Meeting of the Parliament

Time for Reflection John Loughton BEM, CEO of Dare2Lead and Founder of Scran Academy followed by Topical Questions followed by Ministerial Statement: Greenhouse Gas Emissions Statistics 2020 followed by Scottish Government Debate: Scotland’s National Parks That the Parliament recognises the key role that national parks are playing in tackling the twin biodiversity and climate crises, and the important cultural, social and economic benefits that they bring to Scotland; welcomes the announcement by the Scottish Government that at least one new national park will be designated during the current parliamentary session; understands the need for an open and transparent evaluation process to identify the areas to be progressed to national park designation, and welcomes the start of stakeholder engagement to set the criteria for identifying the areas to be designated as new national parks. followed by Decision Time followed by Members' Business — S6M-04013 Sue Webber: Economic Value of Medical Charity Research in Scotland That the Parliament notes the publication of two reports by the Fraser of Allander Institute and British Heart Foundation Scotland about the role of medical research charities in Scotland’s medical research environment; welcomes the findings regarding the economic impact of medical research charity funding in Scotland, which, it understands, supported 7,475 jobs, £470 million in output and £320 million in Gross Value Added (GVA) in 2019; understands that funding from medical research charities is amongst the most effective of all sectors, reportedly supporting £1.33 million in GVA and 31 jobs for every £1 million invested; notes what it sees as the significant impact COVID-19 had on the ability of medical research charities to fund research, putting, it understands from the research, 575 jobs, £36 million in output and £25 million in GVA at risk in 2020 alone; understands that the British Heart Foundation currently invests almost £33 million on research in the Lothian region, and notes the call from British Heart Foundation Scotland for continued support for clinical research infrastructure and research careers to ensure the long-term health of the medical research environment and to amplify what it sees as the benefit of investment into medical research to the economy.