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Absolutely. We are already seeing that. There are examples—I will not go into the details for reasons of commercial confidentiality—in which our legal teams have had to have a good look to understand whether we are able to move forward. They take, as they often do, a very safe view on what is and is not allowed. In the absence of the pre-authorisation process that existed previously, there is an inclination to operate on the side of safety, which means that we have to take a different view on things that we might have done in the past. That is obviously concerning.

We have made that point repeatedly at every opportunity, as I said earlier. There have already been situations relating to support for investment in which there has not been the clarity that there has been previously. The view of lawyers is to be safe rather than to move things forward, so we have had to have discussions in that context, which is concerning because it leads to delays in the processes. As you said, it has a chilling effect and slows things up. In some cases, it might prevent things from happening that otherwise would have happened, because we do not have clarity in advance on what is and is not permissible. Taking a safety-first approach could lead to advice being given that we should not go ahead with something, which is a concern.

As I said, that issue and many others, including the issue relating to the bank, have been raised repeatedly with the UK Government at official level and at ministerial level.

It has had consultations at a general level but I am not aware if it will do consultation on the guidelines—Hilary Pearce might know that. You are right to say that we are waiting to see what it will come forward with. The streamlined area is an example of one where the secretary of state has powers that the devolved ministers do not have. That is concerning because, if there was any debate about what the streamlined powers allow or do not allow or how they operate and when they would operate, the decision would be up to the secretary of state and, even if the issue involved a devolved matter in Scotland, we would not have any ability to act in the same way.

It is possible to identify more disadvantaged areas, outline what those disadvantages are and have scope to deploy support in a different way to those areas. Such a process has been in place previously through EU processes; it has different categorisations of regions.

As I have said, from a regional economic development point of view, we are focused on supporting all regions and communities in Scotland to maximise their potential. That might require support to encourage investment or other activity. We want to be able to take those steps in a different way, depending on the specific needs of different parts of the country. It is important that we have that ability and that there is clarity around that, but there is no provision for that in the bill. It is interesting how that works against the UK Government’s stated aim of levelling up. That is another area in which there is a lack of clarity as to exactly how the measures will operate.

Yes, that is a concern and I know you have taken evidence that has covered some of these issues already from COSLA and others, who will be closer to some of the practicalities of this. From a Government and Government agency point of view, we are in a position where we can access legal advice and we can take a view on things. We are typically talking about larger sums of money, bigger investments and so on. It makes the process more complicated, more difficult, more challenging and more uncertain, and, for smaller organisations that are dealing with the issues and trying to support economic development locally, those challenges are multiplied. It is too early to see examples of the impacts that you mention, but I have concerns the situation that you outline may well be the case.

On the second part of your question, which concerned what we can do about it, clearly, we will continue to challenge the UK Government on these issues, but we are open to having conversations about the specific organisations that may find themselves in that situation and how we could work with them to help them navigate the uncertainties that exist as part of this process.

You are absolutely correct, and you are right to raise the importance of a net zero Scotland. We have seen the developments with ScotWind this week, and there are many examples of Scotland’s globally leading position in many of the technologies and opportunities in relation to the just transition to net zero. We need to be in a position where we have the ability to provide support as we see fit within a set of rules that is transparent, clear and predictable. All of that is important.

If you are asking me whether there is a risk that, as a consequence of where we are at the moment with this bill, we will find it difficult, more time-consuming or impossible to do things that we would otherwise do, I would say that that is absolutely the case. There have already been examples where support has been delayed and we have had to deal with a more complicated process internally as a consequence of a lack of clarity on the guidance and where that takes us.

In answer to your earlier point, of course we agree that there should be subsidy control or state aid regimes in place. It is essential from a good governance point of view and from a global trade point of view that we have those rules at the global level, a bilateral level and EU level. We absolutely recognise the need for that because it works in both directions. It gives certainty to Scottish exporters as well as giving certainty to the steps that the Government and others take within Scotland. The key point is that there needs to be clarity and a process that allows those decisions to be clear in advance and allows for clear guidance about what can and cannot be done.

Yes, it would. One power in a list of powers that the secretary of state will have under the bill is that he or she will be able to operate in devolved areas and on devolved matters. We rightly believe, as do the other devolved Administrations, that equivalent powers should be available to devolved Administrations to do exactly as you have said and to address issues. For example, if we saw a potential distortion, we should be able to refer the matter to the CMA and go through the process in the same way as the secretary of state can.

We continue to push for amendments to the bill in the later stages. At the end of the day, it is a UK bill and the UK Government will take it through Westminster as it sees fit.

We will continue to make the case, argue for those amendments and work with others of a similar view to make changes where we can. However, as I said, the bill will progress through Westminster based on what the UK Government decides it wants to include. It is of concern that the amendments have not been taken on board, which is one reason why we are not recommending that consent be given to the bill.

No. Thank you very much for the questions. We have covered all the issues that we wanted to raise, and it is good to get the committee’s perspective on the issues.

Yes, we are very conscious of that. I know that the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Economy was with you earlier and that you spoke about the guidance and so on. Those issues are very much to the fore in terms of how we support local economic development. It is a priority for the Government and for me.

The issue will be the chilling effect. Risk aversion is part of the issue. We need to be open and clear with those in Scotland who may find themselves in that position. They may look at something and think that it is too difficult and that they do not want to take those risks.

For us to understand examples of that, it is important that they are brought to our attention. We are open to having those conversations and to looking for examples with local authorities and others of where that may be a risk so that we are aware of it and are able to work with those who might be affected and can help them navigate the process as necessary.