Seòmar agus comataidhean

Where did the £502.3 million of additional funding come from to enable you to put that additional funding into the overall portfolio spread?

That ends stage 2 consideration of the bill. I thank the cabinet secretary.

We move into private session to consider our work programme.

However, the problem is that, even if inflation declines dramatically in the way that everyone anticipates it will this year, the prices are still fixed at a higher level and, because the capital allocation has shrunk, you will still have to try to squeeze a quart into a pint pot.

I was intrigued to find out that the green investment portfolio has already attracted £300 million in private investment, with

“£875 million currently under offer or in active discussions.”

There is significant private resource available to come in to help to boost and deliver the projects, is there not?

Do you accept that there is an element of frustration in the committee that we will not get the financial memorandum until after stage 3 has passed? Obviously, members are keen to know how much of a commitment there is to the NCS. We know the size of the overall budget and that more than £1 billion extra is going into health and social care this year, but there is a focus on that specific aspect.

Last week in the chamber we heard wildly differing figures for how much it will cost over the next five years. That is partly because we do not have a real grip on the financial memorandum and exactly what it is likely to say. Any help in terms of parameters would be useful—minimums and maximums, for example.

With that, as there are no other questions, I bring the evidence session to a close. We will have a five-minute comfort break.

Our next item is consideration of the Budget (Scotland) (No 2) Bill at stage 2. We have no amendments, but the standing orders oblige us to consider and agree formally to each of the bill’s sections and schedules, and its long title. We will take the sections in order, with schedules being taken immediately after the section that introduces them, and will take the long title last. Fortunately, the standing orders allow us to put a single question on groups of sections and schedules that are to be considered consecutively. Unless members disagree, that is what I propose to do.

The question is, that section 1, schedule 1, section 2, schedule 2, section 3, schedule 3, and sections 4 to 11 be agreed to. Are we agreed?

Absolutely.

I am sorry, Deputy First Minister, but I am not trying to get the specifics, for the reasons that you outlined. I am trying to get parameters—for example, what is the minimum that it is likely to cost and what is the maximum? Surely the Government must be aware of that at this stage in the budget process.

That stability over such a long period has helped the Scottish Government’s policy direction whereas, south of the border, there has been incredible turmoil in energy policy, which has gone in all sorts of different directions: it has reversed and gone up, down and round about. There has been little consistency or long-term financial planning, whether we are talking about wind, solar or nuclear power. I take that on board.

My last question is about growing the tax base and productivity, which is a key area for us. You responded to the points that we made on that in our report by saying:

“Economic modelling estimates that delivery of key components of the strategy”—

the national strategy for economic transformation—

“could increase the size of the Scottish economy by at least £8 billion”,

which is almost 5 per cent,

“more than it otherwise would have been in 2032.”

You went on to mention a network of hubs to support high-growth tech businesses, the technology sector export plan, a hydrogen innovation scheme and the low-carbon manufacturing challenge fund. However, I wonder what other components will deliver that extra £8 billion.

Secondly, on ScotWind leasing, you referred to

“£28 billion of potential Scottish economic activity.”

Over what time period will that be delivered?

Good morning and welcome to the fifth meeting in 2023 of the Finance and Public Administration Committee. Today, we will consider the budget bill at stage 2, but before we turn to formal stage 2 proceedings, we will take evidence on the Scottish Government’s response to our “Budget Scrutiny 2023-24” report.

We are joined today by John Swinney, who is the Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Covid Recovery. He is accompanied by Scottish Government officials Alison Cumming, who is the director of budget and public spending, and Lorraine King, who is the deputy director of the tax and revenues directorate. I welcome our witnesses to the meeting.

Members received copies of the Scottish Government response on Friday. Before we move to questions from the committee, I invite Mr Swinney to make a short opening statement.