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I will move on from that issue, although other members might want to come in with supplementaries on that. I want to raise a question about the Scottish National Investment Bank and accounting rules, which has come up in committee a couple of times.

I understand that UK Government accounting rules prevent SNIB and similar agencies from reinvesting profits. I am keen to see that change, which goes back to your fundamental point about trying to create wealth in the economy.

Cabinet secretary, will you give us an update on any discussions that you have had on that with the UK Government? It has been suggested that the introduction of a national wealth fund would perhaps cause it to look again at the rules, although I must admit that I find it dispiriting that the UK Government would only look at changing them because of something that it has instigated rather than because of something that we have tried to progress in Scotland.

It will not be a surprise that I want to continue the discussion about women-led businesses. We touched on the issue earlier and the cabinet secretary commented about £4 million being made available and so on, but I want to get a general sense of the activity that is under way to support women-led businesses. It would be useful to have the latest status on the pathways fund, which we have talked about, before I ask my other questions.

I know that that is a long-held interest of yours, cabinet secretary—in fact, you instigated the work with Ana Stewart. I will be frank. To what extent do you think that that effort is enough, even including the ambition for next year?

In the manifesto that we signed up to at the start of this parliamentary term, there was a promise of a women’s business centre and a £50 million contribution to the cost of it. Clearly, we are some way from the actuality of that ambition.

I make the point because I think that you have been very clear that public sector pounds spent must grow or add value to the wider economy. It is abundantly clear that fewer women-led businesses reach the critical five-year mark. Critically, this is about their contribution to the economy. Do you think that that effort is enough, cabinet secretary? If not, what approaches will you deploy to increase the funding for next year, even above that £4 million?

I will move on to my next question. I have not seen culture mentioned specifically in your report. It is a very good report, but the reference to culture is implicit, rather than explicit, in some of the commentary, such as that on transparency and leadership, for example.

Considering your understanding of the culture that prevails and that you have seen, how confident are you that changes can be made, given that the best predictor of future behaviour is past behaviour?

I do not know the names of the companies concerned, but I asked the question because I am aware that there has been increasing activity in landlord-to-landlord sales, which keeps tenants in place. Of course, at that point, the landlord is knowingly and deliberately taking a cut in what they might be able to achieve on the open market, to allow the tenant to stay in situ, and rightly so. However, this measure could discourage investors from coming to the table. Therefore, it would be worth while to look into that.

Yes, although the evidence of the impact of the previous increase from 4 per cent to 6 per cent does not necessarily follow with regard to the increase from 6 per cent to 8 per cent. It is your view that that might be the case, but we do not actually know that and the only thing that we could be certain of, if we did projections, is that they would be inaccurate. I ask about that because I want to know how you can evidence your assertion that the increase will support first-time buyers rather than merely fulfil the intention to increase the tax take? I am not against that per se, but is it not quite a bold statement that the increase in the rate of ADS will necessarily lead to more first-time buyers being able to access property?

Good morning, Auditor General, and thank you for joining us. I just have a couple of questions, as I am mindful of the time. The first is a slightly technical question that follows on from Mr Hoy’s questions. In the update that it gave in December 2024, the Government stated that it was taking

“a cascade approach to savings”.

What is your understanding of the implications of that, in the light of the fact that all change programmes that are under way anywhere in Government are arguably now part of public service reform?

I accept what you are saying. In future reports, would you be prepared to actively consider culture as specific and measurable, for the reasons that we have outlined?

In your evidence thus far, it sounds as though the position is very complex, and the data that you have cited probably confirms that we are not entirely certain of the impact of the rise. Therefore, to pick up on the issue that the convener was probing earlier, is it reasonable and accurate to say that we do not have complete transparency—probably for a very good reason—about the impact of the original rise in ADS and that you therefore have not been able to model the potential impact of a subsequent rise from 6 per cent to 8 per cent?

Okay. Convener, I should have drawn committee members’ attention to my entry in the register of members’ interests.

If I may, I will follow up one area in relation intra-landlord activity. There is evidence that, over time, quite a number of landlords have exited the market across the whole of the United Kingdom. That was triggered by the UK Government’s withdrawal, some years back, of mortgage interest tax relief. More recently, some landlords have been choosing to exit the market but to sell with the tenant in situ, so that another landlord buys the property. That is done for the very good reason that the property is somebody’s home. Surely a by-product of the increase in the rate of ADS will be more tenants being evicted, because a landlord will be less likely to buy properties. To what extent have you factored that consideration into any scenario planning that you have done?