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Official Report: search what was said in Parliament

The Official Report is a written record of public meetings of the Parliament and committees.  

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Dates of parliamentary sessions
  1. Session 1: 12 May 1999 to 31 March 2003
  2. Session 2: 7 May 2003 to 2 April 2007
  3. Session 3: 9 May 2007 to 22 March 2011
  4. Session 4: 11 May 2011 to 23 March 2016
  5. Session 5: 12 May 2016 to 5 May 2021
  6. Current session: 12 May 2021 to 22 November 2024
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Displaying 559 contributions

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Economy and Fair Work Committee [Draft]

Programme for Government (Priorities)

Meeting date: 9 October 2024

Brian Whittle

I will leave it there.

Economy and Fair Work Committee [Draft]

Programme for Government (Priorities)

Meeting date: 9 October 2024

Brian Whittle

I am interested in the issue of population. The last time that I looked at it, the average working age in Scotland was 41, but the average age of people who were coming to Scotland from south of the border was 55. This relates to Murdo Fraser’s point: we do not want our graduates to leave to go south of the border, which always used to be classed as a brain drain. I am trying to understand who is coming into Scotland. How much has the Government drilled down into the population figures to find out what the economic impact of that age disparity is?

Economy and Fair Work Committee

Fair Work Convention

Meeting date: 2 October 2024

Brian Whittle

I will quickly ask about the underutilisation of skills. I wonder whether that is more about retraining. We have a shifting economy in Scotland. For example, we have some highly skilled people in the north-east and we are transitioning to a different economy. Is the issue of support in that area contributing to the underutilisation of skills?

I have an associated point. Professor Findlay, you talked about a living wage for apprentices. We have fewer apprentices than we require at the moment, which has a cost implication. From everything that I have seen, a lot of companies would like to take on more apprentices but cannot afford to do so. Where does the Government come in in ensuring that there are enough apprenticeship places at the right wage structure?

Economy and Fair Work Committee

Fair Work Convention

Meeting date: 2 October 2024

Brian Whittle

I will be quick. Every business that I have ever been involved in and just about every business that I have ever spoken to recognises that the greatest resource is the people who work in the business. If we introduce a real living wage, which I think everybody agrees with, there are consequent knock-on effects with salaries above that to maintain that gap. There are businesses that would love to pay the living wage but that have really small margins and the wage bill is their greatest bill, so introducing the real living wage would cause problems.

I am thinking of hospitality, which Murdo Fraser talked about. Many hospitality offerings now have periods of two or three months of the year when they close, which in turn drives zero-hours contracts, for example. I am also thinking about nursing homes, a lot of which closed when the living wage was introduced without compensatory pay from the public sector.

I suppose that it is about Government intervention. It is not just about the desire to pay the living wage. How do we make it affordable to pay the living wage? What Government intervention should we have?

Economy and Fair Work Committee

Fair Work Convention

Meeting date: 2 October 2024

Brian Whittle

Good morning. I will spin back to the discussion about the level of the disability unemployment gap. We heard that the figure is difficult to quantify because we recognise disability in different ways. Some of the figures are skewed because we recognise disability among more people who are already in employment than we recognised previously. Professor Findlay, you said that the benchmark, if you like, is Denmark, where they have a drive and training opportunities to develop the disability community. However they are recognised, are disabilities uniform across all countries?

Economy and Fair Work Committee

Pre-budget Scrutiny 2025-26

Meeting date: 25 September 2024

Brian Whittle

I will tie off some of the questions that my colleague Lorna Slater asked. Michael Robertson talked about financial planning and the one-year planning system that we have at the moment. The Scottish Government’s medium-term financial strategy assumes no financial transactions beyond 2024-25, but some of the funding in financial transactions generally extends beyond a year. How does that uncertainty impact investment decisions?

09:30  

Economy and Fair Work Committee

Pre-budget Scrutiny 2025-26

Meeting date: 25 September 2024

Brian Whittle

Mr Denholm, you indicated that you see SNIB’s investments sitting at between £2 million and £10 million—that sort of scale—and that Scottish Enterprise perhaps sets the stage before that. The market is becoming more cluttered—GB energy will be entering it, apparently. Have the agencies managed to collaborate? Is there a demarcation between them? How do we make the most effective use of the money that is available, especially public money?

Economy and Fair Work Committee

Pre-budget Scrutiny 2025-26

Meeting date: 25 September 2024

Brian Whittle

Mr Denholm, you look as though you have more to say.

Economy and Fair Work Committee

Pre-budget Scrutiny 2025-26

Meeting date: 25 September 2024

Brian Whittle

There no capital gains after three years—is that the way that it works?

Economy and Fair Work Committee

Pre-budget Scrutiny 2025-26

Meeting date: 25 September 2024

Brian Whittle

Can I finish with a really quick question, convener?