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Thank you, Mr Reid. Other members will want to pick up on some of the issues that you have identified.

I have a specific question for Ewan MacDonald-Russell. You have made recommendations for the 2022-23 Scottish budget on how to support the retail sector. What are the key challenges that you face at the moment? What are the key measures that you would look for in the budget to ease some of them?

We seem to have lost the connection. You can move on to another panellist, Ms Hyslop.

I will bring Mr Burnett back in.

Good morning, and welcome to the fifth meeting in 2021 of the Economy and Fair Work Committee. Our first item of business is a decision on whether to take in private agenda item 3, which is consideration of evidence. Are members content to take item 3 in private?

Members indicated agreement.

Our main item of business this morning is an evidence session on support for economic recovery. I welcome our witnesses, who are Charles Hammond, chief executive of Forth Ports; Ewan MacDonald-Russell, head of policy and external affairs with the Scottish Retail Consortium; Martin Reid, director for Scotland and Northern Ireland with the Road Haulage Association; and Andrew Richards, who is a member of the Construction Scotland industry leadership group.

The purpose of today’s evidence session is to consider what policies and actions are needed to promote economic recovery as we come through a very difficult period. The evidence will also help to inform our consideration of the Scottish Government’s budget for 2022-23.

My first question is for Martin Reid and is on road haulage. At the moment, it is impossible to read the news or open a newspaper without reading about the difficulties with haulage and supply. The matter has significant coverage, and we are all familiar with the debates on the shortage of drivers and other issues. To what extent is the issue particularly sharp in the United Kingdom and Scotland, or is the pressure being felt across the European Union, too?

In the previous session of Parliament, I was on the Culture, Tourism, Europe and External Affairs Committee, where we heard the concerns that the road haulage sector had about what the rules would be after leaving the EU and about there being be a negative impact. Since then, Covid has added to the pressures, and you have described how everything has come to a head at once. The first question is, when do you think that that can be resolved? Is it going to get worse before it gets better?

We can hear you now. We missed the last few sentences of what you were saying; perhaps you could return to Gordon MacDonald’s question.

We have a problem with your connection at the moment, Mr Hammond. We will try to resolve it.

I am afraid that we must make progress. We will hear from the Scottish Retail Consortium, but then we must move on to questions from Colin Beattie.

Sorry, Mr Burnett—I am going to bring in Maggie Chapman for a supplementary on that question, and then you can ask your question of Ewan MacDonald-Russell.