 Rym ni'n grwp ddechrau'n bydd Talkhew, a yn ddechrau'n popeth sydd gyflyweddion i bwysig, ond ond rym ni'n cymryd iawn i bethau'n 5 i 7, ac rym ni'n ddechrau'n 8. Rhyw bethau cwmaint a'r pwysig arall i ddimno'r ddanach. Rhyw bethau cwmaint i ddimno a'u ddimno gydag i ddimno lluniau lawrfaith i ddimno. Rwy'n dechrau'n gweithio'r cymryd negaeth of a lot of interest in supplementaries, so if we could have questions that are devoid of lengthy preambles and answers that are as brief as possible, we'll get through them all the more quickly. I call question number one, Christine Grahame. Thank you very much. I'll try to set a good example. For once, to ask the Scottish Government assessment that it has made as part of its cross-government co-ordination of Covid recovery policies of the wider, on-going impact of Covid-19, including on the economy. The Covid recovery strategy brings together over 70 actions that are supporting those most impacted during the pandemic and on-going cost crisis by increasing financial security for low-income households, enhancing the wellbeing of children and young people and creating good green jobs and fair work. This activity is supported by the themes of the Scottish Government's national strategy for economic transformation and work that involves the support for digital recovery and support for our energy sector through the energy transition fund. We are also providing significant investment to support businesses, including almost half a billion pounds more than the funding that we receive from the United Kingdom Government. I thank the First Minister for his answer. I ask with specific reference to my constituency if, with any data of the impact on the economies in Midlothian and the Borders, and if the Deputy First Minister does not have that to hand, will he write and provide me with it please? I am very happy to draw out as much detailed information as I can in a follow-up response to Christine Grahame. However, I would say that there is obviously on some of the key indicators, such as levels of unemployment, we have historically low unemployment across Scotland, historically high employment across Scotland. Those factors will be felt acutely in an area like Midlothian where it has and the Borders, particularly in Midlothian where there is such strong accessibility to labour markets. However, I will look to see what further more detailed information I can provide to the member. One of the economic impacts of Covid has been the acceleration and decline of traditional retail centres. We have seen just this week the closure of M&Co stores across Scotland, which will contribute to that. Has the Scottish Government done any assessment of the impact on traditional town and city centres from the expansion of working from home across the public sector? Obviously, the factors affecting town centres and the retail community will be affected by a range of different factors. Covid and the impact of lockdown will be one. The move towards the greater use of online retail opportunities will be another, and our third will undoubtedly be the impact of more people proportionately working at home since the pandemic than was the case before the pandemic. The Government undertakes an active amount of work to look at the impact on town centres. Indeed, parliamentary committees have reported on the subject, and all those different factors are researched and reflected in the thinking that the Government brings together on its retail strategy. One of the major legacies of the Covid pandemic has been mental health and the impact in Scotland. What is the Deputy First Minister's response to reports that there were no mental health beds available in Scotland last weekend? What steps are the Government taking to honour their pledge to increase mental health on the 10 per cent of the total NHS budget when funding has been frozen in the coming financial year? The mental health budget has increased, and we have greater capacity to support individuals to assist in their recovery. There are a variety of other steps that the Government takes to enhance community mental health resources in our society, particularly in the school community as one example that comes to mind. The Government will endeavour to expand where the resources allow the investment in mental health and wellbeing services, recognising the importance of supporting people in their recovery. Do you want to ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the Covid-19 inquiry? As an independent public inquiry, it is for the Scottish Covid-19 inquiry itself to comment on its work, including through its website, Covid19inquiry.scot, as it progresses. The Scottish Government remains committed in its role as sponsor to providing operational support to us the chair considers necessary and appropriate in order to enable the inquiry to carry out its independent work and to help to ensure that progress made so far is continued. We want the inquiry to be delivered at speed, addressing the range of questions that people have so that we can learn and benefit from licence as early as possible. It has been reported recently that the former chair of the Scottish Covid-19 inquiry, Lady Pool, raised a number of issues with the inquiry before her resignation, and that the Deputy First Minister personally offered a phone call to try and get her to change her mind, but she declined to do so. It would appear that numerous issues were piling up with the inquiry, and Lady Pool felt that she had no option but to step down. So can I ask the Deputy First Minister why he let these problems build up to the point of resignation and not dress them at an earlier stage? With millions of pounds of taxpayer money already spent on this inquiry, what lessons have been learned to ensure the same issues, delays and costs don't arise going forward? Mr Halcro Johnston's question raises a perspective on an independent public inquiry that has to be countered. Conservative members would be outraged if I were to interfere in the operation of an independent public inquiry. Indeed, Mr Fraser on the front bench accused me of so doing. Here we have one member of the Conservative Party asking me to interfere in an inquiry, Mr Halcro Johnston, and Mr Fraser accusing me of doing the same thing that Mr Halcro Johnston is alleging. When an independent public inquiry is established, and the law is very clear in this point—I have rehearsed this in parliamentary statements—once a chair is appointed, it is up to the chair to run the public inquiry. It is not for ministers to interfere, and I don't do that. Question 3, Willie Coffin. Thank you to ask the Scottish Government what cross-government assessment it has made of the impact of its Covid recovery policies, including whether any might continue into the future. Presiding Officer, the Covid recovery strategy contains a range of actions, many of which will continue beyond the lifetime of the strategy. The principles of the Covid recovery strategy helped to inform the 2023-24 Scottish budget, which prioritises eradicating child poverty, transforming the economy to deliver a just transition to net zero, and achieving ffiscally sustainable public services. The Scottish Government will continue to prioritise policies that support those in most need. I co-chair the Covid recovery strategy programme board alongside the cause of a president. Together with partners, we oversee recovery activity that is supporting people in Scotland, particularly those most affected by the pandemic and the on-going cost crisis. I thank the Deputy First Minister for that answer, and to hopefully provide a useful contrast to the earlier question. The Deputy First Minister will be aware of some of the more positive outcomes from Covid, for example the digital transformation that occurred in the workplace and in here, too. Local project initiatives that emerged initially as emergency support, but which have become an important part of local community work today, not only in my constituency, but also evident in the impressive engagement or infrastructure work that we saw on Monday with our housing committee. Does the Deputy First Minister share my view that those positive developments, born out of Covid, are making a real difference to people in communities, and can he consider it funding models for important community work in particular, might be retained in the future and not lost simply because the Covid funding may have come to an end? There is a lot of merit in the points that Mr Coffey has raised. We saw a tremendous development of innovative community development practice during Covid, where solutions were found by communities for individuals, and the Government is intent on encouraging and nurturing that approach. It is important to be on our guard for a return to old ways of working, some of the new ways of working that developed during Covid have been of great benefit and advantage to our society and our communities, and we want to make sure that we preserve those in the future. I assure Mr Coffey that the Government is trying to design its funding interventions, particularly for example measures such as the Dundee Pathfinder work on doing exactly that. Last week I met with Unite the Union and concerned employees from the Glasgow Lighthouse lab to discuss the future of the facility in light of concerns about further redundancies in the coming weeks. Cabinet Secretary will be aware that the lab, which is Scotland's flagship Covid-19 testing facility, processed over 26 million tests, but has already lost experienced and highly skilled employees, including sample handlers and lab technicians, in a previous round of redundancies. Can the cabinet secretary outline what meetings the Scottish Government has had with the University of Glasgow regarding the future of the Glasgow Lighthouse lab? Given that Covid has not gone away, will he intervene to ensure that this important capacity is retained? I think that Jackie Baillie will be aware from the discussions that we had at the Covid-19 committee in relation to the budget that the Government is retaining enhanced testing facilities beyond what we had prior to Covid to ensure that we have a capability and a capacity to undertake testing activity. Obviously, I will inquire about specific dialogue with the University of Glasgow by health ministers in relation to the Lighthouse lab, but I think that Jackie Baillie should be assured of the commitment of the Government to ensure that we have the appropriate measures in place to ensure that we can deal with the Covid pandemic, which, of course, is still with us. Thankfully, with much lower prevalence than has been the case in the past, and we obviously have much greater population protection through the vaccination programme. To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to spend the proposed Covid recovery portfolio 2023-24 budget allocation. The Covid recovery portfolio supports the Scottish Government's commitment to renewing public services through public service reform, the delivery of the Covid recovery strategy, which is supporting those most impacted during the pandemic and the on-going cost crisis and its contributions to the co-ordination of recovery across the Scottish Government. As detailed in the 2023-24 budget statement, the budget line also includes a range of commitments, including work to support the operation of the Scottish Public Inquiry into the handling of Covid-19 and work on preparedness, assessment and co-ordination of concurrent risk across the Scottish Government. I thank the cabinet secretary. On a related issue, however, at the end of last year in relation to the letter that Richard McAllum, director of health finance within the Scottish Government, sent to IJBs, there was a considerable concern at the time that a total of £331 million of Covid money across the IJBs would be clawed back by the Scottish Government. The Scottish Government said, and I quote, that this money is being used to fund Covid pressures across the health sector and for no other purpose. Cabinet secretary, can we just get some clarity on exactly what that money has been spent on? Cabinet secretary? I think it's pretty obvious that the budget is under enormous financial pressure. Liz Smith is a member of the finance committee. I have been completely candid about the challenges that I face in balancing the budget this year because of the impact of inflation and the increased costs with which we are wrestling. I have come to Parliament and I have reallocated £1.2 billion worth of resources to meet the funding pressures. It is not any secret that we are facing those particular issues and pressures, but the Government is acting to address them. In relation to the IJB funding question, it is an elementary common sense that, where reserves have been held in IJBs that can be utilised to support front-line activity, it is a clear preference of the Government for that to be the case. Given the pressures that are faced by unpaid carers, who are one of the groups most adversely affected by the pandemic, not least due to rising energy bills, which have been articulated in this chamber at First Minister's Questions, coupled with their needs now in recovery, what does the Deputy First Minister intend to do to support unpaid carers through the Covid recovery budget, not least with testing antivirals and PPE? As Mr O'Kane may be aware, there is provision within the health budget for the maintenance of the pandemic preparedness on many of the issues that he raises around about PPE and testing arrangements, as I rehearsed on my answer to Jackie Baillie. That provision has been made on a prudential basis. We all hope that we do not have to increase the scale of investment that is required there, but there is provision made within the budget to enable that to be the case. Of course, that support would be available to those who require that support. In many cases, I would imagine that that would be in relation to carers who would have eligibility for that support. To ask the Scottish Government how its cross-Government co-ordination of Covid recovery policies is supporting data collection to assess the impact of long Covid. The Scottish Government is committed to delivering a fair recovery from everyone in Scotland, particularly those most affected by the pandemic, which includes those affected by long Covid. We are supporting activity to improve the collection of clinical data on the prevalence and healthcare needs of people with long Covid to inform the planning and delivery of services. Officials are working with NHS national services Scotland's long Covid strategic network to improve data collection as a priority. The network is taking forward a dedicated workstream to agree outcomes, to indicate there is monitoring and evaluation to accelerate progress. I thank the cabinet secretary for the answer. In August, the cabinet secretary for health said in a parliamentary answer to me that the number of people diagnosed with long Covid in Scotland was, I quote, a matter for NHS boards. The information requested is not held centrally. In the same answer, he said that the Government recognised that accurate data on the number of people diagnosed with long Covid is needed to forecast and plan for healthcare services arising from long Covid. I ask the cabinet secretary for Covid recovery, the deputy First Minister, the minister in charge of government statistics, the minister in charge of government strategy. Does he agree with the cabinet secretary for health that this is a matter for NHS boards or does he recognise the benefit of the Scottish Government collecting data, publishing data, keeping an accurate record of that data in order to plan and properly resource nationally the vital services that long Covid sufferers so desperately need? There are two points that I would make in relation to Mr Leonard's question. The first is to reiterate what I said in my original answer, which is that there is work under way with NHS national services Scotland's long Covid strategic network to improve that data collection. I think that that substantially addresses the point that Mr Leonard is putting to me. The second point is in relation to the support for people with long Covid. The Government is very clear that we have to make sure that anybody who is experiencing ill health, whether that is from long Covid or anything else, is able to access the appropriate level of clinical care to support their needs and their requirements. That is primarily undertaken through access through the GP network within Scotland. I would encourage anybody who is experiencing that ill health to pursue those options and to ensure that they secure the necessary care to which they are entitled. 7. Stuart McMillan Thank you, Presiding Officer, to ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had as part of its cross-government co-ordination of Covid recovery policies regarding the wider impact of long Covid, including on the economy and workforce. The Scottish Government recognises the impact that long Covid can have on the health and wellbeing of those affected, including on their ability to stay in employment. Where there have been increases in the number of people who are economically inactive due to sickness since before the pandemic, the extent to which this has contributed will solely to long Covid is not yet clear. We are investing in scientific efforts to understand and treat long Covid, and we have made funding available to NHS boards and partners to deliver the best local models of care for assessment, diagnostic tests and support for on-going management or treatment of symptoms. Through our fair work agenda, we are also explaining to and supporting employers so that they can support workers living with long Covid to remain in employment. I thank the Deputy First Minister for that reply. I am concerned that people with long Covid may find themselves locked out of employment if they are not given the adequate support to return to work. That is especially true if the person's job cannot be done from home, such as nurses, for example. What is the Scottish Government's strategy to actually help to ensure that people working within our NHS who are suffering from long Covid are supported to return to work where possible, and where they cannot return to work, other options are explored to help them to stay in employment? There is a priority across the whole of government for us to maximise the available level of participation within the labour market. We want to maximise the number of people who are available to actively contribute to the labour market. As I said, my response to Christine Grahame is that we have low levels of unemployment and high levels of employment, and the labour market is very tight. Encouraging people who have long Covid to be able to return to work through all their necessary clinical support and mental wellbeing support and any other assistance that is required should be available to them. If there is a case for individuals to find alternative employment, we should be open to providing the training and skills enhancement activity that will support them in making that transition. To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to propose time for a debate in Parliament on parliamentary reform. The Scottish Parliament is responsible for all matters relating to its functions and internal operation. The Government would encourage any member wishing to propose reform of current parliamentary procedures to raise such proposals with the Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee. The Government stands ready, if invited, to discuss any reform proposals with the Parliament. I did not answer my question. I was asking if there was time for a debate, but the minister will be aware that there is a clear desire and appetite for members across this chamber to see our Parliament reformed. It is also apparent that there is scope for common ground between colleagues and all parties in this Parliament for reform. We all want to see the Scottish Parliament effectively fulfilling its appointed role both in its function as a legislature and in its day-to-day scrutiny of the executive. Will the minister confirm to the chamber on behalf of the Government that he and his ministerial colleagues will be supportive of such reforms that may be initiated by the Standards and Procedures Committee and engage positively with all interested parties, including my colleague Donald Cameron, to secure such reforms as may be determined to be needed to enable the Parliament to be effective in carrying out the business of the people of Scotland? Thank you, Presiding Officer. As always, Mr Kerr and I seem to have a communication problem. I will try to say it again. The Scottish Government stands ready, if invited, to discuss any reform proposals with the Parliament. As always, when he also mentions Donald Cameron, once again, when Donald Cameron asked in the chamber on 18 January, I said that, although I did not agree with Mr Cameron's summation of the situation, I was happy to meet up with him and discuss further. This meeting is scheduled for 2 March, so, as always, the Government is willing to engage with anyone. I am very grateful, Presiding Officer. It is right that a decision about parliamentary reform should sit here within this chamber and here within this Parliament, rather than with the Scottish Government. Would the minister agree that the Scottish Government would co-operate with committees and indeed this chamber with regard to any inquiries as to reform of parliamentary procedure? As always, Mr Whitfield, I am happy to engage with the committee and I have done in numerous occasions with myself as a convener. We will happily get involved in any future work that your committee should bring to us. Like any other member of this Parliament, we will look at it and take it from there. You will be aware of the DPLR Committee report on retained EU law bill, where concerns are raised about the amount of time available for the Scottish Parliament to scrutinise the elements of the bill. Does the minister have any concerns regarding the amount of time available to the Scottish Parliament to give adequate scrutiny to the bill as it is drafted? Thank you, Presiding Officer. The member will be aware that we had that question at the DPLR committee yesterday, and the Scottish Government is taking forward the work to identify and retain EU law so that it can be preserved before the end of 2023. It is too early at this stage to know what the impact will be on wider legislative programme, but that has been kept under review. I apologise that I only arrived as portfolio questions were starting. To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking through its Covid recovery strategy to support students. The Covid recovery strategy is focused on reducing systemic inequalities, tackling poverty and supporting people most affected during the pandemic. That includes a range of actions to support and enhance the wellbeing of all children and young people, including through investing a further £45 million in our young person's guarantee in 2022-23. Further detail and support being provided to students is set out in our coronavirus education recovery strategy, which describes a range of advice, guidance and funding provided with regard to mental health, wellbeing and tackling digital poverty. In the Covid-19 recovery strategy, the Scottish Government states that it recognises the significant cost of rent for many households. A recent report commissioned by the National Union of Students has found that, in student accommodation, rents increased by 34 per cent between 2018 and 2021. Will the cabinet secretary commit to reinstating the rent freeze for student accommodation until a permanent system of rent controls is put in place? I certainly cannot commit to that this afternoon. It is quite a big undertaking to give. However, I will take the issues that Katie Clark has raised. Obviously, the Government has taken measures that have been properly considered by Parliament to apply a freeze on rents. We have led the provisions that are under way, as Katie Clark will know. However, I will certainly take away the point that she has raised and ensure that it is considered by the relevant ministers. I welcome the support set out for students during the cost of living crisis, which I know has been really heavily in their minds just now. I wonder if the Deputy First Minister can provide an update on mental health and wellbeing support that is available to students. We have supported the NUS think positive initiative, which helps to signpost students to places where they can get help and through student mental health agreements. Student associations and institutions can work jointly on mental health practices. The Government has worked on the strategic delivery of this work, which is taken forward by a working group chaired by the Minister for Higher Education, which is determined to ensure that we have the necessary steps in place to protect the mental wellbeing of young people and students. Thank you very much, cabinet secretary. That concludes portfolio questions on Covid-19 recovery and parliamentary business. It is time to move on to the next portfolio, which is finance and the economy. I remind members that questions 6 and 7 are grouped together and that I will take supplementaries on those questions after both have been answered on the usual request. If somebody wants a supplementary, they should press the request to speak buttons during the relevant questions. Again, a lot of interest, so the same brevity in questions and responses would be much appreciated. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its commitment to deliver superfast broadband to 100 per cent of premises in Scotland by 2021. As at 31 December 2021, all homes and businesses across Scotland had the ability to access a superfast broadband connection through one of the three strands of activity that make up the R100 programme, the £600 million R100 contracts, the demand-led R100 Scottish broadband voucher scheme and through commercial coverage. By the end of December 2022, the R100 contracts had built connections to more than 16,600 properties across the length and breadth of Scotland, with over 2,800 connections also delivered through R100 vouchers. The minister must think I'm zipped up the back if he's expecting me to believe that answer. It was not delivered by the end of 2021. I personally don't have superfast broadband in my house and I am not alone. There are hundreds of thousands of other people across Scotland that do not have superfast broadband, so it is not 100 per cent. A new freedom of information release found that it will not be delivered until March 20, 2028, almost seven years late. Why is the minister insisting that he has met the election promise when he clearly hasn't? As I indicated in my previous answer, the voucher scheme was put in place to ensure that anyone who wanted to connect as that date was able to do so. We continue to roll out the programme as planned, with a commitment of £600 million to support that. Bearing in mind, of course, that telecoms provision is a reserved matter, but the Scottish Government recognises the importance of that to communities, businesses and families across Scotland, and hence our commitment to spend that additional £600 million to roll out the programme. Can the cabinet secretary provide any update regarding the Scottish Government's latest engagement with the UK Government regarding the funding that is available to deliver its project gigabit commitment? The Scottish Government continues to work closely with the UK Government to help to shape what project gigabit will look like in Scotland. To date, we have secured £28.5 million of that funding, which has been used to enhance and extend our 100 contract coverage across rural Scotland. However, the UK Government has not provided a Scotland-wide allocation of project gigabit funding that would allow things to move forward at maximum pace. I should recognise that £28 million funding is out of a total of £1.2 billion confirmed by the UK Government, which again is out of a total of £5 billion that there is to be committed to that programme. In the weeks ahead, we will be engaging with the broadband infrastructure providers to understand their current and future gigabit delivery plans and to gauge the level of interest in bidding for new broadband contracts in Scotland. It is vital that the UK Government commits a level of funding that will extend gigabit connectivity to Scotland's rural and island communities, as well as urban and semi-urban areas to ensure that no-one is left behind. In the past week or so, a damaged cable led to broadband outages in some communities in Orkney in the north of Caisneft and followed damage to two cables in October, leaving shortages in Shetland. Can I ask the minister what on-going discussions are taking place with network providers to reduce the potential for disruptions and to increase network resilience? We are engaged in discussions to ensure that those outages are as much as always possible in the system to ensure that those are protected against. Clearly, there will be the possibility of frequent incidents happening, but, as I said, the connectivity, the subsea cables that we have put in place to extend coverage and the work that is taking place to ensure resilience across the system will continue. To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact of investment levels on the status of Greater Glasgow and Clyde area, including how that compares to similar city regions across the UK. As part of the consultation process for the national strategy for economic transformation, the Scottish Government received information on every region in Scotland, and the information received shows a varied landscape with a number of economic strengths from clean growth to aerospace. As a member will be aware, the Scottish Government is investing £500 million into the Glasgow city region deal, which aims to lever in an estimated £83.3 billion of private sector investment to support the delivery of projects, work with 4,000 individuals and help at least 600 ECA claimants into sustained work, and we are committed to spreading the benefits of economic growth across the Glasgow city region, ensuring deprived areas benefit from this growth. I welcome that investment, but the Scottish Government does not seem to recognise that Glasgow today has an economy that is underperforming the European average for growth and productivity and has a smaller voice within the British and Scottish growth debates than a city of its stature being the largest city in Scotland. The decision, and I raised this yesterday, not to award the Clyde Green Freeport, was an extremely significant blow to Glasgow. I do not think that this has been recognised by the Scottish Government. Stuart Patrick, chief executive of the Glasgow Chamber of Commerce, said, that overlooking Scotland's entire west coast risks making both the UK Government's levelling up strategy and the delivery of the Scottish Government's commitment to a Clyde mission extremely challenging. What does the minister say to this in response, and can he tell me what plans it has to ensure that Glasgow is one of the big four UK cities outside of London, is not being left behind being the most locked down city during the pandemic of the whole of the UK? I want to assure the member that the Scottish Government absolutely supports Glasgow cities and the wider regions' aspirations. I have been looking at some of the funding awards from the last few weeks alone, and I see that from the vacant and derlick land investment programme that Glasgow has benefited from that for some transformational projects, including the governing graving docks, which have lain empty for 40 years. I have looked at the Government's recycling improvement fund, which also gave awards to Glasgow as well with some exciting projects there. Of course, the regeneration capital grant fund also has awarded some projects in Glasgow as well, including transforming a former pipe factory in Glasgow into community centre and creative hub for young people. That is just to name a few of the awards that have gone to Glasgow and the surrounding region just in the last few weeks alone. Unlike what we have seen from the UK Government with the levelling up fund being an absolute damp squib and failing Glasgow, the wider city region and the rest of Scotland, I just want to assure the member that the Government will continue to support the city's aspirations. The minister mentioned the city deal, and I wonder if he can comment any more about the city deal and how it does it actually compensate for the money that we lost through levelling up? The deal, as you know, empowers Glasgow and the region to identify, manage and deliver a programme of investment to stimulate economic growth and create jobs in the area. That funding is issued twice per year using its own agreed governance to distribute the projects according to all eight local authorities' wishes across that region. One such example is the bridge over the M8, which is due to open soon, and the bridge forms an active travel route linking Sighthill in the city centre in part of the quarter of a billion pounds regeneration project for Sighthill, which will improve the economic flow between all those areas. That is just one example of the project. In terms of compensating for levelling up, well, as I said yesterday to Parliament, out of the £3.8 billion allocated for levelling up across the UK by the UK Government, many parts of Scotland, particularly those areas, most in need, like many areas of Glasgow, have been completely ignored and not received a penny. Question 3 was not lodged. To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to encourage business activity in Scotland. We know that businesses in Scotland are struggling because of Brexit and the Tory Government's economic mismanagement, and that is why the Scottish Government is providing for unlimited leavers immediate support, including the lowest non-domestic rates poundage in the UK. At the same time, we are delivering our national strategy for economic transformation to achieve our long-term ambitions for a stronger, fairer and greener economy and the strategy programme's focus on stimulating entrepreneurship, opening new markets and increasing productivity, developing the skills that we need to ensure a fairer and more equal economic opportunities. We are working closely with delivery partners, businesses, the third sector and trade unions to successfully implement the strategy. The businesses across Scotland have raised their significant concerns regarding the SNP green government's roll-out of the deposit return scheme, calling it completely unworkable, negative and complicated. That will put jobs at risk and add a massive burden to businesses at a time when they need support and discourage business. Stakeholders are clear that these plans are poorly thought through and the Scottish Government is not giving enough attention to those concerns. Will the Scottish Government listen to businesses and only commit to launching the scheme once businesses have had the answers that they desperately need? We are very conscious of the need to engage with businesses. That is why we have such an extensive programme of engaging, listening to and responding to the needs of business. That is why I am chairing the business regulation task force that was set up by Deputy First Minister, which is now two meetings in the past few weeks to work closely with those across the business community to assess the impact of regulations to make sure that the business regulation impact assessments are doing their job in ensuring that we flush out any issues and address issues around cumulative impact of different regulations as they impact the business community. We are focused on listening to business and working with business to make sure that those regulations that my colleague Lonys later has taken forward on deposit return and all our regulations coming forward from Government that impact on businesses that are properly assessed and that we do listen to businesses to make sure that their views, concerns on those regulations are taken into account. My colleagues, we are listening to the answers with respect. I ask that we also listen to the answers that are given to those questions with respect. Brief supplementary from Fiona Heslaw. On Friday, many of us took part in the very successful business and Parliament event hosted jointly by the Economy and Fair Work Committee and the Scottish Government. Would the cabinet secretary join with me in thanking the Parliament and Government staff who made it possible for the 250 delegates from business and MSPs to come together to have frank but very positive discussions about the issues businesses across Scotland are facing? I also took part in the business and Parliament conference myself when I was hugely impressed by the contributions that were made by a wide range of businesses in the preliminary sessions and in the workshop that I took part in. I would also like to thank the parliamentary staff and others who were involved in putting on that event. It is one of a whole series of events that the Government takes part in to ensure that we are working with business, listening to business, reflecting their concerns and hearing from a wide range of businesses across all sectors in Scotland to make sure that we work together to build and strengthen Scotland's economy. I like to ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the potential impact on Scotland of the recent analysis by the international monetary fund, which found that the UK economy is set to shrink by 0.6 per cent in 2023. I set out to the Scottish Government's recent monthly economic brief. The Scottish economy is facing a challenging outlook, and as the IMF projection shows, a lot of that challenge is down to the UK Government's economic mismanagement. As the IMF also highlights, labour market shortages are affecting Scotland and the UK more than other countries, and those have been made much worse by Brexit, which continues to hold back our economy and make it harder for Scotland to deliver fairer and more sustainable economic growth. It is now more than three years since the UK left the European Union, and despite all the promises that Brexit would bring a new era of prosperity for all, it is leading to a long-term damage to the Scottish economy, and the decision is contributing towards the UK becoming the poor man of Europe. Now that labour has become the new champions of making Brexit work, does the cabinet secretary agree with me that the only way to recover from the damage of leaving the EU and protect Scotland's future is to be an independent country? I do agree with the member's point. The evidence is that Brexit has been disastrous for Scotland, and the Scottish Government analysis shows that Scotland is trading goods, for instance, with the EU's 12 per cent lower in 2021 because of Brexit, and there have been so many other warnings. Indeed, the combination of the UK Tory Government's austerity agenda and Brexit must amount to the two gravest economic errors of our lifetimes, and they are imposing enormous damage on the Scottish economy and our people's life chances. It is indeed the case that, to help to repair the damage if Scotland was independent, we would be able to rejoin Europe and gain the economic benefits from that. To ask the Scottish Government what representations it has received from COSLA regarding the local government financial settlement. The Scottish Government has received a number of representations from COSLA regarding the local government finance settlement. Ministers and officials regularly meet representatives from COSLA and individual local authorities to discuss a range of issues as part of our commitment to working in partnership with local government to improve outcomes for the people of Scotland. The Scottish Government has claimed that the budget makes £570 million more in resources available to councils, but that is not quite true. Is it, Deputy First Minister? COSLA say that once ring fencing and directed spend is accounted for, the budget increases council spending by just £71 million in cash terms for Scotland as a whole. Spice have told me that this COSLA figure equates to £304 million in real terms cuts. The Fraser of Allen Institute says that it is a real terms cut. The IFS says that it is a real terms cut. Even SNP councillors are not buying the Government's figures. Will the Deputy First Minister drop the spin, face the truth and admit that this is a budget for more cuts, closures and strikes across Scotland? The Government has allocated £570 million more to local government for the next financial year compared to this financial year budget bill to budget bill. That is the facts, and that is the reality of the budget uplift that is taking place. In the resource spending review, the position for local government was presented as being flat cash from this financial year to next. We have changed that. We have increased that number by £570 million to enable local authorities, as best we can, within the resources available to us to withstand the challenges that we all face about inflation. Mr Bibby knows the way the budget system works. There is a total funding envelope available. It has been allocated in full to portfolios. If Mr Bibby wishes to change that and to allocate any more money to local government, he has to do Parliament the decent, straightforward, honest thing of telling us where the money will come from, not to come here in posture but to tell us where the money will come from. Thank you, Presiding Officer. To ask the Scottish Government how its budget settlement for local authorities will support the future delivery of quality public services. In 2324, local authorities were received funding through the local government finance settlement of £13.2 billion. Local authorities also have a range of revenue-raising powers that are not available to other public services. The impact of the settlement on public services will depend on how local authorities allocate the total resources available to them and the level of service that they then provide. While local authorities are responsible for setting their own budgets, the total funding provided by the Scottish Government will increase by over £570 million in 2324, compared with the 2022-23 budget. The cabinet secretary claims again that more money is going into local government, but in the real world, councils are having to make savage cuts, including SNP-run councils whose leaders are in revolt. Just this morning, Parthik and Ross Council that Mr Swinney will be very familiar with agreed that their SNP leader should write to him expressing extreme displeasure and frustration at being threatened with sanctions rather than being given adequate funding. We have been very clear on the side of the chamber what Mr Swinney should be doing is scrapping the national care service and redirecting that money into local government. However, if he is not going to do that, where does he think that cuts should fall off? If he is not going to be in education, if he is going to be in libraries, if he is going to be on leisure services, if he is going to be in arts and culture, on the environment, support for vulnerable families or where should the cuts fall? Murdo Fraser does not support the increases in tax that I have announced in this budget. So, before Murdo Fraser comes here and tries to argue for any reallocation of money, there is a big, gaping, stonking black hole in his argument. The big black hole is his unwillingness to take the hard decisions that I have taken about tax. Posturing from Mr Fraser is something that I have become accustomed to over many, many years. Having destroyed the public finances with the trust money budget, which they wanted us to follow and then not being prepared to come forward and take the hard decisions on tax, forgive me, Presiding Officer, but I am going to pay no attention to the critique of the Conservative Party to the budget that I have presented. I have got a number of supplementaries. I will try to get to as many as possible, but they will need to be brief, as will the responses of the First Bill. Thank you, Presiding Officer. Over a decade of Westminster austerity, a substantial impact on the Scottish block grant resources available to fund public services in Scotland. The cabinet secretary provides further information on what assessment has been made as to the impact on the austerity that it has had on Scottish Government funding and how the levels of revenue funding provided to local authorities in Scotland compare. Presiding Officer, since the Conservative Government came to office in 2010-11, the average real-terms cuts have been of over 5 per cent. That equates to a loss of £18 billion to Scottish Government's budgets over that period, and there will obviously have been consequential effects on local government into the bargain. The point that Mr Kidd makes is an important point that the challenges that we face of hyperinflation, which has been fuelled by the actions of the Conservative Government and its mismanagement of the mini-budget in September, among other things, built on to the effect of austerity, places real enduring pressure on our public services and our public finances. Daniel Johnson? Cosler estimates that road spending has fallen by a third. There is a £1.7 billion repairs backlog. Spends since 2010 on children's play parks have fallen by 38 per cent. In libraries, spending on new books has fallen from £1.79 per person to £92.00 since 2007. Can I just ask what the cabinet secretary's assessment is of the budget settlement on those services? Has the Scottish Government carried out an assessment on the impact on local services of the settlement? There are two points that I would make to Mr Johnson. The first is that I think he would accept that a decade of austerity from the Conservative Government has put cumulative pressure on the public finances of Scotland. I accept that. I would have thought that he would have accepted that into the bargain. The second point is that, in the context of a very challenging fiscal environment, with all the issues and difficulties that we have faced, the Government has increased the resources available to the local government by more than £570 million. That cash increase is therefore for local authorities to deploy in the appropriate way that they fit to meet the challenges in their local areas. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. To ask the Scottish Government what discussions the finance secretary has had with the Scottish National Investment Bank and the Bank of Scotland regarding any impact of the repayment terms of the investment in Circularity Scotland in May 2022 on the timetable for the launch of the deposit return scheme. Scottish ministers meet regularly with the chair of the bank and the bank's senior leadership team. As was agreed at its creation, the bank has operational independence, and so it is not the role of Scottish ministers to intervene in any individual investment process. As set out in the regulations, Scotland's ambitious deposit return scheme will launch on 16 August this year. It will be a major part of our efforts to reduce littering, cut emissions and build a more circular economy. I thank the minister for that answer, but when a bank gives a business loan, there will always be an investment memorandum that dictates when the loan will be paid back and the interest that will be paid as part of returning investment, and furthermore, there will be penalty clauses for any late payment. Is the minister really suggesting that the bank loans are unique and that there is no timetable for repayment and therefore the impact on the timetable for the launch of the DRS? So my real question is, is the decision for the launch financial rather than from business considerations of the businesses that are going to be impacted by this scheme? I thank the member for the question. As I noted in my first answer, investment decisions of the bank are independent of Scottish ministers and ministers do not intervene in any individual investment process. Our deposit return scheme will launch on 16 August this year as passed by this Parliament, as when the LIACO live date was announced in December 2021. Thank you. I understand that the UK Government has yet to reach a decision on how VAT will be applied to deposits as part of the DRS scheme. Can the minister provide any update as to the Scottish Government's latest engagement with the UK Government regarding this particular issue? We know how important it is for business to have clarity on the VAT on deposits, and we are working closely with the UK Government to resolve this issue and are seeking action to minimise the risk to the Scottish scheme. I have met UK ministers on a number of occasions on this issue and had asked that it be resolved by July 2022 at the latest. As this was still unresolved last week, the Deputy First Minister wrote to the Chancellor of the Exchequer to request that a decision be communicated this week at the latest, which we are now anticipating. Ultimately, of course, I believe that all tax powers, including VAT, should sit with the Scottish Parliament so that the decisions that affect Scotland's businesses and people are made here in Scotland. Thank you. That concludes portfolio questions. There will be a brief pause before we move to the next item of business.