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I certainly hope that that is it.

That is a fundamental and critical question for realising the opportunities that will arise in the offshore wind environment. I will just make one comment in relation to what Michael Matheson said yesterday about planning consents. I recognise that the issue is of great significance to ensuring that those who are involved in that activity are assured of an efficient and effective planning consent process to enable them to make decisions about the investments that they make within a reasonable timescale.

It is important to address the substance of Ms Hyslop’s question across a number of areas, such as the roles of colleges, the skills environment and the work of the Scottish National Investment Bank, to take just three particular elements. I do not particularly want to live by anecdote with the committee this morning but, as an example, I had a conversation that warmed my heart with an entrepreneur who is involved in the offshore wind sector and who wanted to develop a facility in Ayrshire. The particular skills that he needed were not available in Ayrshire, but he wished to pursue his venture in that area. He engaged in a constructive dialogue with Ayrshire College, and the college put in place a course to train employees to meet his requirements in partnership with the college.

That is a splendid example of the college sector adapting its provision to meet the needs of a substantial economic opportunity in its locality. That must be reflected and mirrored in other parts of the country. Ms Hyslop knows the college sector intimately, particularly that of her constituency of West Lothian, and she will therefore know that the outlook of colleges is that they wish to seize such opportunities.

The second area is skills development. Obviously, there has been some interruption to the progress of the apprenticeship scheme. Prior to Covid, we were on course to have 30,000 modern apprentices. Skills Development Scotland is now ready and programmed to deliver the 25,000 modern apprenticeships that are envisaged in the budget programme, and obviously they will be available to the renewable energy sector.

Thirdly, part of the Scottish National Investment Bank’s mission is to invest in the Scottish Government’s net zero aspirations. In my response to Mr Simpson, I cited an example of specific net zero related investments that the bank has made. The committee should be assured that investment vehicles are available to support and nurture the development of Scottish companies that can realise some of those manufacturing ambitions within Scotland.

That issue is considered by the Scottish Fiscal Commission when it looks at the tax propositions that we put forward. From that, we can deduce the impact that our measures will have on behaviour. That advice is available from the Fiscal Commission. It informs the expectations of revenue to be raised that are included in the budget proposition.

There will be a wide variety of considerations for any individual who is choosing a location in which to live and work, and they will be based on a variety of factors. As I set out to Parliament, the social contract that is available to people in Scotland offers a very different proposition, regardless of income. Many different questions about the quality of life and quality of location will be relevant to the decisions that people make.

I have wrestled with those questions for quite some time in my various areas of responsibility, and I think that the key thing that can help us to resolve them is having quality dialogue between businesses and those who are responsible for the development of skills.

Earlier, I cited an example from Ayrshire of exactly what should happen. A business wants to get off the ground and develop an opportunity. It wants to have skilled personnel but cannot find them, so it goes to a college. The college says, “This is what we’ll do”, and it gets it all under way. That is how we make progress.

In addition, there can be a lot of work and elaboration on the formulation of skills action plans and skills audits. Skills Development Scotland has led a really good piece of work, in different localities, that looks at skills development plans. Such issues are invariably resolved in localities—they have to be, because the level of geographic mobility in the country is relatively limited. We need to ensure that the quality of dialogue between businesses and providers is at the highest level possible.

I expect the first report to be published during this calendar year. The strategy was set out in May 2022, if my memory serves me right—

The Government made a commitment to invest about £2 billion in the Scottish National Investment Bank over a 10-year period to support investment in ventures that would generate significant economic impact and financial return in the Scottish economy. The budget provides for building up that investment. As we build it up, the Scottish National Investment Bank takes decisions about what investments it makes.

For example, in early December, the bank announced investment in a company called North Star Shipping Ltd. It is providing £50 million in a £95 million capital expenditure facility to allow the business to expand its fleet of service operation vessels, which are expected to support offshore wind projects in Scotland. That is a very good example of the bank using its resources.

The bank considers all the risks of an investment, because, as committee members will appreciate, there are no guarantees about such investments. Organisations such as the Scottish National Investment Bank must assess their investments. The bank considers whether there is a long-term business opportunity and whether there will be a return on the investment that it provides.

There will be other ventures of that type, where the bank will make an assessment and will draw down from resources that the Government has provided.

That principally relates to the completion of the reaching 100 per cent—R100—programme, which as Maggie Chapman and the committee will know, has been taken forward over a number of years and is now operational in all parts of the country.

The commitment exists to achieve the objectives of the R100 programme. In essence, we are looking at the detailed delivery of that programme year by year. That approach takes into account the changing picture of investment by telecommunications companies as they roll out their investment programmes, too. As we have seen in recent years, as changes take place in the technology available and the ability of telecoms companies to broaden their networks, it reduces the scale of the challenge under the R100 programme. It is a combination of those two factors.

I recognise all the relevant issues that Maggie Chapman raises about the importance of digital connectivity and its centrality to the ability to live and work in a range of locations around Scotland. It is important to remember that we have made absolutely colossal strides forward in the availability of such digital connectivity around Scotland.

SNIB is a long-term proposition for the Government. I describe it as, in essence, a long-term source of patient capital in the Scottish economy. We envisage SNIB being able to perform the role on a long-term basis; obviously, that has to be a long-term commercial basis. The issues of repayment and returns are significant, and we are keen to ensure that over the long-term lifespan of SNIB, it continues to perform that role in the Scottish economy.

No, I do not accept that. Scottish Enterprise’s resource has gone from £135 million to £141 million, which is an increase of £6 million, and its capital budget is going from £80 million to £76 million, which is a reduction of £4 million—so there is a net increase of £2 million. For South of Scotland Enterprise, there has been an increase in resource and capital when those are put together.

Maybe for us both, Mr Halcro Johnston.