Official Report 196KB pdf
Item 4 is on the business in the Parliament conference. I am sure that all members will have had a chance to peruse quickly the paper that was circulated. I look for clearance or a steer from colleagues on two issues. We are looking at February next year for the conference. The event's theme is business, sustainable growth and climate change. With agreement, we can get on and make arrangements with the Executive through the appropriate minister. Working that out is proving to be an exciting little challenge, but we will get through that in due course, as we saw earlier.
Are we so far down the track with the title that that is that?
No.
The paper says that the theme should closely match the business audience's priorities. As a business owner, I have attended one or two such events, which were pretty good. If we quizzed 100 businesspeople on the main challenges that they face in running their businesses, I question where climate change would figure in that list. I suspect that it would figure in some responses. In the questions that we asked the minister about the economy, climate change figured once or twice, but not heavily. Should climate change be the main theme? Is it more appropriate as a sub-theme for when delegates break into six or seven groups? To have climate change as a subject for one of the seven groups would be appropriate, but I question whether it should be the conference's overarching theme.
That is a fair point. I understand from my predecessor that the theme came from feedback after the previous business in the Parliament conference and from pretty significant discussions with the Confederation of British Industry Scotland and other stakeholder bodies. I assure you that the theme was not suggested by MSPs; business organisations pushed for it.
Meeting closed at 10:20.