Meeting of the Parliament

Portfolio Questions Deputy First Minister Responsibilities, Economy and Gaelic Alexander Stewart S6O-04378 1. To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to incentivise businesses to seek opportunities for scaling up. Colin Smyth S6O-04379 2. To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the calls in public petition PE1979 for gaps in the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry to be addressed and for an independent whistleblowing officer for education and children's services to be established. Annabelle Ewing S6O-04380 3. To ask the Scottish Government how it is facilitating direct links with markets to promote economic development. Douglas Ross S6O-04381 4. To ask the Scottish Government what discussions the economy secretary has had with ministerial colleagues regarding any economic impact of delaying the full dualling of the A96, in light of the Moray and Inverness chambers of commerce calling for the road to be dualled in full and raising concerns that delays to delivering this are "constraining economic growth" in the area. Sue Webber S6O-04382 5. To ask the Scottish Government what discussions economy ministers have had with ministerial colleagues regarding what steps it is taking to improve regulatory clarity and reduce compliance costs for self-catering accommodation businesses. Ben Macpherson S6O-04383 6. To ask the Scottish Government how it is supporting Edinburgh’s economy. Foysol Choudhury S6O-04384 7. To ask the Scottish Government what resources it has allocated to projects in the Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region Deal, including transport projects. Fulton MacGregor S6O-04385 8. To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to further support Gaelic at a local level, in light of the announcement of North Lanarkshire’s first ever local Mòd, which will take place this September. Finance and Local Government Tim Eagle S6O-04386 1. To ask the Scottish Government how it monitors the ways in which local authorities engage with stakeholders regarding the implementation of the Visitor Levy (Scotland) Act 2024. Jackie Dunbar S6O-04387 2. To ask the Scottish Government how it is supporting Aberdeen City Council to manage the impact of the UK Government's increase to employer national insurance contributions. Michael Marra S6O-04388 3. To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Institute for Fiscal Studies' assessment in its Scottish Budget 2025-26 report that "it is particularly important that the front-loaded increases in investment and public service spending planned are undertaken effectively". Clare Haughey S6O-04389 4. To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the UK Government increasing employer national insurance contributions, how it is supporting local authority finances. Liz Smith S6O-04390 5. To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the reported comment by the Scottish Information Commissioner that Scotland’s non-departmental public bodies, also known as quangos, are costing taxpayers £6.6 billion annually. Alex Cole-Hamilton S6O-04391 6. To ask the Scottish Government, as part of the cross-government co-ordination of infrastructure, what discussions the finance secretary has had with ministerial colleagues regarding what consideration is given to national security in its infrastructure policy. Marie McNair S6O-04392 7. To ask the Scottish Government how it is supporting local authorities, such as West and East Dunbartonshire councils, that have to make PFI and PPP payments. Finlay Carson S6O-04393 8. To ask the Scottish Government how the total funding that it has provided for local government has changed over the last decade in real terms and as a proportion of total spending. followed by Scottish Government Debate: Achieving a Fair Balance in the UK’s Economy Murdo Fraser S6M-16667.3 As an amendment to motion S6M-16667 in the name of Kate Forbes (Achieving a Fair Balance in the UK’s Economy), leave out from "deserve" to end and insert "benefit significantly from an abundance of direct investment initiatives established under the former UK Conservative administration, including £3 billion in Levelling Up funding, City Region and Growth Deals, Green Freeports, the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, and the British Business Bank; recognises that the importance and significance of these investments demonstrate the commitment that was held by the former UK Conservative administration to supporting economic growth in Scotland; acknowledges the full responsibility that is held by the Scottish Government for economic outcomes deriving from its devolved powers, and calls on the UK Labour administration to hold to the critical pledges made by its predecessors to level up Scotland’s economic prosperity." Daniel Johnson S6M-16667.1 As an amendment to motion S6W-16667 in the name of Kate Forbes (Achieving a Fair Balance in the UK’s Economy), leave out from “deserve” to end and insert “must gain greater recognition in order to reach their potential, attract investment and deliver growth and opportunity across Scotland; welcomes the UK Government’s commitment to investing in Scotland since July 2024, which includes £200 million to secure the future of Grangemouth, £125 million for Great British Energy, based in Aberdeen, £5 million to support the Scotch Whisky industry, £1.4 billion in important local growth projects of which there is at least £200 million to revive specific Scottish towns, support for Glasgow City Region and North East Scotland Investment Zones and a commitment that Glasgow will be one of the four initial regions to benefit from strategic partnerships with the new National Wealth Fund; notes that these measures have been announced within months of a Labour administration, and, by contrast, the Scottish National Party administration took 16 years to convene an investor panel to make recommendations on how Scotland can attract international capital investment; understands that the investor panel for mobilising international capital to help finance the transition to net zero highlighted significant issues, including that the ‘prevailing perception is that the Scottish Government and wider public sector is not supportive of business’ and that ‘the current investment pipeline is too diffuse. A pipeline needs to be formed of projects that are properly costed, shaped and prioritised. It needs to be a real pipeline, not a wish list’; further understands that addressing these concerns will be key to unlocking the potential of Scotland to attract investment, and calls for the Scottish Government to use all levers available to it, and to work constructively with the UK Government, to achieve the shared ambition of delivering growth and prosperity across Scotland.” Kate Forbes S6M-16667 That the Parliament recognises that Scotland’s many high-growth sectors, which are driven by world class innovation, deserve greater recognition from, and promotion by, the UK Government, which must not unfairly focus investment in the south-east of England, or the so-called golden triangle of Oxford, Cambridge and London, or treat Scotland as an afterthought, especially when announcing or developing policy. followed by Decision Time followed by Members' Business — S6M-16524 Colin Beattie: Three Years of Solidarity with Ukraine That the Parliament renews its solidarity with the people of Ukraine, three years on from what it understands was Russia’s illegal full-scale invasion on 24 February 2022; praises the bravery and resilience of the Ukrainian people as, it believes, they continue to resolutely defend their sovereign nation from Russian aggression; condemns absolutely the reported war crimes that have been committed in Ukraine by the regime of Vladimir Putin; notes the support for the European Parliament resolution of 23 January 2025, which called on the Russian Federation to immediately terminate all military activities and withdraw from Ukraine; welcomes the news that European neighbours, including the Baltic states, have made what it sees as significant progress in detaching themselves from dependence on Russian energy; reinforces Scotland’s place among the democratic nations of Europe in their support for Ukraine against what it considers is Russian authoritarianism; notes that a reported over 28,000 displaced people have arrived in the UK from Ukraine with a sponsor in Scotland, and that over 21,000 of them came through the Scottish Government's Super Sponsor Scheme; praises the hard work and compassion of communities, including in Midlothian North and Musselburgh, as they welcome displaced Ukrainian people to settle in Scotland; considers that these Ukrainian people have made a rich contribution to Scotland's communities; notes the support for a warm Scottish future for displaced Ukrainian people, including through continued investment by the Scottish Government and local authorities in longer-term resettlement for displaced Ukrainians; further notes the call on the UK Government to provide security and clarity through further extensions to the Homes for Ukraine schemes, as well as provide the fair and proportionate allocation of "thank you" payments to hosts in Scotland, and celebrates what it believes has been Scotland’s long history of solidarity with displaced people, refugees and asylum seekers from around the world.