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I thought that the £440 million was a potential clawback, so it would be just for one year. Is that not correct?

Staying on that £440 million, are there guarantees for only £120 million of it or for more than that?

I guess that the best case is that all the £440 million will be available when you set your final budget, not just £120 million of it.

If that funding has been allocated this year rather than next year, does that not have an impact on the money that you have allocated for business support? I am trying to understand whether those are two separate pots of cash.

That is good to hear.

My final question is on preventative spend. There are difficulties in the allocations between local government and health, for example. The local government review was meant to tackle some of those issues. Is that still the case? Will we see it this year?

Thank you, convener. I thank colleagues for their time today.

As a new member of Parliament, I confess that I was surprised to discover that the Parliament did not have a cross-party group that focused on rugby. Scotland has a long history with the game, although some years are better than others. I always like to point out that we are still the holders of the five nations championship, which was last held back in 1999, and I am sure that we always will be. It is important that rugby’s contribution to our cultural history and our future development be recognised through a cross-party group in the Parliament.

Rugby is changing. The first ever international rugby match was played on 27 March 1871 at Raeburn Place in Edinburgh. In front of 4,000 people, Scotland beat England that day—amazingly, the score was 1-0, which shows how much the game has changed. I hope that that result can be replicated in a couple of weeks.

The game has changed completely since then. It is now a game for everyone. We have seen the incredible emergence of women’s rugby and clan rugby. Safety standards have improved, and there is now professionalism in the game, but it is still important that grass-roots games are protected and can evolve. The proposal invites the Parliament to consider that development and how we can go further—how we can make the game more inclusive and ensure that it is as safe as possible in the years to come.

I am pleased to have two key partners on board with the group: the Scottish Rugby Union, which is providing secretariat support to the group, and the School of Hard Knocks, which is a fantastic charity that uses rugby to support young people in Scotland.

Again, I thank the committee for its time. I am happy to answer any questions.

Yes. We spoke about that, as well. It is not all about the international game; it is also about the grass roots. We are talking to local clubs as well, to get them involved.

You are right. That occurred to me when I put in the application. I am happy to report that I have recruited another member to the proposed CPG. Jackie Dunbar has agreed to join us—I managed to rope her in. I am aware of the issue that you raise.

On the issue of wider involvement, in our initial meeting prior to the formalisation of the group, there were suggestions about whether we could try to get women’s rugby clubs involved. That issue will be addressed.

That is good to hear. Maybe I have a new member already.

I absolutely agree, and I am delighted to have it on board. As I have said, the group’s key intention is to get more people involved in rugby. The School of Hard Knocks is probably using rugby as a medium to engage more with different people who might not think about rugby in that way and to improve their lives and outcomes.

I also mentioned clan rugby, which I was not aware of before I became a member of Parliament. It tries to engage with people with disabilities—whether that is a physical disability or a learning disability—in an effort to get them involved in clubs and mixing with people without disabilities. There is a camaraderie, and its work has been key in that respect.

If the cross-party group can engage a lot more with the School of Hard Knocks and engage on the clan rugby side to get everyone working together in order to improve outcomes, that would be good.