Committee
Economy and Fair Work Committee 04 February 2026 [Draft]
04 Feb 2026 · S6 · Economy and Fair Work Committee
Item of business
Subordinate Legislation
Public Procurement (India Trade Agreement) (Miscellaneous Amendment) (Scotland) Regulations 2026 [Draft]
I believe in free trade, of course, but I want to be sure that we are not disadvantaging our domestic businesses, which are already under a lot of pressure, as we all know. This is a UK-wide measure, but is there a risk that one part of the UK or one part of the public sector complies and other parts of the UK do not comply? I think that you know what I am talking about. Will the implementation be even?
In the same item of business
09:30
The Convener
Lab
Item 2 is consideration of the draft Public Procurement (India Trade Agreement) (Miscellaneous Amendment) (Scotland) Regulations 2026—I am glad that I manage...
The Minister for Public Finance (Ivan McKee)
SNP
Good morning. As members know, the United Kingdom Government signed a free trade agreement with India on 24 July 2025. As is often the case, that agreement i...
The Convener
Lab
Thank you. I have indications that three members would like to ask questions.
Gordon MacDonald (Edinburgh Pentlands) (SNP)
SNP
Good morning. I have a question about safeguards for Scottish industry. Since 2008, many financial services jobs have been offshored to India. There is a lar...
Ivan McKee
SNP
As with any trade deal, we need to look at this one in the round. The data shows that Scotland exports more to India than it imports from it, and analysis sh...
The Convener
Lab
I invite Lorna Slater to ask questions.
Lorna Slater (Lothian) (Green)
Green
Thank you, convener. I had said that I have two questions, but I actually have three. First, in your opening remarks, minister, you said that suppliers in In...
Ivan McKee
SNP
That is part of our consideration, but it is a legal requirement for us to put the measure into law as a consequence of the UK free trade agreement. You are ...
Lorna Slater
Green
On a similar theme, the committee has discussed the outsourcing of our carbon footprint. In Scotland, we more or less keep alignment with the European Union ...
Ivan McKee
SNP
First, this is a UK Government free trade agreement so, unfortunately, we were not in the room when the negotiations took place. I am not familiar with all t...
Lorna Slater
Green
I would appreciate it if you could write to us to let us know what protections there are.Finally, are there any issues in the trade agreement that would be p...
Ivan McKee
SNP
The EU has just negotiated an FTA with India, too. For example, with tariffs on spirits, the Scotch Whisky Association sees reductions in tariffs as a conseq...
Stephen Kerr (Central Scotland) (Con)
Con
I will pick up on a point that Lorna Slater introduced. Public sector contracts are notoriously margin tight for businesses that win them. What assessment ha...
Ivan McKee
SNP
I do not think that we have anything specific on that yet, because we do not know what bids we might expect for which products or services and in which secto...
Stephen Kerr
Con
So, at present, there has been no assessment of what the impact of the deal would be on businesses that are competing for those contracts.
Ivan McKee
SNP
As I said, it is a UK FTA. It is not a deal that we have negotiated, so we found out what is in it only at the end of the process.I am not aware of any such ...
Stephen Kerr
Con
The risk—Lorna Slater rightly identified it when we spent some time talking about how we retain wealth in our communities, and I think that you are acknowled...
Ivan McKee
SNP
It depends very much on the sector and what the offer is.
Stephen Kerr
Con
In my experience, most public sector contracts are pretty tightly priced. That might be seen as a good thing from a taxpayer value point of view, but it is d...
Ivan McKee
SNP
It depends very much on the sector and what the product is. If Indian businesses were bidding for construction contracts in the Scottish public sector, it is...
Stephen Kerr
Con
There are the social value dimensions.
Ivan McKee
SNP
Yes.
Stephen Kerr
Con
We have raised that point particularly in relation to the situation with electric buses, which is highly topical.You mentioned a few minutes ago that we will...
Ivan McKee
SNP
I can certainly give feedback on the analysis that we take forward. As I said, the UK Government has done analysis as part of the negotiations. I will check ...
Stephen Kerr
Con
I believe in free trade, of course, but I want to be sure that we are not disadvantaging our domestic businesses, which are already under a lot of pressure, ...
Ivan McKee
SNP
Yes. England and Wales are also implementing this, because it is a requirement of the FTA.
Stephen Kerr
Con
England, Wales and Northern Ireland will all be the same—is that correct?
Ivan McKee
SNP
I do not know about Northern Ireland, to be honest.
Emma Lopinska (Scottish Government)
It is UK-wide.