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Scott Mackay might have the specific detail on that. Ms Smith, would you be content if I were to write to you to provide more information? I want to reflect on the matter.

The additional funding to support rail services was required to cover a revenue shortfall that was suffered by the franchise. Services are demand led, which goes some way towards explaining the variation between budgets. Ultimately, the addition is in recognition of a fall in demand; we are seeking to provide support to fill that gap.

I do not want to forecast. The autumn budget revisions have come about as previous autumn budget revisions have, following realignment of the Cabinet and changes to ministerial portfolios. That is captured in table A in the supporting document, which reconciles the new portfolios with the previous ones, as outlined in the budget. What is in the spring budget revision will reflect the financial position as it develops in the coming months.

Thank you very much, convener, and good morning. First, I must apologise for my delay and put on record my gratitude to the committee for being so accommodating.

The autumn budget revision provides the first of two opportunities to formally amend the 2021-22 Scottish budget, and it details the continuation of the Scottish Government’s financial response to Covid-19 alongside regular annual budget changes. The supporting document to the autumn budget revision and the brief guide that my officials have prepared provide background on the changes.

The changes that are detailed in the document are based on the funding that the Treasury confirmed to us following the United Kingdom Government’s main estimates earlier in the year. Further spending for 2021-22 that was included alongside the UK spending review figures has not yet been formally added to our block grant, and the financial position remains at risk of funding being withdrawn or changed later in the year. The UK Government has refused to continue the Barnett guarantee into this financial year.

I will set out the changes in the budget revision in four groups. The first set of changes increases the budget by £1,173.8 million and comprises the majority of the Covid-19 funding, which has been allocated over a number of lines as detailed in the brief guide.

The second set of changes comprises technical adjustments to the national health service and teachers’ pensions budgets. They are non-cash adjustments, but they add £267.2 million to the overall aggregate position. Thirdly, Whitehall transfers and allocations from Treasury have a net positive impact on the budget of £29.4 million, and the final part of the budget revision concerns the transfer of funds within and between portfolios to better align the budgets with profiled spend.

The ABR allocates more than £1 billion of Covid-19 and other funding changes, and it is being funded through £1 billion of Barnett consequentials and Scotland reserve drawdowns. I would highlight that £834 million is being allocated to health and social care through the ABR, with all of it directed at our continuing response to Covid-19, while a further £104 million is being allocated towards maintaining our critical transport networks.

Of the just over £300 million that remains of the total funding that we have received, £250 million is for capital and financial transactions. Although that funding is not formally allocated in the budget revision, it is being held against a variety of commitments that are embedded in our budget position, and funding to meet those commitments and pressures will be formally recognised in the spring budget revision.

As we move towards the financial year end, we will continue in line with our normal practice to monitor forecast outturn against budget and, wherever possible, seek to utilise any emerging underspends to ensure that we make optimum use of the resources available.

With that, convener, I conclude my remarks. I am happy to take any questions that the committee might have.

Certainly. That money is collected centrally and goes to UK Government consolidated funds. It is then distributed to devolved health authorities using the Barnett formula.

Further consequentials were announced as part of the UK spending review, but we will not have confirmation of that until supplementary estimates are given. The current position, as is outlined in the autumn budget revision document that has been provided to the committee, is that we have to take a balanced view on the question of that additional funding, because ultimately we will not have confirmation of whether we will receive it until later in the financial year, and that is because we do not have the Barnett guarantee that we had in the previous financial year. Therefore, we need to take a balanced and prudent approach to how that funding will be deployed.

The question is broad; I touched on some of the answer in my statement to Parliament in June on the provisional outturn. We had slippage because construction, for example, could not take place during the prolonged lockdowns, so that had an impact on the capital budgets that were available, which were taken back to the centre and redeployed.

For budgets that are demand led, it is intrinsically more difficult to forecast how much will be required in total. When demand does not, ultimately, meet expectation, the money is available for redeployment. That is captured in a number of areas of the budget.

Scott Mackay wants to respond to a previous question.

Ultimately, that is about supporting our health service as we continue to face the challenges that are presented by Covid-19, which remains first and foremost a health matter. The additional funding that has been allocated to the health budget involves support for a range of measures, including test and protect, staffing, personal protective equipment and various other requirements that have been identified by health authorities to see us through the pandemic. The resource is there as a general support to the health service to do that.

We have also announced a further additional resource of £300 million as part of our winter plan.

Can you specify what kind of breakdown you would like? The supporting documents give a breakdown. Do you want more specific information about the allocation of the £700 million?

There is a process for when funds are required. They must be drawn down in a phased manner. Scott Mackay can set out that process and explain how decisions are taken.