Seòmar agus comataidhean

Thank you, cabinet secretary.

Yes—but the Government is saying that the measure is temporary to meet the objectives that I just read to you. Is that not reasonable?

Graeme Dey has a question.

Can you publish how that money has been spent? Can you give a full account to Parliament and to the country of how that £1 billion has been spent?

Michael, we will move on. You can come back to the matter later.

We will have a quick comeback from Graeme Dey.

Yes, carry on, Pamela, and then we will go to Bob Doris.

Have you not had a meeting yet?

Good morning, and welcome to the 13th meeting in 2022 of the Education, Children and Young People Committee. Agenda item 1 is an evidence session with Education Scotland officials as part of our Scottish attainment challenge inquiry. I welcome Craig Clement and Patricia Watson, who are strategic directors; Pamela Di Nardo, who is a senior regional adviser; and Elizabeth Sommerville, who is an attainment adviser.

Just before the meeting started, we were celebrating the fact that this is our first committee meeting in this parliamentary session in which everybody—committee members and witnesses—has been in the room. We are really happy about that; we hope that it is a sign of good times to come.

I want to share a quote from Education Scotland:

“Education Scotland will evaluate the impact of their work against the outcomes and measures set out in the organisation’s corporate plan and draw on stakeholder feedback to support this; and through the Attainment Scotland Fund evaluation by Scottish Government.”

What outcomes and measures are we talking about?

Before we get too far into the meeting, I should say that whoever is in the best position to answer a question should indicate so, and I will bring them in. Who is best qualified to answer that question?

Wow. That is an interesting answer.