Question reference: S5W-05399
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
- Date lodged: 7 December 2016
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Current status: Answered by Keith Brown on 20 December 2016
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to increase productivity at a regional level.
Answer
Improving productivity and competitiveness across Scotland is an important part of Scotland’s Economic Strategy. The Programme for Government 2016-17 sets out a range of initiatives including investment in transport and digital infrastructure, which will support productivity across Scotland. The Programme for Government can be found online here: http://www.gov.scot/Resource/0050/00505260.pdf
The Scottish Government is working with local authorities through our City Deals which take long-term strategic approaches to improving regional economies. Regional partnership discussions take the same approach to non-city regions. Phase 1 of the Enterprise and Skills Review set out a number of actions intended to strengthen our regional approach to enterprise and skills support, which will further improve the contributions our agencies make to supporting regional productivity. These include the commitment to retain Highlands and Islands Enterprise, and to establish a new vehicle to meet the enterprise and skills needs of the South of Scotland. We will also look to work with COSLA and local government to build on their existing and emerging local economic partnerships.