Meeting of the Parliament 19 June 2024
Paul Sweeney has put his finger on it when it comes to our ambition for Scottish start-ups. In supporting companies to start up and then scale up, we do not want them to leave. They need a pathway from the moment when they start operating to the moment when they are extremely successful, because we want them to be headquartered in Scotland. That is part of some of the strategies that I have mentioned. I am happy to engage on a cross-party basis to make sure that we get it right.
We want a relentless focus on science and technology, so we have developed plans to recast Scotland’s world-class universities as hotbeds of start-up creation and upscaling through an increased focus on spin-outs and on staff-led and student-led businesses. We are working through our enterprise agencies and the Scottish National Investment Bank with investment of more than £640 million across 34 investments, which has already helped to drive more than £1 billion of third-party co-investment.
Before I come to a conclusion, I want to make it clear that the scale of our ambition cannot be met by Government-backed funds alone. That is why, in line with the recommendations of the First Minister’s investor panel, we have chosen to create a more investment-friendly environment and ecosystem in Scotland by operating at scale, defining clear roles and responsibilities across the public sector, maintaining a professional and systematic approach to investor engagement, and developing a credible and costed pipeline of investment opportunities. The detail of that has already been set out in the terms of the £500 million of investment in offshore renewables, which will leverage private investment in ports and in manufacturing and assembly work.
That work is to go hand-in-hand with our vision for fair work, with the number of accredited real living wage employers increasing from 14 in 2014 to more than 3,700 in 2024, and some 67,000 workers in Scotland having had a pay rise as a result of their employers securing accreditation. Just under 90 per cent of employees who are aged 18 and over in Scotland are now paid at least the real living wage, which is a higher level than in Wales, England and Northern Ireland. Our median gender pay gap for full-time employees has been lower than that in the UK as a whole since 2003. Although there is work to do, our disability employment gap continues to fall, as well.
As I come to a close, I note that our vision is clear, we understand the choices that need to be made and we are absolutely determined to deliver economic growth that transforms lives, transforms communities and transforms this nation. I offer people across the chamber who share that vision and ambition the opportunity to be part of that and to work with me. I hope that we can deliver that shared objective for Scotland’s people.
I move,
That the Parliament recognises that Scotland’s abundant natural resources and hugely talented people mean that there is opportunity to build a strong, successful and inclusive economy that realises the new opportunities from the transition to net zero and the digital revolution; acknowledges that Scotland’s economic potential can be realised through actions to support entrepreneurs, promote science and technology and ensure that the track record of innovation is translated into new businesses and improvements in productivity in all sectors of the economy, and agrees that doing so will build Scotland’s global reputation as a great place to do business, grow exports and secure international and domestic investment.
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