Seòmar agus comataidhean

Good morning, gentlemen. Mr Paterson talked in his opening statement about a joined-up effort—joined-up thinking is needed about how to manage the strategy. You have touched on collaboration. The effective engagement that you have done is evident in the strategy, and what you have achieved in the past is to be commended.

The strategy requires local authorities to be key partners in the process, because they can provide flexibility and focus and are involved in economic benefits that can happen in a location. However, the strategy does not go into the detail of how HES will improve collaboration with local authorities. Why is that detail not included?

You have identified that there is a skills shortage. However, we have a wealth of talent among volunteers at, for example, men’s sheds, where they bring together individuals who have skills from having worked in a wide range of sectors in the past, which they can pass on to others who come and join them. Have you tapped into the third and voluntary sectors to see what skills they can add to the existing base and hand over to others? Those individuals might have stopped being in the working environment that they were in earlier in their lives, but they still have a skills base that they can hand on to the next generation, which could support many of your organisations.

You have all talked about the ambitions of the strategy, and it is clear that there are ambitions in each of your sectors. However, those ambitions will be realised only if we have the appropriate actions, framework and delivery. In your written submissions, you identify that we have a skills shortage, that there are funding support issues and that investment is required. It all comes down to the plans that each of your organisations has for future investment based on the financial support that is provided over the medium to long term. Squaring that circle is the only way to achieve the ambitions.

You all want to survive and thrive, but it appears that you are at a crossroads. For many of your organisations, the next step could be a challenge. We know that there are already challenges, but the challenges could be bigger, depending on where you take your organisations and where you want them to be. For me, the issue is about financial support and investment in the medium to long term, and what you need to ensure that you can survive and thrive based on the strategy that has been set.

Cabinet secretary, you have talked about the approach that the Government is taking, about competence, about the effects and about some aspects of scrutiny. Those are all valid in the process. How has the Scottish Parliament’s EU law tracker supported the Government’s approach to alignment? Has the Government reflected on that? You have mentioned some sectors and business organisations this morning—how have they managed to co-operate under that process?

One specific area that has been discussed in the past is a Europe that is fit for the digital age. Scotland has ambitions of ensuring that it has the cultural, social and economic benefits of the digital society. Your ambition is to ensure alignment across the sector and across the area. What confidence can we have about assuring personal data and about the law behind that? My basic understanding is that there are still some complexities in achieving that and that it may be difficult to align some of it, depending on the barriers and areas of difficulty that may be approached or received.

You have given us a very honest and stark view of the industry that you all represent and are trying to maintain and sustain. I suspect that, without some of the interventions that you are asking for, the industry or many organisations will be at a tipping point with regard to what might happen next. We have already touched on what might be required to get some financial support. We have touched on the issue of the 90 out of 180-day rule with regard to visas. That would give you some hope, if such areas could be managed and maintained.

What other opportunities do you see, if any, with regard to challenging the situation and where you want the sector to go? The sector is in a dire situation and needs help to progress.

Each of you has talents in your own sector. Are you doing anything collectively to try to make progress or to challenge? We have opportunities here to tackle the Government. Is anyone within your own sectors coming forward with potential solutions? We have heard about some of those this morning, which is really encouraging, but are there others? What are other parts of the world doing in similar situations? Are they doing something that we could support or copy, or does everything have to come from the Government side and from the funding mechanisms that we control here? Is that the only opportunity that we have?

Does anyone else want to add to that?

Are there still some tensions in the Basque situation of the sort that Canada has moved on from? It would be useful to get a view from the gentleman from there.

Good morning, gentlemen. I want to ask you both about the effectiveness of the external engagement between Governments. Professor Paquin, you have mentioned that there is a Westminster-type environment in Canada, as a result of which you have to co-operate and work together to pursue your international engagement policies as individuals in your communities. How do you manage to be effective on both sides? What are you trying to achieve in your areas—that is, in Quebec and the Basque Country? Does the national Government work with you or are there tensions and difficulties in trying to achieve what you want? Do you believe that the system is working well for both of you, or not?

Cabinet secretary, I, like others, recognise the volatility of the situation in which we currently find ourselves and the humanitarian crisis that is unfolding day by day. I pay tribute to the United Nations and to the aid agencies that are trying to unravel that and provide as much support as they can.

The UK Government announced an increase in aid to help, and that has been confirmed. It would be useful to find out what the Scottish and UK Governments are doing to try to increase aid in order to provide support during the humanitarian crisis that is unfolding in the region.