The Official Report is a written record of public meetings of the Parliament and committees.
All Official Reports of meetings in the Debating Chamber of the Scottish Parliament.
All Official Reports of public meetings of committees.
Displaying 597 contributions
Meeting of the Parliament
Meeting date: 5 September 2023
Liz Smith
I will not, if Ross Greer does not mind, because I have a lot to conclude on.
For example, how ridiculous is it that the current funding position in higher education is skewed against that idea? For example, Scotland-domiciled people desperately want to take up university places to study medicine, but they cannot get in because of the intense competition from foreign students who pay extra fees, which makes them a more attractive financial proposition for our struggling—
Meeting of the Parliament
Meeting date: 5 September 2023
Liz Smith
No, it is not rubbish. It is absolutely true. If we listen to Universities Scotland and many of the people who work in universities, we will hear that it is absolutely true. The trouble is that, particularly in relation to medicine, people go elsewhere and never come back to Scotland. We need those people and their skills, because they are highly valued.
I am attracted by what people such as James Withers and Sandy Begbie have said—most especially, about the need for a much more holistic approach to skills and training that is bought into by schools, colleges, universities and businesses, and for a system that values skills across the diversity of the population and which values every institution—wherever and whatever it might be—that delivers that training.
Another aspect of the Withers report is the reflection on the need for a change in the culture that is to deliver public sector reform, which is something that the Finance and Public Administration Committee has been concentrating on for a considerable number of weeks. He is clear that the problem is not the complexity of the change but the lack of clarity and direction regarding Government policy. As a result, too many public sector bodies are working in silos without giving due regard to the bigger picture.
It is my firm belief that establishing a sustainable financial position for Scotland absolutely has to be the top priority—exactly as it is for the Finance and Public Administration Committee of the Parliament. I repeat that the current position is simply not an option, because it fails to deliver when it comes to making best use of our precious resources. It fails to deliver better productivity, the right environment for growth, higher tax revenues or best use of our best resource—our people.
To continue with the current structures in the economy is to fail to address the very serious concerns that have been set out by the Parliament. We desperately need a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship in business and industry, but we also desperately need that in the Government.
Meeting of the Parliament
Meeting date: 29 June 2023
Liz Smith
I, too, welcome what the cabinet secretary has said, but does he agree that this will be deliverable only if there is a broader perspective on economic policy that enhances productivity and economic growth and reduces the tax burden for businesses?
Meeting of the Parliament
Meeting date: 21 June 2023
Liz Smith
To ask the Scottish Government what measures it has put in place to support new entrants into agriculture. (S6O-02396)
Meeting of the Parliament
Meeting date: 21 June 2023
Liz Smith
That is helpful, but the cabinet secretary will be aware that several large corporate entities are buying up large tracts of property for forestry in order to meet climate change targets. That means that substantial areas of land are being taken out of agricultural use at a time when we desperately need food security. That is concerning my constituents in Perthshire, who have raised the matter with me on the basis that it also deters new entrants into agriculture. What will the Scottish Government do to address such concerns?
Meeting of the Parliament
Meeting date: 20 June 2023
Liz Smith
Yes, I can. We made suggestions at the time of the budget about where we would make some savings, and we will continue to do that.
Success is all about Scotland’s two Governments working together. I am not quite sure why there were some murmurings from the SNP when one of my colleagues mentioned that. I think that that is what the public want to see. Particularly in difficult economic times, the last thing that we want is a divergence of opinion between our two national Governments. It is welcome to see what the UK Government is doing, but it is also welcome to see what the Scottish Government is doing. I am getting a bit tired of the constant constitutional bickering in the chamber. The public want to see success. They want to see us working together, and they want to see delivery in that respect.
We should not underestimate the scale of the financial support that is required when it comes to innovation. That is why it is vital that there is a joint approach.
Economic growth is absolutely critical. I do not understand why the Greens are so intent on opposing economic growth in order to do all the things that they talk about when it comes to social wellbeing and so on. We will not have social wellbeing unless we have the fundamental economic growth that underpins that social wellbeing. I simply do not understand the Green position on that, and I do not think that some SNP members understand the Green position on that either.
To conclude, we very much welcome the publication of the much-needed strategy, but if the Government is to have any chance of making a success of it and harnessing all the vital potential that Scotland undoubtedly has, we have to ensure that it is complemented by economic policies that make Scotland an increasingly attractive place in which to live, work and—most important—invest.
16:51Meeting of the Parliament
Meeting date: 20 June 2023
Liz Smith
Yes, I recognise that. The capital aspect of the issue is vital. I hope that the Scottish Government is taking a few lessons this afternoon about what we have to do with capital infrastructure. It is also very important that it listens carefully to what our universities are saying, because, to be quite blunt to Keith Brown and Ivan McKee, it is all very well to talk about the outstanding work that is going on in our universities—that is very clear to those of us who know them—but we have to listen to what Professor Dame Sally Mapstone is saying. When the Scottish Government is clawing back £46 million of promised expenditure in tertiary education, there can be innovation only if there is “well-supported, excellent research”, and she posits the idea that Scottish universities are not there to manage decline—that is a quote from her. Those are strong words from Universities Scotland.
Meeting of the Parliament
Meeting date: 20 June 2023
Liz Smith
Does the minister recognise that what he has just outlined and Scotland’s absolute potential will be enhanced only if there is a body of economic policies behind it that make Scotland a very attractive place to come to work in and manufacture in?