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The outlook for public sector finances is not going to get any better. The Conservatives have guaranteed that, and there are certainly no further offerings from the Labour Party should the UK Government change. Will the cabinet secretary consider, in future years, setting fiscal rules to protect the money from ScotWind?

I am pretty confident that, had various UK Governments been challenged over not building any fund with the oil money, they would have cited public sector pressures in exactly the same way. Will the cabinet secretary consider developing and then sticking to fiscal rules? Otherwise, we will embed ourselves in a financially dependent situation, rather than the opposite. We can look at what Norway has managed to do.

Obviously, I note what you said about levering in additional private investment. That is the money, but we need to have companies that are trading effectively. I also take it that you are describing long-term investments, most likely from pension companies, where there is probably a high demand, so it will take a long time to structure those things.

The other area that has been noted with concern is the rent freeze. That is why some companies, such as Springfield Properties, have moved away from build to rent at present, but build to rent is the only way, or one of the critical ways, in which we can realistically get to the scale of building that we need. I think that businesses are accepting of rent caps, but rent freezes make for a perception of a less benign operating environment than is found elsewhere.

How do you juggle the need for businesses to come back into the market, particularly regarding build to rent, with what I fully understand has been the need to protect people through some very difficult times? That need is, in itself, a function of the chronic issue of supply: that is why rents were going up. It is a cyclical problem. Do you recognise that rent freezes have created a perception that has introduced a cooling in those wanting to proceed with the likes of build-to-rent?

I thank the minister for joining us. I fully appreciate the scale of the challenge that is in front of you. I appreciate that there are multiple stakeholders, but I first want to ask about how the enterprise agencies’ role in post-school education reform will work. What will their role be in relation to the interface with workforce planning, to ensure that we get the skills that we need for the future? What are your thoughts on that?

Is it fair to characterise that approach as creating a new culture of engagement? You are describing a considerable amount of engagement, which is time consuming. I appreciate that. Are you consciously undertaking changing culture in your engagement?

That was a very helpful response. In your opening remarks, you alluded to who might have the best oversight of future requirements. One challenge is how we can correctly map today’s gaps against future needs. Can I make the assumption that, in reflecting on who has the best oversight of that, the focus will be on the future? That is where we need to get ahead of the pack as we go through the exercise.

That is very helpful. You have illustrated the complexity of the matter.

The independent review of the skills delivery landscape highlights

“the importance of getting the structures and balance of responsibilities within the system right, alongside an agreed vision for success and a shared language.”

Although the report may say that, the mix of stakeholder groupings needs to be able to buy into it.

There are big key terms in that excerpt: “agreed vision for success”, “shared language”—presumably, there will need to be shared outcomes as well—and

“the structures and balance of responsibilities”.

I would appreciate hearing your thoughts about the approach that you are taking to pull that multiplicity of stakeholders together to achieve that.

I want to move on to another area, although I appreciate that both the other panellists might have further comments on that one.

Dr Sousa, were you surprised by the allocation of money from ScotWind to resource expenditure? Would you ordinarily expect the Government to apply fiscal rules to that money?

Thank you.

We have heard some comments about how we provide best value. Martin Booth started that off. However, I am sure that Richard Robinson has a view about the cost of central Government and the increase of £30 million when we see other budgets being cut. He has drawn our attention to the report about the need for workforce planning and so on, so I would appreciate his thoughts. Richard, were you surprised by that increase? What are your reflections on that aspect of the budget, in the light of the report that you produced at the back end of last year?

Good morning, panel. I have a couple of areas that I want to explore, but I will start with one of the principles that the convener outlined, which is the focus on a greener and growing economy. We have thus far asked quite a lot of questions about the growing element, but I want to get some views on the greener element of it, perhaps in particular the low focus on capex and what impact that will have on net zero goals and just transition. In other words, to what extent will this budget enable the greener element as well as the growing element—because obviously we have supply chain considerations—and to what extent will it not?