Chamber and committees

I am extremely grateful to the cabinet secretary for giving way, and I warmly congratulate her on her expanded role and portfolio.

Only four fifths of the money in the strategic framework business fund was actually allocated. Businesses had concerns that they were not able to access some of the money that was there. I invite the cabinet secretary to comment on that.

I am grateful to the minister for taking an intervention. He has said several times that the SNP Government is listening to what businesses are saying. One key thing that businesses are saying is that they do not have the certainty or the stability that they are looking for. Does he agree that that is a serious problem for the business community?

Will the cabinet secretary give way?

It takes only a cursory glance at the key economic statistics that were released in Scotland last week to recognise the extent of the challenge that the cabinet secretary has just outlined. Although there have, as she indicated, been some limited signs of growth, the Scottish Fiscal Commission is still telling us that it will be 2024 before the economy recovers to its pre-pandemic levels. That has huge implications for people’s jobs and their real disposable incomes.

In her last budget speech before the Scottish election, Kate Forbes said that the key guiding principles behind economic policy must be “certainty and stability”, that businesses and communities deserve nothing less and that we should always have people’s jobs at the forefront of our minds because employment is a critical component of that economic recovery. We agree entirely with the point about certainty and stability, even if we have fundamental differences of opinion about the details of some aspects of economic policy, particularly on tax and enterprise.

The budget that Kate Forbes delivered followed the biggest dividend for the Scottish Government since devolution, with revenue returns up 11 per cent on the previous budget. However, that does not hide the fact that many businesses are still seriously struggling and are in desperate need of support, including many in the small business sector, which is rightly seen as the backbone of so many of our communities. Scotland needs those businesses to survive, which is why it is imperative that the Scottish Government act immediately to remove any delays. I do not think that it is helpful to have a debate about whose fault the delays are; they must be removed so that people can access the money that they need.

The statistics that the Scottish Government published just three weeks ago regarding the strategic framework business fund clearly show that £80 million of support was unspent by the time the fund closed on 22 March. As Pauline McNeill has said, the statistics also show that there was confusion about who was entitled to specific payments. Promises were made to the business community, but the Scottish Government did not deliver.

At First Minister’s question time last week, Douglas Ross demanded that the Scottish Government respond immediately to the concerns of business groups across Scotland that have become increasingly anxious about its approach to the business sector. I heard the cabinet secretary say this morning, as I have heard her say several times, that there are lots of plans to be developed in the first 100 days. I accept that, but I think that there is far more than just the first 100 days that matters. The business community wants much longer-term economic policy commitments and it is, quite rightly, pointing to the need for a much more coherent strategy.

There is a lesson to be learned from the Higgins report, which political parties in the Parliament signed up to. The principles in it are about new incentives, not disincentives, when it comes to Scotland’s future investment and economic growth. The report also made it clear that the right balance needs to be struck between increased autonomy for Parliament and shared responsibilities for good governance.

Of course, good governance is dependent on transparency and accountability. As I said last week after the First Minister’s statement, there are important lessons to be learned from the Auditor General about what happens when transparency and accountability are lacking. In his recent report, the Auditor General was critical of the fact that the Scottish Government had not provided the necessary level of clarity when it came to establishing whether the taxpayer is getting good value for money. That lack makes it much more difficult for Parliament to effectively scrutinise Scottish Government policy. The shambles that we saw with Prestwick airport, Burntisland Fabrications and the ferries, to name just three examples, should not have happened. Indeed, it would not have happened if there had been better transparency and accountability.

Why does that matter? It matters not just because £130 million of taxpayers’ money has been written off, but because it is an issue of the essential trust between Government and the public, and between Government and business. Members who were present in the previous session of Parliament know that witnesses who gave statements to our committees—in particular, the Public Audit and Post-legislative Scrutiny Committee—highlighted just how important it is to have really good working relationships not just across Scottish Government departments, but between Westminster and Holyrood. A holistic approach is very welcome; I will come in a minute to the invitation that the cabinet secretary has extended to the political parties.

When it comes to things such as the Scottish Government working with the UK Government on business capitalisation and forbearance, we are very interested to know what the Scottish Government will do to ensure that businesses can work with it.

Recently, the Auditor General for Scotland heavily criticised the Scottish Government for

“a lack of clarity and transparency”

on the spending of public money, and he said that much more should have been done to provide value for money and to facilitate the necessary parliamentary scrutiny. What steps has the First Minister put in process to address the Auditor General’s very serious concerns?

took the oath.