Seòmar agus comataidhean

Just for a bit more information, can you tell us why you took the fund out of capital and put it into resource? I understand that the overall envelope has moved, but why is it better to have it as resource for what you are trying to achieve?

I am concerned about the payments to fruit and vegetable producer organisations. As we have discussed, horticulture provides more food per hectare than any other forms of farming and crofting, and it is critical that we have a healthy horticultural sector if we are to achieve the Scottish Government’s agricultural vision. What are your plans for payments to fruit and vegetable producer organisations?

Thank you very much.

The final few questions will be asked by Miles Briggs.

That is great. Obviously, as a committee, we are trying to understand the situation. We have had considerable discussion about the fact that there are various “versions of the reality”, as it was described by the director of finance for Argyll and Bute Council at last week’s committee meeting. It is difficult for the committee to scrutinise the Government’s budget with those different versions, and it is challenging for councils to make budget decisions. I am interested to understand why there is such disagreement over the budget figures each year, despite the commitment from COSLA and the Scottish Government to working together.

That is great—thanks very much for that. I call Pam Gosal.

Stephanie Callaghan has a supplementary.

I call Willie Coffey.

Minister, in relation to the fiscal framework, you mentioned the accountability and assurance framework a couple of times. It seems that you are putting a lot of weight and importance on its development. Are you in a position to give us an indication of what you want to see in that framework, in terms of the relationship between COSLA and the Scottish Government?

Thanks for that.

I will now take a longer-term view. In November, the Scottish Government informed the committee that

“local government revenue funding is 2.6 per cent higher in real terms than it was in 2013-14—as confirmed in the recent Accounts Commission report.”

Around the same time, COSLA wrote to the Parliament’s Economy and Fair Work Committee to say:

“Over the past decade, Local Government has experienced significant cuts to funding. A 9.6% reduction in revenue funding from 2013/14 to 2020/21 was followed by further real terms reductions in 2022/23 and 2023/24.”

I am interested to hear how you account for the differences in interpretation.