Seòmar agus comataidhean

If there are no further questions from members, we move to agenda item 4, which is the formal debate on the motion. I remind the committee that only members and the minister may take part in the formal debate.

I invite the minister to speak, if there is anything further that he would like to say, and to move motion S6M-02599.

Motion moved,

That the Economy and Fair Work Committee recommends that the Registers of Scotland (Digital Registration, etc.) Regulations 2022 [draft] be approved.—[Tom Arthur]

I invite the committee to agree that the clerk and I will produce a short factual report on the committee’s decision and arrange to have it published.

Members indicated agreement.

I thank the minister and his officials for joining us today. We now move into private session for the remaining items on the agenda. I apologise—I was being too hasty. We have another Scottish statutory instrument to consider first.

That concludes the public part of the meeting. We now move into private session.

Thank you. We need to make some progress, so I call Michelle Thomson, to be followed by Fiona Hyslop.

Thank you for your time this morning, minister. I should say that the inquiry arose from concerns that we were hearing from the construction and food and drink sectors about certain pressures, particularly before Christmas. There seems to be less media reporting of concerns about shortages, but that might be because other things are occupying the media at the moment. At the very end of the note on the construction supply chain that you sent the committee, you say:

“The general expectation in the marketplace is that the situation will now begin to settle at least in terms of supply”.

I realise that that applies to construction, but are you seeing the same thing across the Scottish economy? I suppose that it relates more to commodities than to people and places, but we are looking for some assurance that, although things might be starting to settle after the pressure that we saw before Christmas, this is still a priority for Government and that, no matter whether we are having to deal with Brexit, the pandemic or any other factor, there is a recognition that we have an opportunity to change the way in which we do business in Scotland. Having to do so might be partly a result of the pressures that we are experiencing, but there might also be an opportunity to look at aspects that members have highlighted such as shorter and more resilient supply chains.

I know that you have expressed as much this morning, but I wonder whether you can give us a commitment that these issues are still important to the Government and that the 10-year economic strategy will reflect and recognise the importance of looking at supply chains in future.

Is the minister happy for Harry Murray to answer the question?

Mr Fisher, would you like to respond? I want to understand why the regulations come into force only if the new primary legislation successfully replaces the emergency acts. Is it expected that the bill will replace them? I am wondering why the Scottish Parliament information centre paper says that that will happen only “if” the bill replaces those pieces of legislation.

Our next item of business is the final evidence session in our inquiry into Scotland’s supply chains. We are looking at the short and medium-term structural challenges facing Scotland’s supply chains and how the challenges and shifts in them are impacting on Scotland’s economy. We are also aware of a number of longer-term challenges that need to be addressed.

We want to consider how to build future resilience and whether there are opportunities to build up domestic supply chains within Scotland. The committee has structured the inquiry around the themes of people, places and product. We are looking to explore those issues with the minister and his team this morning.

I welcome Ivan McKee, the Minister for Business, Trade, Tourism and Enterprise. I also welcome his officials from the Scottish Government: David Barnes is interim deputy director of trade policy; George Burgess is deputy director in food and drink; Lewis Hedge is interim deputy director of fair work and labour market strategy; and Dermot Rhatigan is deputy director in manufacturing and industry.

As always, I ask members and witnesses to keep questions and answers as concise as possible. I invite the minister to make a short opening statement.

I have some questions about people and skills in the labour market, which you referred to at the end of your statement.

When people think about supply chains, they often focus on products and commodities. We found in our earlier evidence sessions that a lot of the gaps that put pressure on businesses are connected to people and skills. Businesses might be able to source products but have issues with the logistics of getting those here.

One issue that we raised with Skills Development Scotland and the Open University was inactivity in the labour market. That might be a consequence of the pandemic, but there are people who are far away from the labour market or who lack the right skills to get into the labour market. Audit Scotland recently published a report that criticised the way in which skills services are delivered. There are real challenges for the Government, for Skills Development Scotland and for Colleges Scotland.

Can you comment on the Audit Scotland report? How will you respond to the issues that it raised in order to address labour shortages and the pressures that we see in the supply chain?