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Item 4 is a letter that I received from the minister in relation to his proposals for support for the small business sector in Scotland. The minister has made it clear that the issue relates to the committee's inquiry on local economic development and that is why I want to draw the attention of the committee to the letter formally. We should take the letter into account in our future discussions.
I have a question about the creation of a Scottish enterprise fund similar to the English fund that was announced in the Chancellor of the Exchequer's pre-budget statement. How would we feed into that process?
We can ask the clerks to write a letter to the minister, raising specific points. The reply would be circulated and published in the committee's business. We will have an opportunity in our inquiry to discuss our progress with the minister. It may be that we will want to touch on the issue of integrating that initiative with the conclusions of the committee in that discussion.
I read that there is a proposal to establish a small firms consultative group to take the initiative forward. My query—and I wonder whether this could be relayed to the minister—relates to the composition of the group. Will it include members of the business organisations that represent small businesses?
We can convey those points to the minister.
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Local Economic Development