Chamber and committees

I think, generally, that that would be the case. If you have specific data sets in mind, I would be happy to look at whether we can enhance them but, generally, we try to look at all issues through the prism of gender. The point that you put to me about entrepreneurship is particularly relevant, because the data that I have seen shows that there is a deteriorating position in relation to women’s involvement in entrepreneurship, hence the work that Ana Stewart is taking forward for the Government.

What kind of questions have you asked?

I think that that is an entirely reasonable proposition, but I will take it away and consider it in detail.

We have a continuing commitment to the women’s business centre. However, for completeness, the Government believes that we should look at how we will take that forward in the light of Ana Stewart’s review.

One of the points that I put on the record when I set out the budget statement to Parliament was that, given the financial challenges that we face, there might well be some policy commitments that take us longer to deliver than we would have wanted, simply due to the financial pressures, including higher inflation, with which we are wrestling.

Although the First Minister changed her diary in order to meet the Prime Minister the evening before the announcement, she was not at Cromarty Firth because she was involved in some of the work to manage and address the pressures in the national health service. Those pre-arranged commitments on the Friday morning included discussions to avoid industrial action in the national health service. I am sure that Mr Halcro Johnston will be as pleased as I am that this Government—unlike the United Kingdom Government—has successfully avoided that. The First Minister changed her arrangements to make it possible to meet the Prime Minister, which I am sure that he welcomed.

Obviously, I empathise with the bids that were unsuccessful. Mr Halcro Johnston asked me specifically about the Orkney bid. The Minister for Business, Trade, Tourism and Enterprise will be in Orkney tomorrow and Friday to sign the islands growth deal, which Orkney will benefit from. Some elements of the proposal are emerging in relation to Scapa Flow, which contains some interesting possibilities for further development, and we will continue our dialogue with Orkney Islands Council in that respect.

I am very confident that the local and regional infrastructure will be available to support the winning bids, and Mr Halcro Johnston will be aware of the Government’s continued commitments on the A9 and the A96.

Finally, I will reflect on Mr Halcro Johnston’s point about the Scottish and UK Governments working together. There were some interesting lessons in the process, which was a process of joint decision making. There was equal involvement, and we both had to agree. It was not a case of one Government—the UK Government—setting out its will over the will of the Scottish Government. It was about joint decision making. Perhaps the Conservative Government in London could reflect on the importance of that approach in how we take such matters forward in the future.

First, I very much understand the concerns that Michelle Thomson puts to me. The risk of displacement is one of the fundamental issues with the green freeport concept. We will be putting measures into the governance and reporting framework to ensure that there is transparency in relation to those questions so that we can effectively scrutinise the effect of green freeports. We will also ensure that we have the necessary steps available to us to ensure that any displacement of activity is addressed as part of the process of monitoring the effectiveness of the concept.

Yes, the Government will act in that fashion. We are serious about the points that have been advanced. I will try hard over the period ahead to persuade Mr Greer of the merits of the steps that we are taking, but I assure him that we will act to protect the commitments that have been built into the green freeport concept.

That engagement will start very soon. As I indicated in my answer to Audrey Nicoll, we have used the engagement and dialogue around the decision-making process for green freeports to advance the arguments and the case for the Acorn project, for example.

That engagement will start soon and it will include those who have been involved in the bid in the north-east. We will work to ensure that as much of the bid as can be taken forward sustainably is taken forward.

I do not agree with that assessment. In arriving at our income tax policy for 2023-24, we have sought to carefully balance the need to raise revenue with the impact on households, businesses and the wider economy at the current time. The majority of people in Scotland will still pay less income tax than they would if they lived elsewhere in the United Kingdom, and our income tax policy will enable us to make additional investment in the national health service by exceeding the health resource Barnett consequentials from the UK Government. In addition, Scotland offers the most comprehensive social contract in any part of the UK, making Scotland an attractive place in which to live, work, study and do business.

In a sense, Jamie Halcro Johnston answers his own question. The Government has already delayed the introduction of the short-term licensing scheme to provide more time for the sector to adjust to it.

Earlier in the session, in response to Annie Wells, the Minister for Public Finance, Planning and Community Wealth set out the fact that about half of the retail, tourism and hospitality businesses will benefit from 100 per cent rates relief because Scotland has a different small business bonus scheme from that which operates in the rest of the United Kingdom. Rather than just tell us that we should replicate what goes on in England, Jamie Halcro Johnston should think about the fact that, if we did so, lots of companies would have to start paying business rates, and he is not suggesting that that should happen.

Finally—this is the real point—according to the figures that Mr Arthur put on the record, Jamie Halcro Johnston is asking me to commit to spending another £78 million on business rates relief. If he wants me to spend that money on that, he has to have the honesty to come to Parliament and explain where the money is coming from. Already, his colleagues are opposing the tax changes that I have made, which is another £125 million or so that they have to find.

The Conservatives cannot come here and ask me to spend more money when they cannot tell me where the money is coming from.