The Official Report is a written record of public meetings of the Parliament and committees.
All Official Reports of meetings in the Debating Chamber of the Scottish Parliament.
All Official Reports of public meetings of committees.
Displaying 1357 contributions
Economy and Fair Work Committee
Meeting date: 6 October 2021
Michelle Thomson
For my last question—I am aware that I need to leave time for other members to get in—I would like to bring in David Ovens. It is about risk appetite generally. Do you perceive that sustainable businesses are treated differently from a risk perspective, given that they are often new, innovative and smaller? What is your perception of risk appetite across the finance sector?
Economy and Fair Work Committee
Meeting date: 6 October 2021
Michelle Thomson
In that respect, I was surprised to see that the Bank of Scotland, or Lloyds Group, had not participated in bankers for net zero, given that that initiative will be presented at COP26. What was the thinking on that? I note that Handelsbanken and Triodos are in it, as is Barclays, which is one of the very large banks. What was the rationale for your not participating?
Economy and Fair Work Committee
Meeting date: 6 October 2021
Michelle Thomson
I want to quickly bring in Simon Crichton on the question that I asked about how, specifically, his bank has changed its measures to ensure that net zero is on or near the top, alongside profit, given the paradox that I described earlier.
Economy and Fair Work Committee
Meeting date: 6 October 2021
Michelle Thomson
I think in that case, it falls to me to engender a little cynicism in the discussion.
We could probably all agree that true sustainability is underpinned by a golden ethical thread, if you like. I suspect that all of you on the panel, as exemplars, will privately be aware of companies that are, frankly, taking advantage of consumer demand for the changes that we all want—the so-called greenwashing. I would appreciate some examples from your SME level—obviously do not name any businesses—of what you would consider to be greenwashing.
Economy and Fair Work Committee
Meeting date: 6 October 2021
Michelle Thomson
It strikes me that government—I am talking about all government across the piece—might choose to engage with larger more established businesses, because that is often where its channels are. However, a lot of the change in the sector is coming from businesses such as yours, which experience very rapid growth and are more fleet of foot. Does that cause a disconnect, in general terms?
Economy and Fair Work Committee
Meeting date: 6 October 2021
Michelle Thomson
Let us have the last words from Michael Cusack and Paul O’Keeffe, who has not had a chance to comment on this topic.
Economy and Fair Work Committee
Meeting date: 6 October 2021
Michelle Thomson
Are you reporting against those measures annually or every three years? Is that just set as an ambition?
Finance and Public Administration Committee
Meeting date: 5 October 2021
Michelle Thomson
The point that I am trying to make is that, given the on-going dispute about no detriment, if the Scottish Government were to discover more crime—even if it were able to, which it is not, in many areas—it would not get the benefit of increased proceeds-of-crime funding, because it would all be offset in the overall budget. Is my understanding correct?
Finance and Public Administration Committee
Meeting date: 5 October 2021
Michelle Thomson
I will pick up on what Ross Greer said about tax avoidance. The issue is not only tax avoidance; it also involves unintended consequences. We know that there are issues around mini umbrella companies, which we have seen in relation to the pandemic. We also know that there are huge issues with Scottish limited partnerships being used for money laundering. My understanding is that none of those reside under anything that would enable the Scottish Government to do anything about them, even though, clearly, from an international perspective, our international brand as a place to do business is affected if people can freely use very loose arrangements such as Scottish limited partnerships.
Can you confirm that my understanding is correct? Can you also say whether there might be other vehicles, even in the form of soft powers, that could be used in relation to things such as Scottish limited partnerships? The Law Society of Scotland has a view on that.
I appreciate that this is straying into justice areas, so you might wish to decline to answer the question. However, it would be useful if you could give us a sense of your thinking.
Finance and Public Administration Committee
Meeting date: 5 October 2021
Michelle Thomson
My last question is about the difference between accountability and responsibility. The Scottish Government is accountable for many of the outcomes in the national performance framework, which is very outcome-driven. Our discussion today has been about the areas where the Scottish Government has responsibility, or those where it has no responsibility, despite having accountability for a range of areas.
There is also the reverse situation in which the UK Government is accountable for many areas but is not subject to scrutiny by the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliament.
If you were to have a choice about the areas in which responsibility was aligned with accountability, which top three areas would you pick, given the considerable short and long-term economic challenges that we have explored today? Which three things would you like to place on record?