Chamber
Meeting of the Parliament 18 March 2026 [Draft]
18 Mar 2026 · S6 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
Portfolio Question Time
Alexander Dennis Ltd (Support)
I remind members of my voluntary register of trade union interests.
Can I pay tribute to Kate Forbes, who, in my view, has been a breath of fresh air as an active and interventionist cabinet secretary for the economy.
Yesterday, another vehicle manufacturer in central Scotland, Volvo Construction Equipment, announced plans to close its factory near Holytown. Will the Deputy First Minister respect the fact that there will now be a statutory redundancy consultation with trade unions to consider options for averting closure and avoiding redundancies altogether, and, in that spirit, will the Government urgently meet the GMB and the company to consider how these 120 highly skilled jobs can be saved?
In the same item of business
4. Stephen Kerr (Central Scotland) (Con)
Con
To ask the Scottish Government what further support provisions will be available to Alexander Dennis following the expiration of the current £4 million suppo...
The Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Gaelic (Kate Forbes)
SNP
We continue to work closely with Alexander Dennis Ltd following our award of a time-limited company furlough scheme that is designed to retain jobs in the fi...
Stephen Kerr
Con
I thank the Deputy First Minister for the important update that she has just given. The order paper for today’s questions says that I have a registered inter...
Kate Forbes
SNP
It is important for me to say at the outset—because I have a declaration of interest to make—that my primary responsibility when answering these questions is...
Richard Leonard (Central Scotland) (Lab)
Lab
I remind members of my voluntary register of trade union interests.Can I pay tribute to Kate Forbes, who, in my view, has been a breath of fresh air as an ac...
Kate Forbes
SNP
I am very thankful for Richard Leonard’s kind words; I was almost dreading that there was a “but” coming afterwards, but I am grateful for those comments.Ric...
Paul Sweeney (Glasgow) (Lab)
Lab
I wish the Deputy First Minister well in her future journey. We actually crossed paths as children, apparently—the fact that we stayed in the same street giv...
Kate Forbes
SNP
The member makes a very interesting point, and I thank him, too, for his kind comments. It is an interesting approach, and we have looked carefully at all th...