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Colleagues may wish to pursue that further.

The committee has raised a number of issues about taxation. For example, we asked when the Scottish Government plans to publish a discussion paper about tax and spending choices. The response that we got was that the rationale for that document has changed and the United Kingdom Government’s mini budget has gradually been unwound. What is the rationale? Is it because of volatility at the moment, or are there other factors to consider?

I just wanted to clarify that.

In some demand-led areas, there might be less demand than one anticipated, and it could be that taxes are a wee bit higher than was perhaps originally anticipated. What kind of projects have been delayed? What are we talking about here?

That is certainly helpful. It is a lower figure than what I and—I am sure—others have heard. Colleagues may wish to pursue that further.

I want to talk about the capital and fiscal framework. It has been a very difficult year in that the capital allocation from the UK Government has been reduced by £185 million—obviously, with inflation, that figure is higher.

When we asked questions with regard to the capital and fiscal framework, the response was that the Scottish Government has

“disproportionately constrained borrowing and reserve powers.”

Since 2016, inflation has been 39 per cent, but the Scottish Government is still working with the same kind of figures that it had all those years ago. Have you had any indication from the UK Government about when it would be willing to review the borrowing figures, for example? Inflation is 50 per cent higher than it was in 2016—perhaps even 60 per cent or 70 per cent higher. What on-going discussions have you had, because that is clearly having an impact on the Scottish Government’s ability to manage its finances?

Okay. Behavioural change is another issue that is very important in relation to future Scottish Government policy and thinking. As you will know, the Scottish Fiscal Commission told us that it believes that, although the higher additional rate of tax would raise £30 million on paper, it would raise only £3 million in reality because of behavioural change. The Fiscal Commission emphasises that that change would be more people not working as hard, as opposed to people with more than one address moving their tax affairs south of the border.

However, in your response you said that the Scottish Government had considered the issue and that the

“study found no evidence of significant behaviour change, including cross-border migration, as a result of our move to a more progressive tax system.”

How does that sit with the comments of the Scottish Fiscal Commission, which says that 90 per cent of that income from a simple additional penny will be lost? That is a very dramatic loss for a small increase, yet the Scottish Government seems to be saying that it does not see that happening.

In previous meetings with the committee, you have suggested that the Scottish Government is very aware of behaviour change. Where are we on the issue? It clearly needs further exploration.

I am just wondering if there is any way—

On employability, I was intrigued by the comments about the Dundee pathfinder project. We will want to look at that further.

You will be aware that the UK Government is talking about when it will raise the pension age from 67 to 68, and about bringing that forward from 2044 to 2034, which will, of course, increase the workforce. I do not know how many people aged 67 to 68 will want to remain in the workforce, but that is when the state pension age will change.

In terms of employability, yesterday I was at ACS Clothing in Motherwell. I do not know how familiar you are with that facility. It is a circular economy facility—it is the largest clothing recycling facility in Europe and it puts clothes back into the marketplace. It employs 150 people, and 16 per cent of its workforce have disabilities. It also has a very high proportion of refugees and ex-offenders working there. It takes a lot of people from the margins, and it pays well. It is very high tech and has a very low carbon footprint and so on—a lot of very good things are happening there. My point is about trying to learn from some of that best practice and seeing how it can be expanded around Scotland.

That will be next year.

Of course.

ACS is also a social enterprise. The cross-party group on the circular economy is going to visit it. I asked the company about ex-offenders and was told that the level of productivity is excellent. The company would not mind at all if the whole workforce was made up of ex-offenders because they are able to deliver the product that is required.

I have a question about the private finance initiative and public-private partnerships, which placed a significant annual financial burden on the Scottish Government when it came into office in 2007. I understand that interest rates going up has had a significant impact. What impact are increased payments having on the Scottish Government and local authorities?