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Professor Heald, what do you think?

Mr Sousa, do you have a final comment about my original question on short-term political expediency versus long-term strategy?

Okay. Thank you.

Good morning. I would love to be able to lead us on to a topic that cheers us all up a bit, but I am not convinced that I will manage that.

All of you have given a compelling sense of the macro environment in the UK—chronic underinvestment in capital expenditure, high debt relative to GDP, demographic challenges, Brexit, short-termism and, of course, the slowest recovery of all large advanced economies after the crash of 2008. The list goes on. You have also given us a compelling insight into the limitations of Scotland’s being part of that wider economy.

My first question—I have two—is this: do you think that the challenges are really understood? They are understood by economists, and they are understood, mostly, by the Government. I am aware that, following this session, we will hear from a number of bodies that will, inevitably, be looking for more money, with very good reason, which is that people are really struggling. To what extent is that realistic? To what extent is the real nub of the issue that short-term political expediency is set against long-term structural and strategic planning? That has been an issue in the UK and in Scotland over a long period. David Bell, do you want to go first?

Professor Heald, you used the term “coherent strategy”. I am long enough in the tooth on this committee not to ask, “What would you do if you were the Scottish Government?”, so perhaps we could phrase it as, “What would you do if you were in charge of an economy of roughly 5.4 million people, located next to a large neighbour?” What would be the key elements of that coherent strategy?

[Inaudible.]—is what I am saying.

That is where I am a wee bit confused. That concept of fairness has a multitude of variables, some of which you have set out. I am merely reflecting on how perhaps another element of that fairness is the fact that, in pockets of society, there are still significant longitudinal effects of the pandemic. Attendance, which Tes Scotland—I should have quoted this figure—estimates at 90.9 per cent, is historically lower. I am merely noting that. I will let other people come in.

I want to give you the opportunity to get some stuff on the record. As you will be aware, I am new to the committee, but I have had pretty extensive experience of large so-called transformation programmes in corporate life, and they are invariably difficult, time consuming and expensive. I just want to reflect on where we are here. For a start, the decision to abolish the SQA must have had a resultant impact on your staff’s morale, so I want to get your reflections on that and hear more about what you are doing, from a leadership perspective, to maintain morale in the organisation.

How often do you have them?

Yes—that is fundamental.