Chamber and committees

Thank you, convener—it is good to see you back. It was good that you brought up the local governance review. As you pointed out, it is a local governance, not a local government, review. I often bring up the review in committee and ask the Government about it, but I do not seem to get any answers on where it is and when we will see some output from it.

What is your understanding of the local governance review, and when do you think that we will be able to see something coming from it? For me, that is public sector reform—it is what we should be focusing on right now.

I opened the innovation strategy document with some excitement and hope, but I felt depressed after reading the minister’s foreword. In it, he says:

“Too few Scottish businesses are innovating, and some of our most innovative companies struggle to scale.”

He goes on to say that, when it comes to research and development,

“we have work to do to catch up with our international competitors.”

The strategy reads like a list of SNP failures over the past 16 years when it comes to economic growth and innovation. We are below the UK average on all measures of innovation activity; the percentage of businesses investing in innovation activity is lower in Scotland; Scotland has a poor record on productivity under the SNP Government; and Scotland’s efficiency in producing spin-offs from research is lower than in the rest of the UK.

If only we had a Government that was focused on the real priorities of Scotland: growing our economy, promoting innovators and entrepreneurs, investing in business and funding our leading universities and research institutes. Having 16 years of the SNP has left us with a country that is the highest-taxed part of the UK and has the conditions not for growth but for division.

I am sorry; I cannot take that intervention.

We were used to seeing huge amounts of innovation, growth and investment in the north-east and, with energy transition, could see that again. However, for that to happen, we must stop the demonisation of the oil and gas industry. Historically, energy companies have spent vast sums on research and innovation and could do that again when it comes to energy transition, but they need the revenue from oil and gas to provide them with the cash to spend on research and development. While there is still a demand for hydrocarbons, we should produce those in this country, not only to protect the thousands of jobs that rely on the sector but to safeguard the huge amounts of cash that will be invested in renewables.

I am sorry; I do not have time. I will come back to the minister if I have time.

The strategy goes on to tell us how much stronger we are as part of the United Kingdom with the financial weight that that brings. The UK Government has invested significant funds to drive up innovation and productivity: it has invested in free ports and in the regional growth deals that much of the life science innovation mentioned in the report comes from and it wants to go further in developing our nuclear energy capacity, which will bring huge investment in research and development but is, of course, being blocked by the SNP-Green coalition.

Let us be really clear about the facts: the SNP has reduced enterprise agency budgets this year, stifling those organisations’ ability to make significant impacts on their regions. The SNP-Green Government talks a lot about higher education in the strategy, but we must remember that it has cut £46 million from college and university budgets this year.

The strategy has lots of warm words about economic growth for our central belt cities, but sets out no roadmap to get there and there is very little mention of how our rural communities will play their part.

I welcome the strategy and its recognition of the strength of being part of the United Kingdom. I have no ambition to be in a leading small country when we can be part of a leading world power with the economic strength that that brings. I welcome the strategy’s recognition of the investment that being part of the UK has brought to Scotland at a time when the SNP Government is cutting budgets. After 16 years in power, the minister should be embarrassed to place the strategy before us today. It lets down our rural communities, is an admission of failure by the broken SNP-Green coalition and is a clear indication of how we benefit from being part of the United Kingdom.

The Scottish National Investment Bank invested £9 million of public money in Circularity Scotland. Is that money now gone?

Is there time, Presiding Officer?

I thank the minister for the advance sight of his statement. Most members of the public will be shocked to hear that there was an underspend of nearly quarter of a billion pounds last year. [Interruption.]

Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. Last year, nearly quarter of a billion pounds was underspent. It seems that, in key areas, the Government likes to announce high spending figures in its budget, but it is woeful on delivery. It talks the talk, but it does not walk the walk. At a time when our local communities are seeing swimming pools, libraries and sports facilities being closed, how can that be the case? For a Government that talks about there being a skills crisis, how can it be that its education and skills budget has been so massively underspent? For one that claims that tackling climate change is a key priority, how on earth is it that the net zero and transport budget has been so massively underspent once again? Those are serious questions, so perhaps we could have serious answers.

This morning, the Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee heard evidence about swimming pools closing right across Scotland. Vibrant, packed community hubs such as Bucksburn in Aberdeen have shut because the Scottish National Party administration slashed the sports budget.

As we heard, there is money from the UK Government to fund swimming pools, so, as some of that needs to be used to get Bucksburn swimming pool back open again, can the minister tell us today when that money will be allocated?

No—you’ve got the money for it.