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Those are huge concerns going forward, because we have no certainty on what the funding will be beyond 2025. As much as we can set out our thinking about what a future framework might look to deliver, we do not have clarity about the funding for various schemes in the future. We are still trying to engage with the UK Government in that conversation in order to get clarity and certainty but, unfortunately, those discussions have not taken place.

No, because it is not possible to say that. Without having a budget and without knowing what will happen over the course of the next year, we do not know what those potential savings might be.

Craig, do you want to come in?

On the point about AI and how we utilise new technology, you are absolutely right; I am sure that that will be part of the consideration that is happening right now in relation to the science and innovation strategy and how we can utilise the advances in technology.

We are not currently considering a moratorium, because we have undertaken the work on the future catching policy and published the outcome of the consultation, and I think that we have opportunities through that route. Tackling discards is a complex issue—there were around 385 exemptions to the initial rule that made it hard to comply with. In the future catching policy, therefore, we set out what was essentially a way of tailoring the policy to the different parts of our fishing industry in order to simplify it and make it more transparent and easier to comply with. That piece of work has been important, and I think that it will make a significant difference.

I believe that that work is currently being undertaken by the fisheries management and conservation group, which is considering in more detail how we can develop the policy and take it forward. I think that that will be the key to getting to grips with those issues.

Applicants are specifically asked how they will implement the community wealth building principles into projects and ensure that they are considered and built into the process.

Do you have any specific examples, Erica? Community asset transfers have been an example of that.

Those figures relate to what has been set out in the resource and capital spending reviews. They are the overall funding envelopes, not budgets in and of themselves. We will be working through the budget process. There is no capital funding associated with the islands programme for the coming financial year, but we are working through the budget process, so that could change. That is the expected funding envelope, although resource funding is expected.

I emphasise that the islands programme is not the only means by which there is investment in islands. Investment outwith the islands programme has a strong and positive impact on our islands, which has been shown through some of the projects that have taken place. We cannot forget about other Government investment that takes place in our islands, including in housing, digital, health and social care. We must also bear in mind the islands growth deal, which is £50 million of investment from the Scottish and UK Governments over the course of the next 10 years for a number of pieces of work. It is important to bear that other spending in mind.

You raise some important points, which came out clearly in the evidence that the committee heard previously. I welcome the work that the committee did, which is, I hope, reflected in the feedback that the process this year has been more straightforward and more streamlined than it was previously. Getting that feedback helped us to make those changes to the application process for the islands programme.

The work that the islands team has been doing with the Scottish Futures Trust has been helpful in trying to minimise the burden of the islands programme as much as possible. Over the past few years, we have made refinements to the application process for the programme. In and of itself, that has helped, because everybody is becoming more familiar with the process of applying to it. I would like to think that that, in a sense, eases the pressure on local authorities. The SFT also provides guidance, help and support through the process, which local authorities have broadly welcomed, too.

The cluttered funding landscape is a difficult issue to resolve because I do not hold all the levers in my portfolio for the other funds that impact islands. We have talked about the remote, rural and islands housing action plan as well as other schemes that are funded through other portfolios. I reflect back on the response that I gave to Alasdair Allan about the work that the islands team and the SFT are doing together to minimise the clutter as much as possible. That has involved working with other policy teams across the Scottish Government to ensure that there are no conflicting deadlines, because we recognise the pressures that local authorities are under when it comes to applying to the funds and we want to ease that burden as much as it is within our power to do and make the process as easy as we can.

Is there anything that you want to add, Erica?

Absolutely. Childcare is a big issue even in terms of the wider challenges of child poverty and fuel poverty on our islands, where people are disproportionately affected because the cost of living is so much higher. We have funded a specific childcare pilot with the Mull and Iona Community Trust to see how we can address those problems and develop solutions that work for our island areas. We will be keen to take any learning from that.

Yes, I am happy to do that. We were happy to receive that feedback, and the one point that I will make in response is that members of the investment panel had experience of living and working on islands, so it was not necessarily as straightforward as saying that only one member was based on an island. However, we listened to that feedback from the committee and, as a result, we appointed five new members to the investment panel, who are largely islands based. The challenge in that was trying to find members who would not have a conflict of interest in relation to the projects.

Two members of the investment panel are from the young islanders network, which is very important, and the chair of the panel just so happens to be sitting to my left, so I am sure that she can give more detail about it.