Chamber
Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid) 02 December 2020
02 Dec 2020 · S5 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
Business Support
I will, in a moment.
With regard to further education colleges, I have had no contact from them, with one exception. I do not know what they are doing. Without further education being involved in the scheme, we cannot offer young people the guarantee of skills and training that the minister announced. There is no joining up.
I will take an intervention from the cabinet secretary.
In the same item of business
The Presiding Officer (Ken Macintosh)
NPA
The next item of business is a debate on motion S5M-23536, in the name of Richard Leonard, on business support. 16:41
Richard Leonard (Central Scotland) (Lab)
Lab
We are regularly told by the First Minister that the best way to support jobs and businesses is to control the coronavirus, and that there is a direct correl...
Gillian Martin (Aberdeenshire East) (SNP)
SNP
If it were up to Richard Leonard and he was in charge of Scotland, where would he get additional funding from?
Richard Leonard
Lab
I will come to that in a minute. If Gillian Martin were to read out the motion, we would hear that there are £2.2 billion-worth of unallocated resources from...
The Cabinet Secretary for Finance (Kate Forbes)
SNP
Like many others around the chamber, I speak to businesses every day about the devastating impact of the public health crisis on their trade, operations and ...
Richard Leonard
Lab
SPICe.
Kate Forbes
SNP
I do not think that Richard Leonard understands what budget revisions are. Above and beyond business support, through the strategic framework, we want to gi...
The Presiding Officer
NPA
I remind members that we have only four minutes for speeches. 16:53
Maurice Golden (West Scotland) (Con)
Con
We all want to get to bed early tonight, so we should keep to time. The level of the UK Government intervention in response to the pandemic has been without...
Kate Forbes
SNP
Conservative members sit on the Finance and Constitution Committee, which scrutinises budget revisions; those have been made twice and will be made again in ...
Maurice Golden
Con
The Fraser of Allander institute has been clear that over £1 billion is unallocated. The Scottish Parliament information centre has said that £2.2 billion is...
Patrick Harvie (Glasgow) (Green)
Green
I welcome the opportunity to debate this issue. The Labour motion acknowledges the critical role of small businesses, not only to our economy but to our comm...
Willie Rennie (North East Fife) (LD)
LD
I have worked closely with Kate Forbes on financial support for individuals and businesses, and I have to say that she is good at listening and responding. I...
Kate Forbes
SNP
The discretionary funding is available to all local authorities, not just those in level 4.
Willie Rennie
LD
That is excellent news. I am glad that that has changed as a result of my speech this afternoon—I will take all the credit for it. I hope that the taxi firms...
Pauline McNeill (Glasgow) (Lab)
Lab
If people think that they understand the scale of the jobs crisis, they need to multiply it significantly. We are witnessing the beginning of a jobs collapse...
Fiona Hyslop
SNP
Will the member take an intervention on that point?
Pauline McNeill
Lab
I will, in a moment. With regard to further education colleges, I have had no contact from them, with one exception. I do not know what they are doing. With...
The Presiding Officer
NPA
Ms McNeill has only four minutes.
Fiona Hyslop
SNP
Yes—and the debate is on business support. I say to the member that there is a website—Interruption. It was launched in the chamber on 5 November, and every ...
Pauline McNeill
Lab
I did not mean to shout over the cabinet secretary, but that was my point: a website is not good enough. In my city of Glasgow, we are worried that there is ...
Stuart McMillan (Greenock and Inverclyde) (SNP)
SNP
The debate is very important, and it has provided the Scottish Government with an opportunity to highlight some of the support packages that it has introduce...
Jamie Halcro Johnston (Highlands and Islands) (Con)
Con
We have heard from around the chamber about some of the challenges that small businesses face. I welcome the opportunity to reflect on those challenges, part...
Gillian Martin (Aberdeenshire East) (SNP)
SNP
This is a time of year when we would normally be talking about small businesses in our respective constituencies and urging people to buy local, support our ...
Daniel Johnson (Edinburgh Southern) (Lab)
Lab
I listened to the cabinet secretary’s opening comments with an increasing sense of despair. In essence, she said that the assistance that was in place was in...
Kate Forbes
SNP
I will make two points. First, as I said in my speech, we will continue to make every penny that we have available to retailers and others who need it most. ...
Daniel Johnson
Lab
Quite simply, SPICe and the Fraser of Allander institute say that that is not correct. The Scottish Government has not spent every penny that is available to...
Rachael Hamilton (Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire) (Con)
Con
I refer members to my entry in the register of members’ interests. I thank the Labour Party for securing the debate, given the unprecedented circumstances o...
Rachael Hamilton
Con
I will not take an intervention. Kate Forbes can deal with that point in her closing speech. On the hospitality sector, senior figures from the licensed tra...
Joan McAlpine (South Scotland) (SNP)
SNP
The Covid-19 pandemic has brought profound challenges to businesses and communities around the world. Small businesses contribute enormously to our economy a...