Chamber and committees

Just briefly, on that last point of consideration—

I have no further questions, convener, although I saw that Michelle Thomson was looking to come in on this point.

Good morning, cabinet secretary, I want to emphasise your points about delivering a just transition. Having worked briefly in the renewable energy sector, at the innovation and technology development end, I can absolutely empathise with your points about the expertise of the oil and gas industry that goes into renewable development. Your points are well made about the fact that, if we are broadening that out to deliver a just transition, which is, of course, the aspiration of the country as well as the Government, that process will need to be done in a procedural and careful manner in order not to lose those skills.

If there is anything more that you want to add on that, I would be interested to hear it. Also, do you have anything to add on the need to continue to grow the salaries available in the renewable sector so that they can compete with those in the oil and gas sector?the way that it is right now?as well as the tax-take considerations?

On Rosebank, your points are essential to remember. It will be the UK Government that will issue those licences, and that is where the campaigning energy of those with concerns about the issues needs to be primarily directed.

Thank you, convener. I am very pleased to be part of the committee. I have no relevant interests to declare, but I draw members’ attention to the fact that I am registered on the roll of Scottish solicitors, which might periodically be of relevance.

Going back a bit, with regard to intergovernmental relations, I reflect on my experience in Government dealing with UK ministers in different portfolio areas. I endorse what you said about how reliant the functioning of that system is on having UK ministers who understand and care about devolution. You mentioned Chloe Smith, and I would say that she is somebody who understands devolution and cares about it. I just want to give you the opportunity to reflect more on the importance of the personality of the minister in the UK Government, whatever the policy area is, in terms of intergovernmental relations. Without that, you get the experience, as you have set out, of its just being a tick-box exercise that is badly informed and certainly not meaningful for the Scottish Government or the Welsh Government.

I will build on some points that have been raised. With reference to the cross-governmental benefits of culture and the enriching nature of culture across society, we all know how challenging the public finances are, and the effect of that has come up in evidence that the committee has heard.

One of the interesting proposals that we heard in Dumfries was the idea of a percentage of various departmental budgets going on culture, given the positive benefit that culture has for the economy, health and the environment. I wanted to relay that proposal to you, cabinet secretary, as you continue to consider across Government how to meet the challenge of the pressure on the public finances while supporting culture as an enriching part of our society and a social benefit.

Those are really important points to consider, so thank you for expressing them.

With regard to recent years, I note that the Morgan review was published in 2020 and that a lot has happened since then. Will you reflect on how the pandemic affected what additional support pupils require and what types of support have seen increased demand through that period? Do policy makers use that data to determine the levels and types of resources that are made available for schools and local authorities in the post-pandemic time that we are now in?

From constituency cases that I had during the pandemic, I am aware of how challenging parents and carers found those times. I presume that similar avenues of support are being used to support them.

I have a question for COSLA, if I may. My question is related to the need to ensure that we have support and resource. We talked earlier about the increase that we have seen for all the various reasons that we have discussed, and Mr Mulholland spoke about the excellent work that is happening in schools and the excellent support that is being provided to people with additional support needs.

All that considered, I am also mindful of what Mr Rennie highlighted in relation to the national conversation. As a constituency MSP for seven years, I am aware of the great work that happens in my constituency, but I am also aware of the challenges that exist because of demand. I direct this question to COSLA. Given the pressure on the public finances that we are all aware of, and given that this is a collective issue for us all in Scotland, has realistic and robust analysis been done on an approximate figure that COSLA would ask of central Government to deal with that demand and/or any flexibilities? Has the additional resource that would make a difference been quantified? Has that ever been assimilated?

All those points are appreciated. If you were able to provide a figure on what would make a difference in the school setting, that would be useful and of interest to the committee.