Seòmar agus comataidhean

In terms of in-year this year and looking forward to next year, what calculations did you make in relation to public sector head count, and are you on track? I note that, for example, in March 2023-24, the devolved civil service grew by 1.9 per cent, other public bodies by 2.8 per cent, the NHS, understandably, by 3.4 per cent and public operations by 6.1 per cent. Will the size of the public sector at the end of this year be what you have forecast and factored in?

Yes.

Finally, as Mr Marra identified, you have ended up being quite lucky in the sense that the money came in to plug what was, as you conceded, a growing gap. From the Scottish Government’s budgeting and processes perspective, what lesson have you learned out of this year about what you would not repeat in future years?

Finally, looking to the budget on 4 December, you were quite accurate, or quite lucky, in your planning assumptions in factoring in what you got in-year for this year. Is the £3.5 billion for next year broadly in line with what you had factored in in your expectations?

Will that be reported in the SBR? Do you have any projections on how you are doing against that target of £60 million?

On a wider point about public sector pay, the size of the public sector in Scotland is another thing that contributes to the long-term issues that you face. Do the consequentials meet the increased salaries that Scottish public sector workers earn and the fact that there is a higher percentage per capita of public sector workers in Scotland, or do you have to look to other budgets to address the issue?

Fine. In relation to public pay policy, can you say how much of that £1.433 billion will go into what I would call public service delivery and how much will go into public sector pay and pensions? The ABR is littered with references to increased pension contributions and public sector pay. I know that public sector workers contribute to public sector delivery but, just for clarity, can you produce a breakdown of where that £1.433 billion is going between public services and public sector pay and pensions?

Looking at the ABR announcement, I see that you identified £65 million of savings in measures that would not proceed, additional emergency measures that would save £188.4 million and up to a further £60 million of savings that are anticipated to be generated through the emergency spending controls. Will you still proceed with the additional £60 million that presumably would have come into the SBR?

Cabinet secretary, you were asked about the balance between what the public purse should pay for and what the levy should raise. Do you have a formula for that? Is there a risk that, as the public purse gets increasingly overstretched, the Government will lean more on developers?

Some developers are quite good at setting up several different corporate entities. Is there a risk that developers will simply go down that route? By having regional development companies, they could get round the £10 million profit limit.

I have no relevant interests to declare.