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My understanding is that hemp was grown to a huge degree in the middle ages. It sooks up carbon dioxide.

I turn to Stuart Black, who does not have to talk about hemp.

You have all talked about the pressures, and Ms Morrison-Ross talked about partnership. This is a very brief question for you all. How do you share resources? What do you do to co-operate and collaborate with each other to ensure that costs are lowered?

Maybe the witnesses could supply us with more detail on the shared backroom costs, because it would be my expectation that many of the things that you are doing could be done on a shared basis rather than each organisation doing something separately. It would be good if we could get further details on that shared agenda on backroom costs.

More of that, please.

I think that all of you have mentioned hydrogen, which, obviously, has huge opportunities for us in Scotland, particularly in the export market to places such as Germany. We have our hydrogen strategy, and we already have some expertise in Scotland, in respect of transport in Aberdeen, in my own neck of the woods.

Does what are you doing fit in with the hydrogen strategy? Are you speaking to other experts about the formulation of your future investments? What needs to be done differently to make those future investments easier?

I think that we do.

I have a few quick questions.

There has been an emphasis on the supply chain. One thing that we can do is change supply chains and stop imports. Let me give you an example of where that can be done and where we can take real opportunity from academic research that is being done in Scotland.

I think that Adrian Gillespie mentioned vertical farming. Obviously, that is a growing area. Berry farming is already huge in Scotland. We import a huge amount of coir, which is a coconut product, for vertical farming and berry farming. Meanwhile, academic research on the use of hemp is going on at the Rowett institute in particular.

How can we make sure that that academic research becomes a reality? What can you do to influence those changes in supply chains to ensure that we import less? That is much better from a net zero point of view, and it gives the opportunity for growth in Scotland.

I have a question for Jane Morrison-Ross and Stuart Black because you have both mentioned—others have, too—the lack of housing stopping growth. As a former housing minister, it annoyed me greatly that some of the councils in the areas that SOSE and Highlands and Islands Enterprise cover did not meet their planning assumptions, which meant that I had to take that resource away and give it elsewhere.

In those discussions with local authorities about the housing needs to boost the economy in certain places and to boost sustainable growth, do they listen to you or are you largely ignored?

I have a number of quick questions, but I can go after Maggie Chapman.

It would be interesting to hear more about that. If you could send me the detail, that would be wonderful.

This is my final question—it just needs a yes or no response. We realise the constraints in your budgets. We have growing inequalities in society. Will you do all that you can to ensure growth in the more deprived areas of our country and focus on getting rid of those social inequalities? We have heard some examples today.