Seòmar agus comataidhean

Is the prevalence of co-ops in the Highlands and Islands related to any work that Highlands and Islands Enterprise is doing, or have other factors contributed to that?

I do not want to put you on the spot, because you might not have spoken to all your members across the country, but to follow up on that point, did any of your members notice any difference in approach between Scottish Enterprise and the Highlands and Islands Enterprise or South of Scotland Enterprise agencies when it comes to support for small businesses?

I want to discuss business support, which was touched on earlier. I suspect that all the witnesses might have views on that, so I invite them to answer in the order in which their names appear on the agenda, kicking off with Barry McCulloch.

What are your thoughts on how the economic development agencies—Scottish Enterprise, Highlands and Islands Enterprise and South of Scotland Enterprise—have performed over the past 12 months? I know that much of their work has been around administering grant support, but apart from that, has their response met the needs of businesses and workers, and has that response told us anything about the changes that we might need to make to the ways in which our agencies function?

I nominate Claire Baker.

Claire Baker was chosen as convener.

I declare that I am a member of the GMB and Unite the union, although those are voluntary declarations. I am also a member of the Co-operative Party as a Scottish Labour and Co-operative Party MSP.