 Cymru, ydych chi'n gweld i'n gweld i'n gwyllfa'r amser yn yr ysgol miwr cysylltiadau, y ni oedd yn gweld i'r cwmau, filoedd ac yn gyda'u caelchraffol. Mae yna unrhyw gwestiwnus cyflym yn swyddfaith y portfoliol, ac mae'n portfoliol yw agliannol a'r ynchawb yn gweithio cyflym a'r mynd i'n gael y cwestiynau. Dydw i'n gweithio, maen nhw, i will, ddych i'n cwestiwn. Hany addy, os yn siarad yn yr ysgol y dyfnod o esgol, The relevant question. Question number one, Gillian Mawrden. Thank you, Presiding Officer. To ask the Scottish Government how it's improving women's access to justice. Minister, I'll ask her again. Improving women's access to justice is a key Scottish Government priority across all aspects of the justice system, including ensuring criminal law can be used to deal with perpetrators of violence against women, such as with the new domestic abuse offence, empowering women to access justice through consideration of enhanced targeted support for legal aid, assessing how the recommendations in Lady Dorian's report could transform the experience of sexual offence victims, and delivering necessary funding to allow the justice system to respond to the challenges of the pandemic with a specific focus on gender-based offences. Gillian Mawrden. Minister, for that answer, we know that the impact of court delays due to the pandemic is impacting disproportionately on women and girls, and that a significant amount of the solemn backlog is sexual offences and domestic abuse. Resolution to these cases is obviously particularly important, and I consequently hope that it's a priority area for funding so that these women can get justice. I'd like to reassure the ministers on what has been done to clear the backlog. Minister. The member raises a very important point. I commend her work in this area. Around 80 to 85 per cent of high court trials relate to sexual offending, so the backlogs in the criminal courts can have a disproportionate effect on access to justice for women. The Scottish Government has invested £50 million of funding to help the Crown Office and the Scottish Courts and Tribunal Service to address the impact of coronavirus on the courts. New court capacity was introduced in September this year with four additional high courts and two additional solemn sheriff courts sitting. That is a significant increase from the pre-pandemic trial court position and a direct response to the concerns about access to justice. Efforts have also been made to prioritise those domestic abuse cases as raised by Gillian Martin. In the first quarter of 2021-22, domestic abuse cases accounted for nearly half of all sheriff summary trials in which evidence was led. I think that that helped to show how efforts have been made to prioritise domestic abuse cases. I have recently dealt with a harrowing case of a woman in my constituency who told me of her distress and dismay that she continued to be abused by phone by her abuser while she was on remand in prison. Recognising that further crimes committed against women victims while their abusers are in prison, which are coercive and abusive in nature, have a traumatic and significant impact on victims, does the minister agree with me that more needs to be done to protect women victims from their abusers specifically when that abuser is already held on remand? I do. I thank the member for raising this with me. I am really sorry to hear about the experience that your constituent has had in this case. The Scottish Government is quite clear that no one should have to experience such abuse and especially where the abuse is perpetrated by someone who is already held in custody. If not done already, the member's constituent may wish to report this incident to the police. If the member wants to give me further information, I would be happy to raise this with the Scottish Prison Service. If a complaint is made to the Scottish Prison Service or Police Scotland, prison rules can be used to put further processes in place in respect of any prisoner involved in misuse of a phone. The Scottish Prison Service could work with Police Scotland to assist in those investigations. If the member wants to bribe me with further information, I will look into that for her. Question 2 has been withdrawn. Question 3, Jamie Greene. To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that the amount of heroin seized by Police Scotland has increased by more than 400 per cent since 2016-17. First of all, I can confirm that the actual figures show that since 2016-17 the amount of heroin seized by Police Scotland has increased by 311 per cent. We are committed to continuing to bring to justice those who supply drugs to some of our most vulnerable individuals and communities. I commend Police Scotland for the work that it is doing to take illegal substances off Scotland streets and to dismantle the groups that are responsible for this. Jamie Greene. Can I thank the Cabinet Secretary for the Helpful Update and add my thanks to the front-line officers who are tackling this? We know that opiates such as heroin account for 89 per cent of drug deaths in Scotland. Drug deaths from heroin and morphine rose from 345 in 2015 to 605 last year. That is a staggering 75 per cent increase. Those drugs have no place on our streets quite simply. If the recently revised guidance to divert those caught with heroin on our streets away from prosecution is likely to push that statistic upwards or downwards in the coming year? It is worth clarifying some of the aspects of the decision that was taken by the independent Lord Advocate, not by the Scottish Government per se, but by the Lord Advocate who has the authority in this area. First of all, the scheme extends to possession offences only. It does not extend to drug supply offences. The Lord Advocate has made clear that robust prosecutorial action continues to be taken against the supply of controlled drugs. It is also worth saying that recorded police warnings are not a finding of guilt but a form of law enforcement, which, if accepted, is recorded on the criminal history system for two years and can be taken into account if the individual comes to the notice of the police. The Lord Advocate's decision adds to the police's options. It does not bind them. Recorded police warnings, I am sure, as the member knows, have been in operation for more than five years and provide police officers with an additional law enforcement option when they encounter someone in possession of drugs or personal use. It should be mentioned as well. The Lord Advocate's decision has been widely welcomed by many working on the front line to support individuals when communities are affected by drugs. In Police Scotland's own head of drug strategy, ACC Gary Richie said it will, and I quote, give officers another tool to support those at risk of becoming vulnerable in our communities. Question number four, Paul MacLennan. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. To ask the Scottish Government what discussions the veteran secretaries had with skills agencies regarding maximising employment opportunities for veterans. Maximising employment opportunities for veterans is a key priority for the Government, and we work closely with Skills Development Scotland and the Scottish Funding Council on what is a very important issue. For example, SDS is a member of the Veterans Employability Strategic Group, and both agencies are working closely with partner organisations including the career transition partnership to enable more veterans to fully understand the many skills that they already have, and that is something that sometimes veterans have a difficulty with. And we are required to develop new skills or gain qualifications to enable a smooth transition into employment. Paul MacLennan. I thank the cabinet secretary for that answer. I recently met Brigadier Andy Mudiman, who is the regional commander of the Royal Marines in Scotland. His role includes looking at how the joint services can help, engage with and connect to local and regional businesses and communities to ensure that any mutual benefit is being capitalised upon. Can the cabinet secretary comment on what actions can be undertaken to support this objective? As I mentioned, I met Brigadier Mudiman a number of times recently, and it is important to say that the armed forces are represented on the Veterans Employability Strategic Group, which I mentioned, and members are currently leading employer-focused work considering how we connect the needs to address inaccurate perceptions of veterans and work with employers to find ways of increasing work placements. Developing our local employability partnerships continues with employability leads considering the skills of veterans and their families to help to address local and regional demands. On previous initiatives such as the one that we undertook some years ago with Prince Charles to get large employers together in one place to make sure that they are aware of the assets which veterans can be if taken on into employment and will continue with that work. To ask the Scottish Government how it is supporting greater adoption of the armed forces covenant by employers to ensure that we maximise the support that Scottish society provides to former military personnel including growing employment opportunities for veterans across the University of Belfast constituency in wider Scotland. We recognise the importance of continuing to increase awareness and the understanding and delivery of the covenant in its principles. As I have outlined, the Veterans Employability Strategic Group is leading a range of employer-focused work and next year we will launch a public awareness campaign targeting employers and businesses to help to increase employment opportunities for veterans. I am grateful to both members for having raised the issue about veterans and just to say that much of the work that we have undertaken in this area for veterans in relation to employment was undertaken in advance of the covenant being established. It has been on for some time and we are building on what I believe will be the basis to take this work forward. To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to protect victims of human trafficking from re-trafficking in Scotland. The Scottish Government funds migrant help, the Trafficking Awareness Raising Alliance and the Scottish Guardianship Service to provide specialised support to adults and unaccompanied children who are potential victims of trafficking. That support is key to mitigating the risks of re-trafficking and includes safe accommodation, legal and financial advice, supporting a return to education and navigating the welfare and immigration system. I thank the minister for that response. I can ask what success there has been in prosecuting human traffickers operating in Scotland. Does the Scottish Government agree with approaches like that of the Charity Medaille Trust and the Victims Voices project that best evidence interviews could improve prosecution rates resulting in justice for victims of this important crime? The Human Trafficking and Exploitation Scotland Act was passed unanimously in 2015 and gives the police and prosecutors greater powers to detect and bring to justice those responsible for trafficking. Obviously decisions in relation to prosecution are for the Crown Office and the Procurator Fiscal Service and are taken in line with the published prosecution code. A number of convictions have been secured under the terms of the 2015 act but we also recognise that human trafficking is a complex crime with control and coercion often exerted by perpetrators over victims in sometimes subtle and often hidden ways and crimes relating to human trafficking may also be prosecuted under other criminal offences. Supporting victim engagement is key in this and it's an element of the enforcement approach that's being taken and Police Scotland have recently secondid a victim navigator from the justice and care charity to their national human trafficking unit to enable early contact with potential victims and support them through the criminal justice process where they wish to do so. Question 6 To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the public inquiry examining the events surrounding the death of Shekhou bio. Cabinet Secretary The public inquiry into the death of Shekhou bio is independent of Scottish ministers and it's for the chair of the inquiry to direct how the inquiry carries out its duties. As a member may be aware the inquiry held its first preliminary hearing on the 18th of November and Lord Bracadale provided an update on matters such as the gathering and disclosure of evidence preliminary legal issues and outlined when evidential hearings will commence. Margaret Ruskell Cabinet Secretary for that update Police officers, lawyers Crown Office and many others will not have to worry about the financial implications of attending this inquiry but despite asking many times Shekhou bio's family have received no response as to whether their costs of attending the inquiry will also be covered. The family remain under serious financial strain as they continue their fight for the truth. The former justice secretary stated that the bio family would be front and centre of the inquiry. Can the current justice secretary confirm that their concerns will be immediately addressed? What I can confirm is that I'm happy to correspond with the member because I understand that their concerns have already been addressed. If I'm wrong on that, I'll certainly let the member know and let the chamber know but I'm pretty sure on some of the issues that he raises around the expenses caused to the family they have taken decisions on this recently that they have been addressed a view of the final position and to correspond with the member and by all means he can come back to me for further information that he wants. Another family fighting for justice are the McLeods whose son Kevin was found dead in Wick Harbour in 1997. The family have expressed concerns about an on-going review being conducted by Merseyside Police. Once this concludes, will the cabinet secretary commit to fully evaluating its contents and meeting the family that he would like to do so? Cabinet secretary, I'm conscious this is not a supplementary directly related to the Shaco Biocase. If there's anything you think you can usefully add it in response. No, it's of course, as you say, not a completely different matter but I would say that any inquiry of the kind and I'm familiar with some of the background to the inquiry. Any inquiry of that type, in this case being conducted by Merseyside Police and it was requested that it should be a police force out with Scotland, I think previously. I undertake to have a look at the output from that inquiry. Question 7, Colin Beattie. To ask the Scottish Government what targeted support it's providing to communities to help to deal with antisocial behaviour. We are committed to ensuring that the police and local authorities continue to have the powers and resources needed to reduce antisocial behaviour in our communities including investing in prevention and early intervention. We fund the Scottish Community Safety Network which has links into all of Scotland's local authorities and community planning partnerships to support community safety partnerships and other agencies such as crime stoppers and Neighbourhood Watch Scotland to achieve positive outcomes for individuals and communities. Colin Beattie. I thank the minister for her response. Can she outline how experiences and perceptions of antisocial behaviour in Scotland have changed over the last decade? Minister. Perceptions of antisocial behaviour have reduced over the last 10 years. The Scottish Crime and Justice Survey reports that fewer adults thought that people behaving in an antisocial manner in public was common in their area. A drop from 46 per cent in 2008-9 to 33 per cent in 2019-20. More adults felt safe walking alone after dark in their local area up from 66 per cent in 2008-9 to 77 per cent by 2019-20. Although we all agree that that is good news, we are not complacent and our support for the Scottish Community Safety Network and partner organisations make it harder for individuals to engage in antisocial behaviour. By working in this partnership way we can continue with this positive trend. A couple of supplementaries. The Scottish Community Safety Network identified mental health issues as being a root cause of antisocial behaviour among young people. Can the minister agree and acknowledge that assertion? If she will ask the health secretary why one in four young people in Scotland are still waiting over the 18-week target for treatment? I agree with the member. I think that that sometimes can be part of the reason for this type of thing that we would see. We will speak to my colleague in health and we will come back to perhaps with a joint reply on how justice and health are working together on this issue. Willie Rennie. It is welcome that the experience of people in antisocial behaviour has reduced in recent years. Those who are affected by it their life is devastated in many cases and I have lots of constituents who are in that circumstance. They are frustrated by the process of having to provide evidence that their neighbours are involved in antisocial behaviour. Is there anything that the minister can look into to try to make that a smoother system so that those people feel less helpless in this circumstance? I agree with the member and I understand completely that antisocial behaviour, in the scheme of things, can seem quite minor for individuals that this can be quite a devastating thing that impacts on their lives and on a daily basis. We want the process for them getting help to address those issues from the authorities to be as simple as possible. I would like the member to contact my office and if he can perhaps provide some examples of the things that he is talking about then I can look into that for him. That concludes questions in this portfolio session. We will take a moment while the front benches change. The next portfolio is finance Economy, again, if a member wishes to request a supplementary question could they press the request-to-speak buttons or include an R in the chat function if they are joining us online during the relevant question. We finished the previous session a little early but that is just as well because we have a lot of demand in this session. I alert the Government team and I call question number one, Jay Minto. Thank you, Presiding Officer. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the Argyll and Bute Rural Growth Deal. Heads of terms for the Argyll and Bute deal were signed on 11 February 2021 and we are now working with Argyll and Bute Council and the UK Government towards agreement of the full deal. The full deal process involves the development and approval of detailed business cases for each project alongside the governance, the finance and the implementation arrangements for the deal overall. Good progress is being made on the full deal in quarter 4 next year. I thank the cabinet secretary for that answer. Can the cabinet secretary provide any further information about how the deal will help to support the transition to a low-carbon economy in Argyll and Bute? It is a very good question. The deal focuses on promoting sustainable and inclusive economic growth in Argyll and Bute and all projects will be required to minimise and mitigate carbon impact. The deal also includes a specific project on Eila and will aid the development of a local energy strategy and systems through a holistic approach considering power, heat and transport alongside the needs of the individual and the business consumers to support a pathway to net zero emissions on the island. Good question number 2. Jackie Dunbar To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the support that is available to small businesses during the Covid-19 pandemic. I agree that Covid has had an incredibly difficult impact on so many of Scotland's small businesses. The member will know that, since the start of the pandemic, businesses have benefited from more than £4.4 billion in Scottish Government support that is more than the consequentials received from the UK Government for those activities, including the extension of 100 per cent non-domestic rates relief for all retail, leisure, aviation and hospitality premises for all of this year, which is the only place in the UK to offer that support. The member will know that, without the ability to borrow, we are not in a position to provide additional funding for business support, but have this week written to the UK Government along with the Welsh First Minister to request a sort of upfront planning process if Omicron starts to be of concern and result in additional restrictions to businesses. Jackie Dunbar Cabinet Secretary for her answer As we learn more about the risk Omicron poses, it's important that the Scottish Government keeps its response under close consideration. Whilst we all hope that further protections will not need to become necessary, businesses in Scotland will understandably have concerns about this possibility. Does the cabinet secretary agree that should any further protections be necessary, that treasury funding should be made available to any part of the UK that requires to activate business support schemes? Cabinet Secretary One of the first things I did on Monday when hearing about the Omicron was to meet with a very large selection of business organisations and businesses to discuss the concerns they might have about the possibility of further protections becoming necessary. We obviously discussed the need for additional financial support and, as I said in my first answer, the First Ministers of Scotland and Wales have both written jointly that if additional funding is to be made available, it needs to come from the UK Government. The cabinet secretary will have exactly the same briefing that I have in front of me from the Federation of Small Businesses and she will know that one of the things that they are asking for is that there are checks made on the eligibility of some of the grants that are made to small businesses. Is that something that the Scottish Government is considering? Cabinet Secretary If I understand the member correctly it is to make sure that the business support is as targeted as possible to those businesses that need it the most. I fully take that on board. Obviously, at the height of the pandemic lockdown we had to make a conscious trade-off between speed in getting funding out and targeting that funding which inevitably is more time consuming. I think that going forward it must be more targeted and it must be based on tighter conditions and eligibility. I hope that it will not be necessary because I sincerely hope that no further restrictions will be necessary. I am very grateful. Will the cabinet secretary join with me to congratulate and raise the importance of this Saturday which is the ninth consecutive small business Saturday which does so much good for our shops and small businesses across East Lothian, south of Scotland and indeed the whole of Scotland and welcome the efforts that have been made for small businesses to welcome back in some cases but to continue to welcome the customers that have walked through their door through these very challenging times. Cabinet secretary. I do not hesitate in joining the member in welcoming and noting the importance of this Saturday. I think that during the pandemic much was made of shopping local and my sincere hope is that as we emerge from the pandemic we continue to remember that message to try and maximise the marketing and the support for businesses to ensure that consumers where possible are choosing to buy locally. And Stephanie Callaghan. Thank you, Presiding Officer. Again about small business Saturday so I will ask in the Scottish Government how it is supporting small business Saturday due to take place this weekend on 4 December and will the Scottish Government endorse this year's key message to every small business for working closely within our communities to help us through this pandemic? Cabinet secretary. I agree with the member that we need to say thank you to our small businesses many of whom are local residents in our communities and who have chosen throughout some of the more challenging times of the pandemic to either keep their doors open or to protect customers by keeping them closed to those front-line workers. In terms of how I will be celebrating my Christmas shopping is nearly always the last hour of the 24th of December but I will intend to be out on the 4th of December perhaps to get in ahead of the crowds, thank you. To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to ensure transparency in Scotland's public finances. Minister Tom Arthur. The Scottish Government supports transparency around the public finances in support of the budget process agreed with the Parliament reflecting our commitment to further improvements within the open Government partnership as well as publishing budget and in-year revision proposals for parliamentary scrutiny. Our tax and social security spending plans are forecast independently by the Scottish Fiscal Commission who also comment on the overall funding position. Our medium-term financial strategy risks in future years and how we intend to manage those alongside the resource spending review framework inviting views on our long-term spending priorities. Stephen Kerr. A lovely neighbour of mine who is a member of the SNP gave me a copy of an SNP propaganda newspaper. She said I wouldn't read it but I did and it contains some well pretty outlandish claims to put it mildly. The Cabinet Secretary herself wrote in that newspaper that Scotland pays its own way and somehow subsidises the rest of the United Kingdom. Given according to her own figures our fiscal deficit would be 23 per cent in the last financial year but we benefit from the broad shoulders of the United Kingdom does she now regret writing such drivel? What steps will she now take to ensure there is honesty and transparency about our public finances? I commend Mr Kerr for keeping such a good company with SNP supporting neighbours and I suggest he spends more time listening to them. The revenues raised in Scotland more written cover are funding for devolved public services that we control in this Parliament and I think that it is a shame that Mr Kerr would take this opportunity to talk down hard work and Scottish taxpayers who contribute for those public services but perhaps that attitude is why Mr Kerr's party has not won an election in Scotland since 1955 and on that number 55 I am sure that it will not have escaped to members' attention but support for independence as of this afternoon is standing at 55 per cent and a supplementary Kenneth Gibson I thank you very much and as I recall the initial question was about transparency so a week before the Scottish budget is published can the minister advise the chamber how financial transparency and indeed scrutiny of Scottish public finances here in the Scottish Parliament compares to Mr Kerr's beloved Westminster Minister I am grateful for the question from Mr Gibson in the interest of time giving what that could be said in response to his answer what I will highlight is that we do have a transparent process in the Scottish Parliament for our budget setting process for our budget revision process for provisional out turn and the publication of our consolidated accounts one of the challenges we do face however is that that is not mirrored in the process at Westminster which means we are often faced with great uncertainty about what consequences we will receive from Westminster which creates significant challenges for us and I'm sure Mr Gibson would agree with me it would be far better if all decisions over public and spending in Scotland were taken in this Parliament as a majority of people in Scotland clearly want question number 4 the Scottish Government what action it has taken to ensure a just transition for the Highlands and Islands Minister Richard Lochhead we are committed to co-designing a series of just transition plans for regions and sectors across the country including for the Highlands and Islands and just transition plan has already begun which will consider how communities length and breadth of Scotland can benefit from the transition to net zero additionally a number of existing commitments will help deliver a just transition to the Highlands and Islands this includes £150 million we are investing in forestry £250 million in peatland restoration and £242.5 million committed towards the regional growth deals all of which will support new and good green jobs in the Highlands and Islands region I thank the minister for the answer with news of the £500 million just transition fund for the north-eastern Murray what consideration has the Scottish Government given to the Scottish Liberal Democrat proposal for a Highlands and Islands just transition commission Minister as I said the plan is to have sectoral and regional just transition plans the whole of Scotland the first one of course is the energy just transition plan which will be part of the endure refresh for our policy in Scotland which of course will include Shetland and the new commission that we are setting up the just transition commission we have appointed Professor Jim Skea as the chair of the new commission and we will appoint the commissioners shortly and of course he was the chair of the previous commission that gave recommendations they will also be looking at how we deliver those plans including on the impact in Shetland and elsewhere and I would recommend actually that Beatrice Wishart perhaps speaks to the chair of the just transition commission Jim Skea about this issue and I will continue to discuss this issue with the member and others from across the country supplementary Jenny Minto thank you a key part of working towards the just transition will mean encouraging growth opportunities in new sectors particularly in green growth sectors that will require new skills can the minister provide an update as to the steps which the Scottish Government is taking to ensure that people across Scotland are equipped with the skills needed for the jobs of the future thanks and Jenny Minto's question goes to the heart of the just transition because we have to make sure that people have the skills and the training available to get good green jobs as we make the transition over the next couple of decades towards the net zero targets that's why we do have a climate emergency skills action plan which was published last year we also had the national transition training fund and we've launched now the green jobs workforce academy and of course we've also said that we will give a skills guarantee carbon intensive sectors to move towards low carbon sectors as well so there's a lot of plans in train and I'm sure they'll make a really big difference in the coming years to make sure we can make that transition in a fair way and make sure people have alternative employment opportunities thank you question number five to ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish in full details of its engagement with GFG alliance in relation to operations at the Lacharbus Malta site Minister ministerial engagements is already published on the Scottish Government website it's part of a broader publication covering overseas travel car journeys, domestic travel and gifts received etc this series is updated on the monthly basis the most recent published information covers the period up to April 21 Jamie Halcro Johnston existing workers at the facility have experienced real uncertainty over the recent years thousands of new jobs were promised as part of the proposals that supported Scottish Government guarantees to GFG alliance but those plans were then amended and so far only a small fraction have been created last month the Financial Times revealed the struggle it had to uncover the full financial exposure of the Scottish Government to GFG's operations legitimate concerns have been raised about the transparency of these deals and even over what the Scottish Government's own expectations now offer jobs at the site so can I ask the minister directly with hundreds of millions of pounds of public exposure remaining in guaranteed payments to the minister's next meet with GFG have plans for the expansion of the workforce being shared with the Scottish Government and how many new jobs that the Scottish Government now expect to be delivered at the site Minister Richard Lochhead Scottish ministers continue to meet the group to discuss the future plans for the site and indeed my colleague Adam McKeith had subsequent meetings since the published statistics in April 21 and of course while GFG's original investment plan was impacted by a number of factors such as the shortfall in the UK automotive output it does have new investment plans totaling £94 million and I would remind the member that it was the Scottish Government's intervention and negotiations with the group that did lead to the jobs being safeguarded in the first place and I hope that he would take the opportunity to welcome that because the Scottish Government did have intense negotiations to safeguard those important jobs and as for transparency being in the public domain for some time the number of steps in relation to parliamentary committees and other publications where all the information which is not commercial sensitive has been of course in the public domain and therefore we have been transparent supplementary Daniel Johnson Thank you Deputy Presiding Officer I think it's safe to say that the Government has been less than forthcoming in its transparency on this so at its heart this deal is a £500 million guarantee given by the Scottish Government underwritten by Scottish taxpayers between Sanjeev Gupta and his father's firm How on earth did that get through Scottish Government due diligence and was it signed off by the Cabinet? Minister Richard Lochhead Of course those due diligence carried out and all meetings were registered properly details published online the sales process and selection of the eventual purchaser was led by the vendor Rio Tinto Alcan with the company's full knowledge and backing the Scottish Government also offers financial support listed bidders Donald Cameron from the Conservative Party welcomed what was happening at the time and he said that he was very much delighted that the future of the smelter in Loch Albert will be secured thanks to the Scottish Government's intervention United Union also welcomed it as a shot in the arm for industry in the highlands and of course Parliament was informed of the value of the guarantee and approved it following proper due diligence which gets to the heart of Daniel Johnson's question and indeed across party finance constitution committee on 22 November 2016 back then unanimously approved what was happening so there has been transparency and the Scottish Government has been up front with Parliament I have taken supplementaries I think that we should not then require people to be shouting from a sedentary position I'll take one more brief supplementary Willie Rennie Is this not part of a pattern? We've got hundreds of millions of pounds of potential exposure the 2,000 jobs that were promised are coming any time soon add that to the catastrophic position of BiFab isn't it the case that this Government has got a shocking track record on industrial intervention Minister Richard Lochhead I think the Scottish Government's track record has been somewhat endorsed by today's opinion polls that shows a 33 point lead over the second place party in Scotland so our track record stands by itself and clearly is popular with the people of Scotland because we're doing everything we can to safeguard jobs in this country and create new jobs at the same time and in terms of the guarantee it's worth just reiterating on the record yet again the net present value of the remaining purchase power agreement revenue stream over the remaining 20 years is £280 million £86 million whilst the GFG value the assets at Fort William £438 million and that shows that what we're doing is secure and in the interests of the public purse Question 6 I'd like to ask the Scottish Government what modelling it has done to assess the potential economic impact of Brexit on Scotland over the next five years Scottish Government modelling estimates the Brexit deal agreed by the UK Government could cut Scotland's GDP by 6.1 per cent by 2030 compared to EU membership the UK Government's deal has removed Scotland from a market worth over £16 billion to Scottish exporters and our companies are now facing additional costs delays and barriers and you need only speak to small businesses in Scotland who are exporting to hear those stories up close Jim Fairlie Thank you for that answer Scotland's food and drink sector has recognised as a huge success story and indeed it was the fastest growing sector in our economy Given the impacts of Brexit and Covid as well as some of the UK policies that are clearly damaging our markets does the cabinet secretary believe we can still achieve ambition 2030? Generating £15 billion in turnover per annum the food and drink industry is, as Jim Fairlie said a major contributor to Scotland's economy with 17,500 registered businesses employing around 122,000 people We do know that Covid-19 and Brexit have had a negative impact on the sector and the sector is now modelling a predicted turnover which has reduced by £3 billion in 2020 We've committed £10 million of funding over 2020 to 2022 towards the food and drink sector's recovery plan which is to follow up to ambition 2030 and the plan contains about 50 actions to help businesses but there is no question as to the basis for of Jim Fairlie's question that Brexit and the challenges to exporters have had an impact Question 7, Donald Cameron To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to help to improve employment opportunities in the Highlands and Islands including for young people Minister Richard Lochhead Our Scottish approach to employability no one left behind adopts a local place-based approach to facilitate easier alignment with existing local services using health, justice advisory services and so on and through no one left behind we are working with partners and local government, the private and third sector to ensure individuals who face the greatest inequalities and risk of long-term unemployment have access to the help and support they need Donald Cameron The job start payment was designed to help young people with the cost of starting a new job but recent figures from four of the relevant six local authorities in the Highlands and Islands that nearly half of applicants were rejected for support What were the reasons for such a significant number of rejections and what action will the Government take to ensure more young people receive this vital support Minister Richard Lochhead I am happy to look into the detail of the circumstances in his local authorities in the Highlands and Islands region and write to the member about that because I have asked my officials for advice on that and it is certainly something we would want to pay close attention to but it is worth saying that the number of claimant counts for young people in Scotland is 4.5 per cent whereas in the Highlands and Islands it is 3.3 per cent so it is just important to keep in perspective the job situation facing young people in different parts of the country nationally at the moment but through the further £70 million we announced for the young persons guarantee in 2021-22 which is also part of an extra £125 million including this year's budget and training funds plus a number of other initiatives we are taking I do hope they do help young people in the Highlands and Islands more and more access employment and of course training opportunities and education opportunities as well supplementary Jackie Dunbar It is vital that fair work is at the heart of our work to build a wellbeing economy Can the minister provide an update as to the steps that the Scottish Government has taken to ensure that new jobs Minister Richard Lochhead I thank Jackie Dunbar for raising the issue and I remind the chamber at the consultation and making Scotland a fair work nation by 2025 closes later this month and people can have their say about these kinds of issues as we go forward but of course fair work is absolutely essential to our wellbeing economy we have made just recently opposition to fire and rehire and support for flexible working criteria and fair work first and in August we launched the national living hours accreditation scheme to increase the number of workers receiving at least the real living wage and a secure contract we have now also mandated payment of the real living wage in our contracts to strengthen our approach by summer 2022 and within the limits of devolution we will introduce a requirement in public sector grant recipients to pay the real living wage and provide appropriate channels for effective workers voices such as trade union recognition so there's a number of measures we've taken just in the last few months to back the whole ambition around transforming Scotland into a fair work nation by 2025 and as the member says that will help create Scotland as a wellbeing nation and question number 8 Joe Fitzpatrick who joins us remotely To ask the Scottish Government what impact the Tay cities region deal is having on Dundee The Tay cities region deal has made good progress since it was signed last December 35 million pounds has already been spent on multiple projects across the region and in Dundee itself we're investing in the airport and 5g trials as well as committing 30 million pounds to local universities to enhance their expertise in cyber security and biomedical science there are long term strategic investments that are producing returns and I could go into more detail or perhaps write to the member with the full list Joe Fitzpatrick I thank the cabinet secretary for her answer one of the projects that she mentioned is the Tay cities biomedical cluster project which the Scottish Government is funding to the tune of 25 million pounds as part of the Tay cities deal it would build on the university of Dundee's world class expertise in life sciences research including drug discovery and medical technologies innovation can the cabinet secretary provide an update on potential job creation and the expected economic benefit to the local economy in Dundee of that particular project cabinet secretary references is a great example of the Tay cities region deal enhancing Dundee's existing reputation in other words backing its strengths for excellence in the life sciences sector and the project is forecast to create over 280 jobs and provide 193 million pound boost to the Scottish economy with the university of Dundee requiring contractors to demonstrate local suppliers spend which is really important the university is also committed to recruiting locally where possible and our 20 million pound investment in the deals regional skills and employability programme will help to ensure that the local workforce have the qualifications and the experience needed to take full advantage of those job opportunities very brief supplementary Morris golden Dundee heritage trust hope to refurbish and extend discovery point to complement the Tay cities deals waterfront development plans given that the trust receives no support from the Scottish government cabinet secretary consider providing some in the upcoming budget cabinet secretary I would of course need to see the full details and see the business case but I'm always happy to engage with any member on the budget and enjoyed engaging this morning with the conservative spokesperson and the Lib Dem spokesperson on the budget this morning thank you thank you cabinet secretary that concludes this item of business there will be a brief pause before we move to the next item thank you