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I do not think that awareness is going to be an issue, to be honest—it is going to be very high.

I note that, in the legislation that you are proposing, the provisions are not, as with the bill south of the border, limited to terminally ill people with six months or less to live. There is no six-month limit; the time period could be a year or two, which, it could be argued, would mean that someone like Chris Hoy, who is terminally ill, could be eligible. Therefore, when one looks at the numbers, they seem very much on the low side. Indeed, you are anticipating only a handful. However, although the numbers in other jurisdictions might have picked up slowly, if there is what one might call, in effect, a backlog of people, you might find quite a jump at the start. Do you not think that that might happen?

I have a few more questions to ask, but I want to open up the session to colleagues around the table.

Okay. Thank you for that. Do you want to make any final points to the committee before we wind up?

Good. I still have a few questions—[Laughter.] Thank you very much for your evidence, Liam. It is very much appreciated. We will consider the evidence that we have received and our next steps in relation to the financial memorandum at a future meeting.

I suppose that what we have at the moment is the best guesstimate.

I have a point on public support. Many people do not realise that the bill applies only to terminally ill people who are compos mentis. I have had constituents contact me about their granny, husband or wife who has severe dementia, and they think that it is somehow going to apply to them. It is important that we get that awareness out there, regardless of where we go.

I have just one question on an issue that has not been touched on. The issue of unintended consequences was raised on behalf of the hospice sector by Living and Dying Well, which says:

“Unless hospices are ‘AD-free zones’ the public image of the services as death houses is likely to return and with it a fall in donations. Many hospices are already facing serious financial challenges, and this legislation as written risks their funding base falling, which will result in further destabilisation of the sector.”

Will you respond to that?

I know. I am trying to cover a lot of ground so I can get everyone in.

I will bring Andy Witty to talk about colleges in a wee minute. Your submission also mentions that

“41.8% of graduates who left full-time education within the last five years in Scotland worked in a nongraduate role.”

Does SDS have a view on whether there are too many people at university or whether universities are offering the wrong degrees?

On the provision of workers, a significant number of working-age people in Scotland are economically inactive. Is SDS looking to use employability initiatives to try to bring more of those people into the workforce?

On the existing workforce, we know that Scotland has a much higher share of people working in the public sector. Are you looking at whether we can bring people from the public sector into private industry and attract people, if not from overseas because of the difficulties that we have with the devolution settlement and the structures around that, then other parts of the UK?

Good morning, and welcome to the 36th meeting in 2024 of the Finance and Public Administration Committee. The first item on our agenda is an evidence session on the Scottish budget 2025-26. I welcome to the meeting Andy Witty, director of strategic policy and corporate governance at Colleges Scotland; Reuben Aitken, managing director of Scottish Development International; Sandy Begbie CBE, chief executive officer of Scottish Financial Enterprise; Claire Mack, chief executive officer of Scottish Renewables; Gordon McGuinness, director of industry and enterprise networks at Skills Development Scotland; Dr Alastair McInroy, chief executive officer of Technology Scotland; and Professor Alastair Florence, director of the continuous manufacturing and crystallisation centre at the University of Strathclyde.

I intend to allow around 90 minutes for this session, with everyone having an opportunity to speak. If witnesses or members would like to be brought into the discussion at any point, please indicate to the clerks and I can then call you. I will ask the first question to Gordon McGuinness, and we will carry on from there.

Gordon, in your excellent submission, you have said that,

“In the next decade, Scotland has a generational economic opportunity, driven by a projected £230bn investment in key sectors.”

However, you also said—and frequently emphasised this issue throughout your submission—that

“there is an urgent need for action to significantly grow Scotland’s workforce.”

Given the fact that the Scottish Parliament has no powers over migration, what do you feel would be the best approach to growing Scotland’s workforce?

I will bring Claire Mack in next. I note that, in your submission, you say that you

“welcome that the Scottish Government has prioritised investment in renewable energy given it is our greatest opportunity to create sustainable economic growth which will deliver benefits for our entire society.”

There is still an issue with the gender balance. Is it still the case that a lot more males than females go into the industry?