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It says:

“The Scottish Government has not determined how much investment is needed to deliver the NSET. This creates a risk to financial management and public accountability.”

Is Audit Scotland wrong when it says that?

I may have to wait until the beginning of July to get my answer to my question. In your opening comments, you reminded us that you were the finance secretary when NSET was launched with a key aim of addressing our weak productivity compared with that of international competitors. The Audit Scotland report of a couple of months ago said:

“Scotland’s productivity has remained ranked 16 out of 38 comparator economies over the last decade.”

Why has there been no progress on what was a key Scottish Government target to improve relative productivity?

So there is not only a productivity gap but a delivery gap from the Government. We have not made a lot of progress.

Your comment earlier that we have too many strategies and plans was right. There are around 60 plans and strategies relating to the economy, and quite a few were published on your watch. We need fewer strategies and more action, which you just said, but that is what you said when you launched NSET in the first place. You said that there would be

“a ruthless focus on delivery”.

Why has there not been that ruthless focus on delivery? Why are you talking now about the fact that we need more action and a lot fewer strategies?

What is the level of investment that is needed to achieve those aims across those many Government departments? What level of investment is needed to deliver them?

It is doing the opposite. It is asking what the budget is across all Government departments. What do you say to Audit Scotland criticising the Government on the lack of clarity on what investment is needed across all departments? It makes the point that departments are working in silos—that is its criticism. When Audit Scotland says that there is a lack of clarity on the level of investment that is needed to deliver NSET, is it wrong?

A key aim was to improve productivity compared with international competitors—

That was a key aim of your strategy, so why has that not happened?

I am just quoting Audit Scotland. The report says:

“With the current financial challenges, an understanding of cost and affordability will help the Scottish Government to prioritise spending decisions and is critical for transparency, scrutiny and accountability.”

Audit Scotland is the one calling for more clarity on the level of investment needed. I am just asking whether you think that it is wrong when it says that?

It is a matter of record that I have asked for clarity on the level of investment across all Government departments and not for one line. However, I think that it is clear, as Audit Scotland has highlighted, that the Government does not know how much investment is needed to deliver the NSET, so I will leave it at that.

Anne-Marie, you also said that it is not joined up effectively. How do we join it up? You said that it needs to be personalised to the individual. How do we change policy so that we are not working in silos and we are bringing people together to make sure that it is personalised? What is missing at the moment to make it personalised?