allocated

“There was no rule saying I had to give those back when I changed business direction. They were allocated for use, and I ensured they continued to be used.”

The Scottish government has put its focus on tackling backlogs in the health service and has allocated more than £100m towards specialities with the longest waits, such as orthopaedics and ophthalmology.

On Friday, they spent the entire four hours allocated for the day discussing a group of 21 amendments on safeguards designed to prevent people being coerced or encouraged into an assisted death.

“There are certainly better ways to have allocated capital recently that would have given you broader exposure, created healthier portfolios and delivered as good, if not better, returns,” he said.

"For this reason, £5m has been allocated through the Elective Care Framework to address this capacity shortfall."