Chamber and committees

Good morning. I would like to pick up on that last point. While you were talking earlier, I had a quick look at the Scottish Government spreadsheet to find out the number of CPOs. I picked an arbitrary year—2021—and found 10 CPOs, of which four were retail units of the type that was described by Colin Smyth earlier, which is quite a low number. The other six seemed to be to do with road building. It would be useful for the committee to understand more about the number, the rationale, the process and so on, in general terms.

Before I move on to my main area of questioning, I want to address a point that Fiona Hyslop raised earlier. I would like to better understand why we cannot get registration of the beneficial owner or the legal owner of a property at the point of purchase, and why we cannot have a process that is similar to the one that we have implemented with regard to the register of persons holding controlled interests in land, given that it is such a big issue. Again, it might be that you are unable to answer that just now, but the feedback that we have heard during the inquiry has consistently raised that as an issue. Do you have any comments on that, before I move on to my main area?

That would be helpful—thank you.

I appreciate that that was a hard question to ask you. I revisited the culture strategy that Fiona Hyslop did, which is an excellent piece of work, but we need to get culture at the heart of all the Scottish Government’s different arms and activities, because of the importance of place.

I heard an interesting comment from Alistair Mackie, who is the chief executive of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. He said that any public moneys that are given should be seen not as subsidy but as seed capital, because of the gross value added that they bring. That is an effective way of looking at the matter.

I am happy for you to come back to the committee, because I appreciate that that was a hard question. I am interested in what interventions you could make in relation to town centres that use the concept of culture being at the heart of place building, growth and all the touch points that we have covered.

Given that the UK Government plans yet another fund that is intended to bypass the Scottish Government and that Westminster’s Public Accounts Committee noted in a recent report that the UK Government does

“not yet have a strong understanding”

of what delivers local growth, will the minister consider legislation or perhaps even guidance in order to ensure that Scottish local authorities must take account of Scottish priorities when bidding for such funds?

To ask the Scottish Government how it will align its priorities for local government services with future projects by local authorities that are funded through the United Kingdom Government’s shared prosperity fund. (S6O-01228)

They say that change is made inevitable when parties fundamentally diverge based on their values. Does the cabinet secretary agree that it is important to contrast our vision, which is based on democracy and ethical values, with that of the failing UK state? In particular, does the cabinet secretary agree that today’s news regarding the willingness of the UK to break international treaty obligations and, domestically, to shield dramatic levels of financial corruption is merely a glimpse of the folly of dependence, while independence is a harbinger of a very different and better future?

Forecasts this week from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development have shown that the United Kingdom is set to have the lowest growth of any economy in the G20, apart from sanctioned Russia. That is a direct result of a Tory Brexit and will have a regrettable direct impact on Scotland, given that the majority of key economic levers reside with Westminster. Does the First Minister share my concern about UK Government mismanagement and will our independence prospectus help the public to understand why it is critical that those economic levers are controlled by Scotland for the benefit of Scotland?

I will take one if the member is going to directly counter my figures and give figures that show that I am wrong.

Let us take the previous 20 years and run an international comparison of GDP growth rates.

Sorry, but I missed the member. I will come back to him.

From that comparison, we find that the UK’s growth was 68 per cent in nominal terms, while the average large advanced economy grew by 93 per cent and the average small advanced economy grew by 138 per cent, which is double the cumulative growth of the UK economy. Scotland is having to pay a heavy price for that UK failure and for being tied to the UK’s economic mismanagement, particularly in comparison with other medium-sized advanced economies, many of which have a weaker asset base than Scotland has.

I can absolutely explain it. I can refer directly back to the cabinet secretary’s comment that members on the Tory benches seem incapable of understanding the difference between micro and macro economics. I encourage them to look at exactly which powers reside in Westminster, as that is absolutely the crux of the debate.

If the Tories had a genuine concern about growth or any understanding of economics, the motion would be shouting from the rooftops for Scotland to have full economic powers. I notice, too, that the motion says nothing about the straitjacket that is imposed on Scotland by our lack of borrowing powers, which the cabinet secretary referenced. The Tories complain about highly uncertain forecasts, but they have not mentioned that UK public sector net borrowing was £151.8 billion in the financial year ending March 2022. If it is good that the Government of Boris Johnson can borrow so freely, why is the Scottish Government denied those powers?

The pseudo economics of the Tories also turns a blind eye to corruption and large-scale financial crime, which distorts markets and punishes consumers and businesses that play by the rules.

Craig Hoy rose—