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Seòmar agus comataidhean

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 1 August 2025
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Displaying 1696 contributions

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Economy and Fair Work Committee

Economic Recovery

Meeting date: 15 September 2021

Claire Baker

There are obviously significant challenges. Can the enterprise agency offer any immediate responses to ease some of those challenges, or are they just too difficult to address in the short term?

Economy and Fair Work Committee

Employment and Skills for Recovery

Meeting date: 8 September 2021

Claire Baker

I invite Alexander Burnett to direct his question to Lisa Pattoni, who is also here from Skills Development Scotland. If Chris comes back, we can direct it at him, as well.

Economy and Fair Work Committee

Employment and Skills for Recovery

Meeting date: 8 September 2021

Claire Baker

I just have time to bring in Maggie Chapman for a question.

Economy and Fair Work Committee

Employment and Skills for Recovery

Meeting date: 8 September 2021

Claire Baker

We will have witnesses from the agencies in front of us next week but, if Nora Senior wants to comment on that, she is welcome to come in.

Economy and Fair Work Committee

Employment and Skills for Recovery

Meeting date: 8 September 2021

Claire Baker

I propose that we move to Jamie Halcro Johnston, if that is okay, as his questions link to the discussion with Mairi Spowage.

Economy and Fair Work Committee

Employment and Skills for Recovery

Meeting date: 8 September 2021

Claire Baker

We are losing the connection to Chris Brodie. I will bring in Nora Senior to comment on that point.

Economy and Fair Work Committee

Employment and Skills for Recovery

Meeting date: 8 September 2021

Claire Baker

Does Nora Senior want to come in? Jamie Halcro Johnston suggested that you might want to comment.

Economy and Fair Work Committee

Employment and Skills for Recovery

Meeting date: 8 September 2021

Claire Baker

I go back to Chris Brodie. I recently had a conversation with the Open University, which said that uptake of their courses had increased—it said that it had been quite encouraged by individuals looking to retrain and reskill. We are talking about a reluctance to invest, or a lack of recognition of the importance of investing, among businesses. I asked whether the infrastructure around this area is enough to support businesses, but is there also a cultural issue in Scotland around devaluing adult and lifelong learning? Have we lost that? From memory, that was a driving force when the Scottish Parliament was first established, but that seems to have slipped over the lifetime of the Parliament.

Economy and Fair Work Committee

Employment and Skills for Recovery

Meeting date: 8 September 2021

Claire Baker

Our second item of business is an evidence session on employment and skills for recovery. I thank all the witnesses for joining us. I welcome Chris Brodie, director of regional skills planning and sector development, and Lisa Pattoni, service development manager, both from Skills Development Scotland; Nora Senior, chair of the Enterprise and Skills Strategic Board; and Mairi Spowage, director of the Fraser of Allander Institute.

Today’s evidence session will enable the committee to consider issues to do with business recovery, with a focus on employment and skills. The evidence will inform the committee’s input to the Scottish Government’s budget for 2022-23.

I will start the questioning. The paper from Skills Development Scotland says that

“job-related training in Scotland has steadily declined over the last 15 years”.

“Scotland’s Future Skills Action Plan” also makes that comment. I ask the witnesses from Skills Development Scotland to talk about the reasons why that has happened and where the responsibility for that decline lies.

Economy and Fair Work Committee

Employment and Skills for Recovery

Meeting date: 8 September 2021

Claire Baker

I am sure that we will come back to that issue next week. I thank the witnesses for their contributions this morning; it has been very valuable to hear their views on the skills and employability agenda.

11:37 Meeting continued in private until 12:24.