Chamber
Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid) 27 October 2020
27 Oct 2020 · S5 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
Inward Investment Plan
I thank the minister for advance sight of his statement. Any move to create jobs in Scotland is to be welcomed, especially given the economic disruption that our country is experiencing. However, although I applaud such efforts, I am sceptical about the promises that have been made.
Today the minister has promised to boost digital skills, yet the digital growth scheme has managed to pay out only 13 per cent of the funds that were promised in relation to it. He has also promised to create 100,000 jobs, but the Scottish National Party Government has managed to deliver only 2,000 of the 28,000 green jobs that Alex Salmond promised. In fact, there could have been 260,000 extra jobs here in Scotland if the SNP had matched the UK Government’s job creation rate since coming into office.
With such a track record of broken promises and economic failure, can the minister provide any assurance that today’s promises will be delivered?
In the same item of business
The Deputy Presiding Officer (Christine Grahame)
SNP
The next item of business is a statement by Ivan McKee on Scotland’s inward investment plan. The minister will take questions at the end of his statement; th...
The Minister for Trade, Investment and Innovation (Ivan McKee)
SNP
Today, the Scottish Government publishes “Shaping Scotland’s Economy: Scotland’s Inward Investment Plan”. I am pleased to outline to Parliament how it will h...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
SNP
We have about 20 minutes for questions. I ask members who wish to put questions to press their request-to-speak buttons now.
Maurice Golden (West Scotland) (Con)
Con
I thank the minister for advance sight of his statement. Any move to create jobs in Scotland is to be welcomed, especially given the economic disruption that...
Ivan McKee
SNP
I simply point to Scotland’s track record. As I said in my statement, Scotland holds the record for being the best-performing part of the UK outside London. ...
Rhoda Grant (Highlands and Islands) (Lab)
Lab
I, too, thank the minister for prior sight of his statement. The plan is full of aspirations that cannot be argued with, but unfortunately the minister did n...
Ivan McKee
SNP
Rhoda Grant will be aware that my colleague the Cabinet Secretary for the Economy, Fair Work and Culture spoke to members on that subject this morning. The c...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
SNP
Eleven members want to ask questions. I want to get to them all, but we must stop at 3.45 so I ask for short questions and succinct answers please.
Kenneth Gibson (Cunninghame North) (SNP)
SNP
I warmly welcome the cabinet secretary’s statement. In response to a question that I asked on 2 September, the First Minister said: “The decommissioning of ...
Ivan McKee
SNP
Kenny Gibson is right to highlight Hunterston, which offers exactly the sort of opportunity that we envisage for the new plan in helping to shape Scotland’s ...
Michelle Ballantyne (South Scotland) (Con)
Con
Although the ambitions set out in the statement are admirable, we are still remarkably short on detail—particularly on how we might make the digital economy ...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
SNP
Please ask a question.
Michelle Ballantyne
Con
What reassurances can the minister give investors that Scotland can grow and retain a workforce that has sufficient skills to build a digital economy?
Ivan McKee
SNP
I spend an awful lot of time talking to investors here and to investors who are looking to come to Scotland. Their admiration for the skills pipeline that we...
Stuart McMillan (Greenock and Inverclyde) (SNP)
SNP
The minister will be aware that the Covid-19 pandemic has had a huge economic impact and that it has affected inward investment. How will the investment plan...
Ivan McKee
SNP
On successful inward investments, last year I visited Diodes Incorporated, where I met with the team that made a significant inward investment in a strong bu...
Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab)
Lab
There is such a thing as collective responsibility, so I am afraid that the minister cannot dodge questions about BiFab, where there was inward investment by...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
SNP
That is not actually a question on the statement.
Ivan McKee
SNP
I am happy to answer the question. Jackie Baillie is absolutely right: of course energy transition is an area where we want to focus on inward investment. To...
Andy Wightman (Lothian) (Green)
Green
An International Monetary Fund study in 2019 found that 38 per cent of foreign direct investment was phantom investment used for tax avoidance. At the same t...
Ivan McKee
SNP
The reality is actually the opposite. I have gone through the numbers. More than 600,000 jobs in Scotland are dependent on inward investment, it is a signifi...
Willie Rennie (North East Fife) (LD)
LD
What has the minister learned from the so-called “Scottish shambles” in 2016 when the Government signed a £10 billion agreement with a Chinese company and al...
Ivan McKee
SNP
On that last point, life sciences are very much a priority sector. If the member had been listening to my statement, he would have heard that health technolo...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
SNP
Five members still want to ask questions, so let us move along.
Emma Harper (South Scotland) (SNP)
SNP
How has Scotland performed on inward investment in the past and what effect will the strategic approach to attracting investment, through measures such as th...
Ivan McKee
SNP
Emma Harper represents another area of Scotland that has particular strengths in the food and drink sector. We want to build on innovation in that sector as ...
Gordon Lindhurst (Lothian) (Con)
Con
The minister’s statement makes no mention at all of free ports, and nor does his plan. Does the minister accept the benefit that the UK Government’s plan for...
Ivan McKee
SNP
The member should be aware, if he has been briefed properly, that engagement with the UK Government on free ports continues. Officials are engaging regularly...
John Mason (Glasgow Shettleston) (SNP)
SNP
The minister mentioned the nine opportunity areas. Can he say how those were chosen, given that some people might be surprised that, for example, space is on...
Ivan McKee
SNP
With pleasure. It was done through a piece of analysis working on three axes. One of the axes was Scotland’s demonstrated comparative advantage in various se...