Meeting of the Parliament 04 June 2019
That was a nice try from Neil Findlay, but this is a debate about the economy and the future of this country. We can have another debate about the matter that he raised, any time that he wishes. I would be delighted to have that debate. I would also be delighted to debate the performance of the Labour Opposition on Brexit over the past three years, which has been woeful.
We need to focus on the big challenges that Scotland faces. I believe that the answers lie in participation in our economy, which helps the economy to grow while providing opportunities for individuals to succeed. That is why we are strongly in favour of early intervention, particularly through nursery education and in the context of the pupil premium—or pupil equity fund, as we call it in Scotland—which give young people the foundation that they require if they are to grow their skills and get work in future. Participation is the answer to questions about the sustainability of our economy and opportunities for everyone.
I have to say that the start of this debate involved a fruitless trading of statistics on performance. There are marginal differences on growth, productivity and employment, and it is pointless to argue about them as though they were significant. We need to recognise that our economy faces a massive hurdle—indeed, there is a massive cosh over it, because of the threats of Brexit and independence.
Both threats are as bad as each other, and both governing parties are as bad as each other if they think that the differences that they highlighted are significant. We need to recognise that the constitutional upheaval that has been imposed on our country over the past 10 years has had a significant impact on our economy and that we need to make it stop if we are to give people the opportunity to achieve more.
Skills and workforce shortages are at the heart of our problems in this country, too. Today I met pharmacists—there is a big shortage of pharmacists. Yesterday, I heard about the massive shortage of general practitioners in our country. There is a massive shortage of nurses. Processing businesses are struggling to get the workforce that they need. Farms and the hospitality sector are also struggling. There is a shortage of engineers.
There are massive shortages of skills and workers, throughout the country. That is partly to do with fears about freedom of movement and our cutting off opportunities to attract people from other parts of the globe, including Europe. However, some of the problems are born here. We heard this morning about the colleges that are having real problems with their finances. That has gone on for years. We know that, year after year, the SNP Government cut a massive number of college places, and the effects are still being felt. The apprenticeship levy is not working either. Businesses tell me that because of the levy, they are cutting their training budgets rather than increasing them. If that is the effect that the levy is having on training in our businesses, it is not working.
My final point, which I hope the minister addresses in his conclusion, is that the last time that we debated this, Jamie Hepburn said that there would be immediate action to clamp down on regional selective assistance grants going to businesses. I have not yet seen any evidence that any action has been taken. There was a debate about whether it was a pilot. I would be interested to get an update on that.
Finally, 99 per cent of businesses in Scotland have not signed up to Jamie Hepburn’s business pledge. Have more of them signed up since the previous debate?
16:11