Taking Scotland Forward – Scotland’s Economy, Short Term Resilience and Long Term Opportunities
Submitted by:
Keith Brown,
Clackmannanshire and Dunblane, Scottish National Party.
Date lodged:
Wednesday, 25 May 2016
Motion reference: S5M-00212
Current status:Taken in the Chamber on Tuesday, 31 May 2016
Motions as amended
S5M-00212 Keith Brown: Taking Scotland Forward – Scotland’s Economy, Short Term Resilience and Long Term Opportunities – That the Parliament recognises the importance of a strong economy to underpin strong public services; recognises recent successes, such as Scotland securing more foreign development investment projects in 2015 than any other part of the UK outside London, but also acknowledges key challenges, including those facing the oil and gas industry and the renewables sector; that the unemployment rate is 6.2% compared to the UK rate of 5.1%, the widest gap since 2004, and the fact that 19% of Scottish businesses cannot get the skills that they need; believes that such challenges and the slipping Scottish economy necessitate urgent new action to improve productivity through innovation, investment, internationalisation and tackling inequality, and further believes that this must include investment in education to give businesses the skills that they need and make Scottish education the best again, a step change in mental health services to help people get back to work and ensure a fit and healthy workforce, broadband and modern mobile phone coverage everywhere in Scotland, improved transport infrastructure, a competitive business tax system and the decentralisation of power so that communities have greater opportunities to secure economic progress in their area."
Supported by:
Fergus Ewing, Jamie Hepburn, Paul Wheelhouse
Vote
Result93 for, 25 against, 0 abstained, 10 did not voteVote Passed
That the Parliament recognises the importance of a strong economy to underpin strong public services; recognises recent successes, such as Scotland securing more foreign development investment projects in 2015 than any other part of the UK outside London, but also acknowledges key challenges, including those facing the oil and gas industry and the renewables sector; supports a focus on improving productivity through innovation, investment, internationalisation and tackling inequality, and commits to take action in support of Scotland’s economy, including extending broadband, investing in infrastructure and building the skills and talents of Scotland's people.