and last, and due to the lack of additional funding in 2020-23 and the fiscal constraints of devolution, we have had no choice but to already make unplanned savings of more than £1 billion. The corrosive impact of inflation and turmoil caused by the UK Government's economic choices, meaning that the Scottish Government is facing very difficult choices for public spending over the next few years. Earlier this month, the Bank of England warned that the UK may be facing the longest recession in a century. Does the minister share my concern that UK Government's plans to cut public spending risks prolonging that recession, and can he advise what alternative priorities could be pursued if this Parliament had the full financial powers? I do share Jenny Mentor's concern and indeed the OBR has painted a grim outlook with the UK economy now forecast to be no bigger at the end of this UK Parliament when at its start, which means five years of stagnant economic growth. This combined with yesterday's OECD forecast predicting that the UK economy will be the worst hit of all G7 nations is a devastating indictment of the UK Government's management of the economy. We have made no secret, Presiding Officer, of our frustration at the limitations imposed on us by the current fiscal framework. Our reserve funding is capped, our tax powers are limited, and we have no legal ability to borrow to fund day-to-day spending. Not one of the three main Westminster parties support giving this Parliament the fiscal flexibilities that it requires. Consequently, the only means by which we can assume the most financial powers that are so necessary is by this Parliament assuming the powers of an independent country. To ask the Scottish Government what assets currently in public ownership it plans to privatise. The Scottish Government works on a case-by-case basis to secure the best outcome for assets in public ownership. Parliament would be notified of any future agreement to return a commercial asset to the private sector. Three weeks ago, the First Minister told the Public Audit Committee that our position with all of the commercial assets that the Government has taken ownership of is that, ultimately, we want them to be back in the private sector. Let me ask again, in the interests of openness and democracy, what assets does the Scottish Government want to privatise? I can only refer the member to my previous answer. We work on a case-by-case basis to secure the best outcome for assets in public ownership. Parliament would be notified, but it is thanks to the Government's intervention that many, many jobs have been saved. Indeed, the contribution that those industries are making to the economy has only taken place because of the actions of this Government. Ferguson's is clearly not without its challenges, but by stepping in, the SNP Government saved Scottish shipbuilding on the Clyde and hundreds of jobs that went with it. Now we see Prestwick airport turning a welcome profit. Will the minister agree that moving assets and businesses into public ownership when they are failing in the private sector can and does work? Yes, I agree. We have shown how, through our investment, we can realise benefits to communities and businesses from our strategic investments. Taking businesses into public ownership is a complex issue. For each case, we work to understand the legal, financial and policy implications. I am delighted that Prestwick airport is continuing to grow steadily, making a positive contribution to the local and regional economy, supporting 300 direct jobs and many more. Through our intervention in Ferguson Marine, we are showing how we are standing by our commitment to the shipbuilding communities in and of a Clyde, where we have rescued more than 300 jobs and supporting our island communities, but we lie on the vessels. That concludes portfolio questions on finance and the economy. There will be a short pause before we move on to the next item of business to allow front-bench teams to change positions should they wish to do so.