Scottish Borders Labour Force
The final item of business is a members' business debate on motion S1M-1500, in the name of Euan Robson, on the Scottish Borders labour force.
Motion debated,
That the Parliament notes the recent studies which have shown that a skills shortage is likely to develop in the labour force in the Scottish Borders in the next few years, creating particular challenges for traditional industries such as textiles and also for the construction industry, and therefore urges all relevant agencies to develop plans for training, retraining and upskilling, which will also assist in attracting high technology inward investors to broaden the base of the Borders' economy and in expanding attractive job opportunities for young people near their home localities.
I am grateful for the privilege of initiating the first members' business debate in Parliament this year. I express my appreciation to the Parliamentary Bureau for allocating this debate on a subject that is especially important to my constituents and to the Scottish Borders.
The difficulties that the Borders economy faced three to four years ago taught us several lessons. The first and most important of those was that we must always work in partnership to address our problems. The culmination of the Borders working party, which was set up in 1998, was the report, which was published in March 1999, entitled "Rebuilding the Borders Economy". That report and the subsequent new ways economic development strategy for the Borders are the foundations of the success that there has undoubtedly been in recovering from the crisis that we faced in 1997-98.
The new ways economic strategy has four interrelated strands: establishing thriving organisations; getting people to their full potential; ensuring a connected place; and creating vibrant communities. The new ways economic strategy is the template for Borders organisations working in partnership to deliver on the new ways objectives. The Scottish Borders Economic Development Forum, which is now well established, is a key driver in delivering the strategy.
Another vital lesson that was learned through the painful experiences of a few years ago was that we should always try to look over the horizon, to see what difficulties or opportunities might develop. We should try to protect ourselves against looming difficulties; hence, much effort has been put into lobbying for a settlement of the banana war and an ending of the threat of the US trade carousel act. We should, equally, look for opportunities, and we have been successful in securing the restoration of regional selective assistance for a large part of the Borders as well as European Union objective 2 status. That status was removed from us as long ago as 1982, as the Presiding Officer will remember, but it is now, thankfully, available again.
I shall concentrate on the new ways strand, or theme, of getting people to their full potential. As the new ways strategy says,
"real success will indeed be driven by the energy and talents of people in the Scottish Borders".
It is worth quoting the new ways strategy document at length.
"Future success depends upon the willingness and ability of people in the Scottish Borders to compete. Skills, know-how and creativity will help promote individual and business success and wellbeing so skills development and learning are critical to helping people reach their full potential. This theme aims to raise people's ambitions and to help them see that learning leads the way to new opportunities and benefits. The partners will work with people to help them to obtain these benefits and will also work with local institutions to help them deliver the learning services material that will meet people's needs. This means that new partnership approaches must be created."
It is especially instructive to consider some of the key findings of the Warwick University institute for employment research's April 2000 update of its original 1997 report on the labour market prospects for the Scottish Borders. The unemployment rate in the Borders is just under 3 per cent—happily lower than the rate in Scotland as a whole, but with certain pockets of higher unemployment. Further, unemployment in the Borders has decreased by only 1.5 per cent over the past four years, a slower decrease than has been the case overall in Scotland. In April 2000, average earnings in the Borders were £326 a week, which is 14 per cent lower than in Scotland as a whole. The Borders region also has an aging population, and it has a higher percentage of jobs in manufacturing and a lower percentage in service industries than do other parts of the country.
It is the population characteristics over the period from 1998 to 2010 that give cause for concern. There will be a reduction in the number of children and an increase in the population of pensionable age. It is predicted that, although there will be an increase in young adults aged between 16 and 24, that will be insufficient to offset the out-migration of young people in the 1980s and 1990s. Key in terms of the economy of the Borders is the fact that there will be a reduction in the population aged between 25 and 44 and an increase in the 45-and-over category—a category to which I am personally sorry to have added.
Scottish Borders Enterprise and the careers service estimate that, between 1998 and 2010, more than 20,000 people will be required to meet the needs of industry in the Scottish Borders. School leaver figures demonstrate that there has been a great success in the attempt to encourage more young people to go into higher and further education, which is obviously a good thing. However, that means that only about 300 a year go directly into employment.
A simple calculation shows that too few young people will be going directly into local employment to meet the need. Of the 1998-99 school leavers, only three took up jobs in the key textiles industry. School leaver destination information for 2000 demonstrates that there is a 3 per cent increase in entry into higher education, a 4 per cent increase in people leaving the area and a 1 per cent decrease in entry into employment. School population projections show that, throughout Scotland, there will be a decline in the school population by 2010. My understanding is that the pattern is similar locally.
The Borders faces a decline in the number of young people entering the labour market, a decline in the number of people aged between 35 and 45 but an increase in the availability of the over-50s. In addition, if we are to expand our economy, we will need to attract inward investment and promote indigenous growth. In so doing, however, we will increase the demand for labour.
Part of the solution will be to offer attractive opportunities for people to relocate, for example, by encouraging native Borderers to return home. That will require considerable investment not only in our transport infrastructure, but in our housing in particular. For example, the availability of executive housing in certain Borders towns is small or negligible. We must address that issue. That raises a number of planning issues that we cannot discuss tonight, but the forthcoming structure plan and the local plans must take into account the need for housing development of a sensitive and environmentally sustainable nature that will meet the demands of the local economy.
It is vital that training, retraining and upskilling opportunities are readily available to young and old people in the Borders. We will encourage more young people to stay if they can see a local career structure that is accessible to them because they have the skills to advance through that structure. There is a growing awareness of such necessities in the Borders organisations.
The recent case of Mainetti Technology demonstrates ways in which to tackle the issue. The company, which is the UK's largest manufacturer of telecommunications ducting systems, yesterday announced a £1.9 billion expansion at its Hawick headquarters on the 12-acre site where the new purpose-built factory was completed in 1998. The investment will allow Mainetti to double output at Hawick. The expansion is phase 2 of a three-stage development of the site that will mean an increase in the work force from the present 100 to 200 when the process is completed. There were options to go elsewhere—overseas in particular—but the keys to success were long-term product development and, critically, staff training. Those factors kept the company there and allowed expansion.
The figures for training at the start of December 2000 were encouraging: there were 238 skillseekers out of a target figure of 250 for the year; there were 530 trainees, which is up from 416 in April; 440 skillseekers were in employment; and the number of apprentices increased during the year. However, we should note that, behind all of those figures, there was an imbalance in the proportion of male participants to female participants.
How can the Scottish Executive help? It is important that ministers understand the position. I am grateful for the opportunity to discuss these issues in front of the Deputy Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning and Gaelic. Across Scotland, there is a lack of local labour market intelligence, which his department could consider. There are other positive actions that he could take, such as ensuring continued funding of the enterprise network. Because local enterprise networks are not on three-year budgeting cycles, it is difficult for them to dovetail with local councils. I hope that, in cases where local enterprise companies are taking a lead nationally, Scottish Enterprise will devolve adequate funding.
I wish to address several training issues, and intend to do so in correspondence to the minister. Those concern in particular the flexibility of training structures. Some lead organisations are inflexible in their requirements, which are sometimes not addressed to local needs.
It is important for Borders colleges to obtain access to rural social inclusion funds. One figure springs to mind: whereas Borders College received £900 to address social inclusion issues last year, certain Glasgow colleges received six-figure sums.
One of the issues requiring attention that I have been unable to cover in detail is that of the housing stock transfer. There will be a massive new investment in the Borders housing stock if the transfer goes ahead, but we need to train the work force in order that that investment may be used in meeting the opportunities ahead.
I could have covered a lot more. I thank the Deputy Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning and Gaelic for attending and listening, and we look forward to welcoming him and Wendy Alexander to the Borders at the end of the month.
The old adage that there are nae jobs in the Borders is soon to be proven untrue, whether for good or less positive reasons. There are challenges ahead. Among them, the training of the work force is particularly important.
I call the convener of the Enterprise and Lifelong Learning Committee, Alex Neil.
I want to concentrate on three points. What is happening in the Borders is happening in other parts of Scotland, but the Borders is a classic case: 20 or 30 years ago, it was a relatively prosperous economy. Since then, it has experienced a substantial decline relative to the rest of Scotland.
First, and ironically, a skills shortage is emerging side by side with a fairly high level of unemployment. It would be naive to suggest that we can simply match the unemployed people to those areas and sectors where there are skills shortages. Life is not as simple as that.
One area in which the minister, Scottish Enterprise and Scottish Enterprise Borders could take some initiatives is that of promoting the concept of a skills ladder, so that incentives are provided to companies and to local colleges to train people in the skills in which there are shortages. At the same time, they would be encouraged to provide assistance for recruiting unemployed people into the workplace. Scottish Enterprise used to run a successful training and employment grant scheme, which was aimed at encouraging the long-term employment and training of unemployed people, in particular long-term unemployed people. The re-creation of a similar scheme in the Borders, perhaps as a pilot, might be a useful exercise and an idea for the minister to take up.
The second issue is depopulation, whose importance we should not underestimate. When the population of an area is lost, that reinforces unemployment, because, as people leave the area, they take with them purchasing power. Less purchasing power in the area means fewer jobs and employment opportunities, which in turn feeds the depopulation. A cycle develops, where depopulation feeds unemployment, which in turn feeds depopulation. We need to recognise the importance of depopulation. Its other major effect is to increase the relative size of the dependent population. That has major implications for social services and other public services in the area.
Thirdly, there is a need to examine the local infrastructure. One of the problems in the Borders, as is also the case in Dumfries and Galloway, is that the labour market is relatively self-contained. One of the reasons for that is that the road and rail links—more relevantly the road links—with the rest of Scotland, notably to the Edinburgh area, require a substantial upgrade. If we had better road and rail links, it would effectively increase the size of the labour market, and would make jobs in Edinburgh and the surrounding area much more accessible to people living in the Borders. There is an overheated economy in Edinburgh side by side with high unemployment and depopulation in the Borders.
Although I recognise that road and rail investment is outwith the remit of the Deputy Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning and Gaelic, I hope that he will raise with his colleague the Minister for Transport the need to improve the road network in the Borders—we have already had a substantial discussion on railways in the Borders. There are initiatives that we can take on skill shortages, to encourage employers to take on unemployed people, and to create the skills ladder concept. We can improve the infrastructure to allow the people of the Borders to share in the general prosperity of the east of Scotland.
We have to congratulate Euan Robson on the selection of his motion for debate this afternoon, which, as he said, is the first of the new year and, to those pedants among us, of the new century and the new millennium. This is the second occasion on which he has managed to have a debate selected only days after it was lodged. There are probably 100 MSPs who would like to know what his secret is and would welcome a tutorial on how to achieve that.
I endorse what Euan Robson said about the new ways strategy and about the general objective of tackling the skills shortage in the Borders. I am aware from visits to the area that even when the textiles industry was shedding labour, there remained critical skills shortages and a genuine concern among some of the most important employers in the region that the education system was not sufficiently geared to encouraging young people to see that there was a job for life in textiles, albeit one that demanded increasing levels of skill, ability, retraining and flexibility. I hope that the minister will ensure that that point is addressed.
I will focus my speech on the point about housing that Euan Robson made at the end of his speech. In the Borders labour market there is a loss of population and an increase in the proportion of the population in older age groups. I do not think that the Borders is unique in having shortages of skilled tradesmen, but it is perhaps unique in having those demographic profiles and in being in such close proximity to the booming Edinburgh construction market.
There are already signs of overheating and of shortages of key, skilled workers in the building trades. I remember that before I became an MSP, a senior officer in a local housing association looked forward a couple of years to housing stock transfer, the whole point of which is to release substantial sums of money into the modernisation and repair of the former local authority housing stock, and expressed concern about where the tradesmen for that would come from, especially given that the Borders would be in competition with the much higher wages that Edinburgh has to offer.
One of the earliest questions that I lodged was to ask the Scottish Executive what it proposed to do in the event of housing stock transfer to ensure that there would be sufficient local training provision to address skill shortages in time. In answer to my question S1W-1201, Wendy Alexander advised me that the Scottish Executive would consult relevant bodies on employment and training opportunities, which I regarded as one of the less expansive or helpful answers that I have received from a variety of ministers.
I have returned to the matter in three supplementary questions since then and have ascertained in the most recent answer that I have received—there is one answer still to come—that consultations on this matter have been informal and that a seminar is being organised to consult people in the building trades on these issues. There may be a lot of work happening in the background about which I do not know, although I have asked four parliamentary questions to try to find out. In the absence of substantive answers, I remain concerned that the Executive has perhaps not thought through the implications of housing stock transfer.
This issue is not specific to the Borders but will arise in every area in which there are housing stock transfers. Will training in the trades be adequately resourced and will there be retraining opportunities? Will there be enough tradesmen or will we find that the new housing stock transfer strategy fails to deliver what we all hope that it will because there is an insufficient number of skilled tradesmen? It is important not only that the Executive examines that issue in general, but that it should do so in the Borders in particular, as we might all reasonably expect that the Scottish Borders Council will be the first authority that will go to ballot and be successful. Then there will quickly be tenants looking for plumbers, slaters, painters, joiners and the whole range of trades. There will be immense frustration and, I suspect, much cynicism about the Executive's strategy and delivery mechanisms if the skills are not available.
I appreciate that the deputy minister is new to this particular brief and that I have raised these issues with Wendy Alexander. I hope that, with the enthusiasm and imagination that he has demonstrated often in the chamber, he will be able to assure us that these matters are in hand or, if not, that they will be soon.
I will touch on a few issues only.
The Borders has an aging population: the problem is to do with keeping in the Borders the young people who live there, rather than forcing them to move away. That problem is linked closely to the infrastructure in the Borders. As Alex Neil and other members have said, the road links are very poor and the Borders has no railway line.
As a matter of interest, I believe that my figures are different from those mentioned by Euan Robson. My information is that only eight school leavers went into the textiles industry last year, while 12 joined the army. Last year, out of 1,200 school leavers, only 300 went into employment, while the rest went into higher education or on to the dole. I got those figures from Scottish Borders Enterprise this morning, and we have great concerns about them.
On the textiles industry, which falls within the minister's remit, £10 million was announced in June last year to regenerate the industry across the UK. However, I have discovered that none of that money has been used yet. We are still having meetings in the Borders, and while a meeting has been set up for 31 January, that is not good enough. We are seven months down the road from that announcement of £10 million, but that money has not been applied to the textiles industry elsewhere, let alone in the Borders, although the industry needs urgent attention.
I also draw the minister's attention to the cashmere situation. Cashmere provides substantial employment in the Scottish Borders, as the minister is aware. Figures that I received indicated that, should anything happen to the cashmere industry, the loss to the Borders economy would be between £116,000 and £133,000 a week, with an indirect loss to the economy of an additional £26.8 million. I bring that information to the minister's attention because, with the change in the presidency of the United States, it is not unreasonable to be concerned about a possible change of policy towards the tariff and the US trade carousel act, to which Euan Robson referred. While those matters were put on the back burner while President Clinton was in operation, we must start to anticipate a change, and I hope that the minister is addressing the situation as a matter of urgency with his Westminster colleagues.
Proper capital investment in the Borders is needed. Unfortunately, there is a bad smell about the conversion into a call centre of Claridge Mills in Selkirk at a cost of £600,000, as the call centre has not appeared. Worse still, £70,000 was spent on training people who then found that they had no job. Anything that is being done on capital expenditure or on training must be real—people cannot be led down a horrible garden path.
I must refer to the railway, which might bring trades to the Scottish Borders. At page 10, under "Direct Impacts", the Scott Wilson report says that
"Local contractors could carry out non-specialised parts of this task . . . boosting the local economy."
The report also says that there would be an impact on housing in the Scottish Borders. People would build on the fringes of the railway line, if they knew that they would have access to transport. Then people in the Scottish Borders could share in Edinburgh's economy.
On page 11, under "Directly Induced Business Impacts", the summary report says that 300 jobs would be created
"due to accelerated inward investment;"
that 135 jobs would be created
"due to expansion of existing firms;"
and that there would be 290 new jobs
"due to creation of more and more successful firms".
I believe that those figures are fairly restrained.
Before I conclude my comments on that report, I stress my concern at the references to tourism in the brief for the feasibility study. I have obtained the papers on tourism for the feasibility study and, to my horror, the submission by the Scottish Borders Tourist Board was dated 1996, predating the report by about two to three years. The submission did not address the southern part of the line, taking as its remit the reinstatement of the line from Edinburgh to Galashiels, yet the board admitted that the majority of tourists who visit the Scottish Borders come from the north of England. I would like the deputy minister and the Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning to address that huge, glaring gap in the Scott Wilson feasibility study.
I thank Euan Robson for securing this debate. It is time that we started saying positive things about the Borders and I am happy to say that lots of good things are happening: the new ways strategy is starting to work; we have achieved assisted area status across a large part of the Borders; we have had a better local government settlement; there is a stronger focus in the management of Scottish Enterprise Borders; and joint working in the economic forum is starting to produce results. Only this morning, I heard Tony Taylor on the radio saying that the textiles industry in Scotland is in better shape fundamentally than it has been for a long time. Of course, we are still under the threat of the cashmere-banana war, but we are working hard at Westminster to lift that threat.
There have been positive developments in Kelso at Plexus Corp (Kelso) Ltd, formerly Keltek Electronics. Moreover, in Hawick, we have Mainetti; in Selkirk, Signum Circuits Ltd; in Gala, Stewart Technology Ltd; and in Peebles, Glenrath (Farms) Ltd. Those are all local companies that are starting to expand. On paper, unemployment is not high; it is quite low. The rail project is also positive news. It is starting to look as if we can build on the proposals.
However, there are deep-seated problems in farming and tourism. If Alasdair Morrison and the Executive can do anything to help—perhaps involving the weakness of the euro—they will be doing many of us a great favour. The euro contributes to the problems in farming and tourism.
The Borders has a low-wage economy. Unemployment is not high, but low wages have an important effect. The transport infrastructure is weak. The social infrastructure is affected by, among other things, the threat to rural post offices. The economy is fragile, but there are signs of recovery. We need to improve our communications and our access to technology—not just down the main arteries, but spreading out like nerves to the real rural communities.
As Euan Robson has said and as everyone else has acknowledged, the demographics are worrying. I will not go into the details in the short time that I have. As I say, we have a fragile economy, but the seeds of recovery are there. At the heart of Euan's argument is the need to offer the people of the Borders opportunities for lifelong learning, starting by encouraging people in school to think about textiles and tourism as potential careers, as has been said, but then going far beyond that. That will enable people to equip themselves for new opportunities and changes in working practices.
Euan Robson and Murray Tosh have forecast skills shortages in the construction industry; I wanted to mention that, too. We know that there is a need for training and an improvement of standards in the tourism industry. We must upskill and provide new opportunities. Nationally, we have to recognise the urgency of offering genuine opportunities for farm diversification.
In all those spheres, we must make it easier for the providers on the ground in the Borders and other places to put in place projects and courses that are accessible, affordable and flexible, in order to meet local needs and demands. Because of the nature of the Borders, that may involve numbers that would not seem viable in areas with a more concentrated population. We must facilitate applications for funding for skills training—funding from Europe and other sources—recognising that there can be real problems with match funding through the local agencies, which have relatively small budgets. We get opportunities, but we cannot always take them because of problems with match funding. I hope that the Executive can consider that kind of problem.
We must make it easier for further education colleges, such as Borders College, to offer courses, but we must not tie them down with unrealistic targets for hugely increased numbers before they can access the funding to provide such courses. We cannot put the cart before the horse. We must try to ensure that agencies such as the Scottish Borders Tourist Board and Scottish Enterprise Borders have stable and forecastable funding structures that allow them to plan ahead and engage in partnership with others. Borders College is having great difficulty because it has to apply to the Scottish Further Education Funding Council before it can commit itself to anything. There are structural problems with getting match funding.
I believe that the economy is turning the corner. It is important that we do not end up as victims of what is a measure of success at the moment. We have got to allow people to take up opportunities. What we need is foresight, planning, funding and a bit of joined-up thinking.
I thank Mr Robson for initiating this debate on the important issue of ensuring that the people of the Scottish Borders have the requisite skills for the new employment opportunities in the area. I appreciate the heartfelt comments from many members. As a Highlander and an islander, I empathise with much of what has been said. Mr Neil spoke about depopulation and others spoke about the demographics, factors that we are trying to grapple with in many Highland communities. As an islander, the only thing that I could not empathise with was the question of rail links. We have, to date, had no need for rail links in the islands.
The local economy of the Borders continues to make a necessary and successful shift from dependence on traditional industries such as textiles and manufacturing to a greater number of high-tech and service-sector jobs. Such diversification is welcome and we must ensure that the skills of the local work force are tailored to the new needs, as many members have said. The Executive is well aware of the challenges that have faced the area in recent years; that is why Scottish Enterprise Borders was allocated an additional £2.3 million in 2000-01 for its local action plan. This is the third year that additional funding has been provided to Scottish Enterprise Borders in recognition of the particular needs of the region.
As Mr Robson said, Wendy Alexander will visit the Borders at the end of next month to see for herself some of the new opportunities for employment in the area. The Executive continues to work closely with the Borders Economic Development Forum, which is taking forward the good work that has already been done in progressing local economic development.
Mr Robson mentioned regional selective assistance and other EU funding. To date, some £2.75 million has been made available to companies in the Borders, creating 691 new jobs and safeguarding a further 93 jobs. The European Commission recently approved in principle the south of Scotland's £46 million objective 2 programme, from which the Borders will benefit greatly. Moreover, the Borders has secured nearly £0.75 million under the objective 3 programme in the past year.
As I expected, a number of members dwelt on the challenges facing the textile industry. The important behind-the-label initiative led by Scottish Enterprise Borders is aimed at modernising local perceptions of the textiles industry. Successful awareness sessions have already been held with local secondary pupils. Christine Grahame raised a number of issues. The "Cashmere made in Scotland" label had a successful launch at London fashion week at the end of last year. As someone who represents a constituency that produces Harris tweed, I am well aware of the challenges and difficulties that could arise over the next few months in relation to the tariff.
Alex Neil and others referred to the importance of improved transport links. As will come as no surprise in this chamber, I confirm that Sarah Boyack is well aware of the challenges. The Scottish Borders recently received an additional £0.5 million for rural transport initiatives and £2 million for the Waverley link project. As part of the £444 million to repair the motorway and trunk road network, schemes in the Borders have secured an estimated £40 million of funding.
I asked about the submission on tourism, which is in the minister's remit. Will he look into that? The paper is from 1996. I do not know whether the Government has looked at it carefully but I would like a minister to consider the quality of that submission, given that it is so outdated and the remit was narrow.
I am not sure whether the Government has examined it; however, the Executive is quite happy to look into the issue. I would be delighted if Mrs Grahame would correspond with me to follow up the issue that she has rightly raised.
The minister cited the figure of £40 million expenditure on roads. Will he confirm whether expenditure on the A1 was included in that total?
I cannot give specific details; as Mr Tosh will appreciate, the matter is outwith my remit. However, I would be happy to provide a written response as soon as possible.
Scottish Enterprise Borders has received in the region of £6 million over the past three years for its local action plan. Mr Robson mentioned the budget cycle for local enterprise companies. However, as he will appreciate, that is an operational matter for which Scottish Enterprise must answer. Perhaps the Enterprise and Lifelong Learning Committee, which is chaired by Mr Neil, will have something to say on that issue in the weeks and months ahead.
Training spending is an important issue. Scottish Enterprise Borders has spent almost £3 million on training programmes in the past year. That is part of a total of £30 million that has been spent on training by Scottish Enterprise Borders since 1991.
Given Scottish Borders Council's decision to transfer its entire housing stock to a newly formed housing association, there is great employment potential in the local construction industry. The local authority has estimated that, given a yes vote, the transfer will result in the creation of 450 construction jobs in the area. That is very welcome. In order to prepare for that, the council is working closely with the House Builders Federation, the Borders learning partnership, Scottish Enterprise Borders, the Construction Industry Training Board and Heriot-Watt University to ensure that supply will meet demand. All local players intend to make it a priority to tailor procurement methods in such a way that demand can be met locally wherever possible. There is huge potential for residents in the Scottish Borders.
Presiding Officer, I have absolutely no idea how much time I have left.
You have about 15 seconds, but I will give you a little leeway, minister.
Given your empathy for the Borders, Presiding Officer, I have no doubt that you will be—
Prejudiced.
Yes.
Euan Robson has allowed us to discuss issues of national relevance, such as how we equip people with the skills that they will need to be employable in the 21st century. The people of the Scottish Borders are responding well to the challenge. The effectiveness of the area's new ways strategy is now evident: diversification is spreading across the economy as the heavy reliance on traditional industries gives way to new and innovative businesses in a variety of fields. Indeed, as Ian Jenkins pointed out, the Borders has much to be proud of, as it creates more new businesses per capita than any other area of Scotland.
Much is going on to address the economic difficulties of the area. However, we must continue to ensure that the Scottish Borders remains a good place in which to live, work and—dare I say—play.
In case anyone reads the Official Report, I should explain that I allowed the minister some injury time because he took several interventions.
On a point of order, Presiding Officer. Could you clarify whether the length of members' business debates has been extended to 45 minutes as standard?
That is correct, Mr Tosh.
The time pressure on speakers was perhaps severe.
If you check the Official Report, Mr Tosh, you will find that it was not severe. I was very generous and allowed almost every speaker more than four minutes. The minister had seven minutes in which to reply and he took about eight or nine minutes. I do not think that anyone has grounds for complaint.
Meeting closed at 17:39.