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Tricky to be sure, but at the bottom of the first pic the ply looks damp and the paint lifting.
The way it’s been installed doesn’t give a lot of confidence that all is well behind that ply.
I fear I’d be pulling off the ply. That way you can check there’s no water damage or ongoing leaks and then redo it all properly like TW’s and bluehuw’s.
It’s not a totally horrific job. You should get the ply off easily with a pry bar, cutting and fixing new board is a pretty straightforward DIY job if you’ve got a saw and a ruler and YouTube, then just a pro to skim it. Anything else is likely to end up a bit of a bodge on a bodge.
But if you can’t face that, yes - a multi tool. Cut it back further to allow for some beading to cover the inevitable wonky edge of the cut.
This was exactly the way it went in my head. Intent was to take as little off the beam as I can get away with. Would multi-tool be the best way to get at it? Starting to wonder if it’s worth pulling them out and then rebuilding them flush with plasterboard - much bigger job though!