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I want to reflect a bit on the Subsidy Control Bill. I am a member of the Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee, which heard evidence from Jonnie Hall of NFU Scotland in which he raised concerns that the Subsidy Control Bill could be used as a tool to say that the Scottish Government had to stop giving certain types of support, as it was affording Scottish farmers an advantage. In that regard, he cited areas such as Northumberland and Cumbria, where the farming is very similar to that in Scotland.

I thank the cabinet secretary for the information that she gave on what the Scottish Government is doing to challenge Westminster on the Subsidy Control Bill. I was interested in her comment that the Westminster Government has been reticent to provide the Scottish Government with the information on questions and the evidence that it gathered for including agriculture under the bill. I am interested in her thoughts on general procedures between Westminster and the Scottish Parliament for legislation. A lot of statutory instruments have come to us from Westminster at short notice. How is the cabinet secretary working with Westminster to inform it that it should take account of our procedures in the Scottish Parliament to enable us to do the proper scrutiny that is required?

Thank you. In relation to both of those answers, it is important to recognise the engagement and the need to have the Scottish perspective as the UK Government negotiates on our behalf to ensure that it is recognised that one size does not fit all.

I acknowledge some of what Paul Sweeney has described. However, we need to be cognisant of the evidence that we have just received from the Deputy First Minister with regard to omicron, and the research that was presented, which showed a huge increase in cases of the virus. As the Deputy First Minister said, the situation changed before our eyes in dramatic order. We need to be aware of that. From my perspective, the made affirmative procedure was the correct one to use.

I have no relevant interests to declare in relation to the committee’s remit.

Thank you, Deputy First Minister, for joining us today. Like Mr Sweeney, I am a new member of the Parliament as well as being new to the committee, so I found this morning’s discussion and the evidence that was submitted to be very useful.

I want to go back to the objectives of the inquiry. Part of the purpose of the review is to help ensure that there is an appropriate balance between flexibility for the Government in responding to the emergency situation and continuing to ensure appropriate parliamentary scrutiny and oversight. I was not a member of Parliament when the pandemic started. What was important to me then was clarity of the law and how it affected my life, and how the public health emergency was being addressed. It has been said in evidence to the committee that it was perhaps easier for us to legislate to go into lockdown than it has been to start emerging from it.

What have you learned from the experience, Deputy First Minister? How could it shape future decision making within the Parliament and the use of made affirmative procedures?

Some of the evidence that I have read said that, when you define urgency or an emergency, there has to be some personal input into that. I am interested to know how you weighed up what you felt was urgent and what was an emergency.

Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr Hall, for that very detailed response. I would like to pick up on one of the points that you made with regard to Scottish public bodies looking to procure locally and why you think that the current structure of the internal market act may have an impact on that.

This has been a most informative hour of conversation. I am interested in what John Webster was saying about the perception of Scotland and how that is being recorded. Will you expand on that a bit more? I am interested to hear about the Scottish Government’s plans for expanding the network of Scotland offices in Europe—in Copenhagen and Warsaw, for example—and any comments on the wider network of Scotland’s offices around the world.

That is very helpful—thank you.