Speeches by Stewart.

“Prosper has indicated that IS-8 broadly reflects Scotland’s strengths, but that there are notable gaps in the industrial strategy. Could you outline some of the gaps?”

“Dame Nancy, now that the strategy has been published, how do you intend to monitor the delivery?”

“Dave, has the Scotland Office or the council engaged directly with the STUC about the industrial strategy?”

“Do you think the council understood the nature of that?”

“Would you say that you are feeling reassured?”

“We understand that the council has engaged with Prosper. Could you outline the nature of that discussion?”

“It is great that you are zigging into skills, but there are not enough college places. Would you say that that is going to be a huge problem for us? In my area alone, 560 young people never get into technology courses, and that is just through lack of funding to the colleges. We need to be working on that right now.”

“What about skills? Can you foresee skills being a problem in the future?”

“Why would addressing these gaps be crucial to the overall success of the industrial strategy?”

“How might the Government go about addressing those gaps effectively?”

“7. What steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to support regeneration in Scotland through the Pride in Place programme.”

“Will the Minister give assurances on the timeline of the Pride in Place funding? It is crucial to get projects up and running as soon as possible. While it might be too early for her to wear a Santa hat, can she tell me whether successful local authorities can expect an early Christmas present?”

“While the NHS is on the road to recovery in England thanks to the investment of this Labour Government, there are 61,000 patients in NHS Ayrshire and Arran on a waiting list for treatment, almost 11,000 of them for over one year. Does the Minister agree that after record levels of funding for Scotland in the last Budge…”

“5. What steps his Department is taking to reduce the number of people waiting for NHS treatment.”

“Yes.”

“You will be glad that we are nearly at the end. In October 2024, a vision statement was signed by both the UK and Scottish Governments to work with public bodies. What progress has been made in that? How do we ensure that there is no duplication of existing work with clean energy?”

“What do you think the company could do better than the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero?”

“Do you think that the company is adequately equipped to deliver the objectives outlined and expected by the Energy Secretary?”

“GBE has two wide-ranging core objectives. How do you plan to manage those expectations realistically?”

“So conversations are being had so that we are not duplicating any existing work that is going on with public sector bodies at this moment in time?”