Chamber
Meeting of the Parliament 19 September 2013
19 Sep 2013 · S4 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
Scottish Economy
Month-by-month factors clearly affect the employment rate, which is why the Office for National Statistics suggests that it is valuable to compare annual statistics, and that is precisely what I did a moment ago. Over the year, youth unemployment was down 12,000, employment in Scotland increased by 45,000, unemployment fell by 19,000, and inactivity fell by 20,000. Last month, the particular factor was the extent to which people left economic inactivity and joined the labour market, which I think is a result of improving confidence and people’s sense that they might now have a better chance of securing employment. As a consequence, people have entered the labour market, but not all of them have found the positive destinations that they are looking for. Government support is available to enable people to acquire skills and undertake such activity.
We also support the stimulation of the economy through the major capital investment programme that I set out last week. The programme identifies that more than £8 billion will be invested in Scotland’s infrastructure over the next two years, which will support more than 50,000 full-time equivalent jobs across the economy.
We also support the stimulation of the economy through the major capital investment programme that I set out last week. The programme identifies that more than £8 billion will be invested in Scotland’s infrastructure over the next two years, which will support more than 50,000 full-time equivalent jobs across the economy.
In the same item of business
The Presiding Officer (Tricia Marwick)
NPA
Good afternoon. The first item of business is a debate on motion S4M-07734, in the name of John Swinney, on Scotland’s economy.
The Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Employment and Sustainable Growth (John Swinney)
SNP
It is now five years since Lehman Brothers collapsed and the United Kingdom, along with much of Europe, tipped into recession. No one should underestimate ju...
Willie Rennie (Mid Scotland and Fife) (LD)
LD
I am glad to see that the cabinet secretary made it back from Culloden. The cabinet secretary has made a lot of play of the difference between the economic s...
John Swinney
SNP
The outcomes are not the same. As I just said to Parliament, Scotland’s GDP grew by 1.2 per cent in the four quarters to quarter 1 in 2013, while UK growth w...
Margo MacDonald (Lothian) (Ind)
Ind
I ask the minister—urge him, even—to let Mr Rennie explain why not.
John Swinney
SNP
Mr Rennie has made his contribution and I am sure that we will hear from him later.Willie Rennie rose—
John Swinney
SNP
Let us have another intervention from him now.
Willie Rennie
LD
How does Mr Swinney explain last month’s rise in unemployment? How does that tie in with his improvement in Scotland?
John Swinney
SNP
Month-by-month factors clearly affect the employment rate, which is why the Office for National Statistics suggests that it is valuable to compare annual sta...
Margo MacDonald
Ind
Will the minister give way?
John Swinney
SNP
I will give way one more time.
Margo MacDonald
Ind
Does Mr Swinney expect that, after the election, the incoming Westminster Government will cut a bit more?
John Swinney
SNP
We have heard that suggestion from the Office for Budget Responsibility and the UK Government, which gave clear indications during the spending round at the ...
Gavin Brown (Lothian) (Con)
Con
Given the figures that the cabinet secretary has and those that he has published, does he think that we will be in a stronger position over the next five years?
John Swinney
SNP
The debate around that point was reflected in the various scenarios in this morning’s report from the Institute for Fiscal Studies. The analysis that the IFS...
Ken Macintosh (Eastwood) (Lab)
Lab
Is control of interest rates one of the levers that Mr Swinney is talking about?
John Swinney
SNP
As Mr Macintosh well knows, no country that Scotland would compare itself to as a developed western European economy has interest rates that are under politi...
The Presiding Officer
NPA
I now call Iain Gray to speak to and move amendment S4M-07734.1. Mr Gray, you have 10 minutes.14:45
Iain Gray (East Lothian) (Lab)
Lab
Thank you, Presiding Officer.What could be more timely than a debate on the economy? After all, a recent opinion poll told us that the majority of Scots thin...
Patrick Harvie (Glasgow) (Green)
Green
Given that glowing list of attributes that we enjoy in the current climate, what on earth has been going wrong all these years—even before the recession—with...
Iain Gray
Lab
Mr Harvie’s question is really a question about political will. Interruption.
The Presiding Officer
NPA
Order.
Iain Gray
Lab
If Mr Harvie looks at the poverty statistics, he will see that the gap reduced between 1997 and 2007 but has now stopped reducing. It is political will that ...
Margo MacDonald
Ind
I take everything that the member said about Slovakia and the Czech Republic, but has he checked on the position now?
Iain Gray
Lab
I certainly checked on the facts that I have just given. Those are the things that happened when those countries separated.Even renewable energy—the SNP’s pa...
The Presiding Officer
NPA
Order.
Iain Gray
Lab
I even believe in our capacity to listen to other people’s ideas. I believe that we are good enough and smart enough and should be determined enough to seize...
The Minister for Energy, Enterprise and Tourism (Fergus Ewing)
SNP
Will the member take an intervention?
Iain Gray
Lab
I am sorry; I think that I have taken enough.We have the best of both worlds, and our obligation is to make the most of it. That is what the Scottish people ...
Fergus Ewing
SNP
Will the member give way?