MICHAEL Gove and the director of BBC Scotland will both be quizzed by MSPs at the Scottish Parliament on Thursday.
In a packed day for Holyrood, Constitution Secretary Angus Robertson and Scotland’s top civil servant John-Paul Marks will also face MSPs.
Stephen Boyle, the auditor general for Scotland, is also due to speak to a Holyrood committee, while Humza Yousaf will appear at First Minister’s Questions.
BBC Scotland director Steve Carson will be quizzed by the Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee alongside Alan Dickson, the BBC’s chief financial officer, and Louise Thornton, BBC Scotland’s head of commissioning.
The focus of the questioning will be the BBC’s annual report.
Robertson will appear afterwards in front of the same committee to face questions on the Scottish Government’s 2024-2025 Budget.
The Public Audit Committee is due to meet on Thursday morning and will first question permanent secretary Marks before hearing from the auditor general.
At 10.30am, Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove is to be quizzed by MSPs on the UK Government’s plans to replace EU structural funds in Scotland.
Pre-Brexit, the EU funds were worth a total of around £1.5 billion a year.
However, the replacement Shared Prosperity Fund, which was launched in April 2022, was only worth £400 million that year.
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Speaking ahead of Gove’s appearance, SNP MSP John Mason said: “The last 13 years of Tory rule have seen Scottish households endure austerity, Brexit and a Westminster cost of living crisis – none of which Scotland voted for.
“It is abundantly clear that Westminster holds nothing but contempt for Scottish democracy and isn’t working for Scotland, with ‘levelling up’ being nothing more than a power-grab on our national parliament.
“This meaningless slogan – under which Scotland’s funding amounts to a fraction of what we received as a member of the EU – will ring hollow in the ears of Scots, who deserve far better. “Only by voting SNP – the main challenger in all Tory-held seats – can we make Scotland Tory-free.”
The UK Government’s levelling up fund has been called a “power grab” because it is allocated directly by the Tories in London to Scottish local authorities.
In the past, EU funding was passed to Holyrood where decisions on where it should be spent were taken.
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