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Official Report: search what was said in Parliament

The Official Report is a written record of public meetings of the Parliament and committees.  

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Dates of parliamentary sessions
  1. Session 1: 12 May 1999 to 31 March 2003
  2. Session 2: 7 May 2003 to 2 April 2007
  3. Session 3: 9 May 2007 to 22 March 2011
  4. Session 4: 11 May 2011 to 23 March 2016
  5. Session 5: 12 May 2016 to 5 May 2021
  6. Current session: 12 May 2021 to 7 May 2025
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Displaying 1046 contributions

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Public Audit Committee

Written Authority: Completion of Vessel 802

Meeting date: 22 June 2023

Neil Gray

Hmm.

Public Audit Committee

Written Authority: Completion of Vessel 802

Meeting date: 22 June 2023

Neil Gray

I have set out why I cannot publish it. There will be a debate about that—and you, convener, will perhaps hold a different view on it than I do—but I am not willing to put the yard at a competitive disadvantage or jeopardise its ability to compete for future orders.

The work that Teneo did went into a substantial amount of detail. It worked with the yard to ensure that all potential permutations on risks to the contract were considered, particularly on 802. It was able to give advice off the back of that. The work involved more than just looking at numbers on a spreadsheet or comparing costs; it examined the processes that are in place at the yard. It is well recognised that Teneo is an international expert in the field, and the advice that it has provided has given me assurance that I was able to take the correct decision in issuing written authority to see the completion of 801 and 802.

Economy and Fair Work Committee

Scottish Government Policy Priorities (Wellbeing Economy, Fair Work and Energy)

Meeting date: 10 May 2023

Neil Gray

I am happy to take the question and perhaps respond in writing, convener.

Economy and Fair Work Committee

Scottish Government Policy Priorities (Wellbeing Economy, Fair Work and Energy)

Meeting date: 10 May 2023

Neil Gray

Clear damage has been done to Scotland’s economy by decisions that have been taken that were outwith our control. Brexit has had a major impact on Scotland’s economy—its impact has been greater than that of the Covid pandemic. The UK Government’s mini budget, which was delivered by Kwasi Kwarteng and Liz Truss, has also had a devastating impact.

The key risks to Scotland’s economy come from areas that are outwith our control. We are doing what we can to mitigate those by providing increased business support and by looking at where we can maximise growth and job opportunities—for example, through the entrepreneurial tech scalers network that I mentioned.

Economy and Fair Work Committee

Scottish Government Policy Priorities (Wellbeing Economy, Fair Work and Energy)

Meeting date: 10 May 2023

Neil Gray

The better Ferguson performs, the more likely it is to return to private ownership. If interested parties come forward to talk to the Government or our agencies, we will take that interest seriously and do what we can to ensure that the yard is returned to private ownership as quickly as possible, as a commercial going concern.

Economy and Fair Work Committee

Scottish Government Policy Priorities (Wellbeing Economy, Fair Work and Energy)

Meeting date: 10 May 2023

Neil Gray

It is very important. We have more than 1,000 GlobalScot members. Earlier this year, Mr Robertson outlined the importance of the GlobalScot network in meeting business, academic and other needs. When I was in Japan, I was able to meet one of our newest recruits to the network, operating across Japan, America and Europe. They give us incredibly strong contacts and advocate for Scotland, so we should utilise them more, not less.

Economy and Fair Work Committee

Scottish Government Policy Priorities (Wellbeing Economy, Fair Work and Energy)

Meeting date: 10 May 2023

Neil Gray

I will bring in Gary Gillespie.

Economy and Fair Work Committee

Scottish Government Policy Priorities (Wellbeing Economy, Fair Work and Energy)

Meeting date: 10 May 2023

Neil Gray

I will bring in Colin Cook at this point. I do not know the current value off the top of my head.

Economy and Fair Work Committee

Scottish Government Policy Priorities (Wellbeing Economy, Fair Work and Energy)

Meeting date: 10 May 2023

Neil Gray

Yes, absolutely. Ms Hyslop and I spoke about some of that yesterday. We discussed the need to ensure that we have a strong domestic supply chain to feed our offshore wind opportunities. We will continue to do what we can to make sure that that is brought forward.

I will bring in the chief economist to supplement that and give more detail.

Economy and Fair Work Committee

Scottish Government Policy Priorities (Wellbeing Economy, Fair Work and Energy)

Meeting date: 10 May 2023

Neil Gray

Thank you very much indeed, convener. I also thank the committee for giving me the opportunity to be here today to share the Government’s priorities in my portfolio area.

The impacts of the cost crisis, the pandemic, Brexit and fiscal instability resulting from United Kingdom Government decisions have brought untold damage to our economy, with persistent high inflation and unprecedented drops in living standards. Coupled with the climate and nature emergency, these crises have exposed fundamental weaknesses in the current economic system, and that backdrop underlines the need to transform our economy into one that is resilient and which prioritises wellbeing—an economy that serves people, not the other way round.

As we transition to a wellbeing economy, we will embed equality, inclusion and human rights in everything that we do. I am committed to the First Minister’s three interlinked missions of growing a fairer and greener economy, seizing the opportunities of net zero and creating better communities.

At the heart of a wellbeing economy will be economic growth for a purpose—that is, to drive improved living standards, promote wellbeing, reduce poverty and deliver sustainable high-quality public services—through harnessing and combining the economic power and opportunity of Scotland’s rich renewable energy resources.

The skills and talents of our people and businesses will be critical to achieving that. We will work closely with the private sector and the public sector, locally, nationally and UK-wide, and we will engage directly with communities and partners in the third sector.

Working with my Cabinet colleagues, we will deliver our national strategy for economic transformation, with a sharp focus on policies and actions that have the greatest potential to grow and change Scotland’s economy, expand the tax base to fund excellent public services and make people’s lives better. That will require a new approach to the Government’s relationship with business, so at the First Minister’s request, I will engage widely with business leaders to develop and agree with the private sector a new deal for how we will work with business to deliver a growing economy that increases wellbeing.

In the First Minister’s prospectus, I have laid out my priorities for what I want to deliver over the next three years, and you will no doubt want to hold me to account on them. Those priorities include: more people being in work; more people earning at least the real living wage and a narrowing of the gender pay gap; more business creation and more businesses growing to scale; increased investment in productive assets; internationally competitive clusters of excellence, including in green technologies, health and life sciences, digital and advanced manufacturing; greater regional and local economic empowerment, including through our programme of community wealth building; more growth in exports; and more high-quality inward investment.

A just transition for our energy sector is, arguably, the biggest opportunity that we have. We have a huge opportunity to establish Scotland as an exporter of green hydrogen to Europe, and analysis shows that, overall, the number of low-carbon jobs in energy production could rise to 77,000 by 2050. The potential can be seen in the ScotWind offshore leasing round, which has already delivered more than £750 million in revenues and will bring billions of pounds of investment into the Scottish supply chain and the wider economy. Indeed, the recent announcement that the Japanese company Sumitomo Electric Industries will be coming to Scotland to build a cable manufacturing plant demonstrates the strength of investors’ confidence in our net zero economy vision.

I look forward to discussing some of those points with the committee in greater detail, and I appreciate the opportunity that you have given me to set out my stall.