No. Liz Smith’s question fails to understand how the scheme operates, which is through the Scottish Government paying out funds at its own risk then claiming reimbursement from the European Commission. The idea that the Scottish Government is sitting on lots of money, which it will return, completely fails to understand how the scheme operates. Even when the scheme was suspended, the Scottish Government still paid money to partners, so there was no point at which partners have not been able to claim the money from the Scottish Government, which then claims reimbursement.

Liz Smith sits on the Finance and Public Administration Committee, so she will understand how outturn data works. There is no outturn data. When it is published, it will be provided to the Finance and Public Administration Committee very shortly after it is provided to the Scottish Government.

There has been no conclusion to the scheme. It will continue, and we will endeavour to spend as much of it as possible. Sixty per cent of the allocations are being made to local government. The rest is allocated largely to non-departmental public bodies such as NatureScot and Skills Development Scotland. There are close relationships in that. We will continue to provide that money to partners at our own risk then claim reimbursement from the European Commission, which is the way that those schemes have operated for years.