Meeting of the Parliament

Meeting date: Thursday, April 27, 2023

Official Report 1029KB pdf

Decision Time

We come to decision time. The first question is, that amendment S6M-08713.2, in the name of Jamie Halcro Johnston, which seeks to amend motion S6M-08713, in the name of Richard Lochhead, on opportunities for the space sector in Scotland, be agreed to.

Amendment agreed to.

The next question is, that amendment S6M-08713.1, in the name of Daniel Johnson, which seeks to amend motion S6M-08713, in the name of Richard Lochhead, on opportunities for the space sector in Scotland, be agreed to.

Amendment agreed to.

The final question is, that motion S6M-08713, in the name of Richard Lochhead, on opportunities for the space sector in Scotland, as amended, be agreed to.

Motion, as amended, agreed to,

That the Parliament welcomes the continued growth of the Scottish space sector; recognises that the sector accounts for 18% of all jobs in the UK space industry; notes that the sector has been identified as a key economic opportunity through the National Strategy for Economic Transformation and that, in October 2021, industry, academia and government set out their collective ambition for Scotland to become a leading European space nation through the Scottish Space Strategy; welcomes the major investment by Mangata Networks in building its new hub in Scotland, which will support up to 575 highly-skilled jobs; recognises the strengths of the space sector in Scotland and the role of space data in tackling climate change; acknowledges the importance of strict environmental and safety regulations to this industry, given its wider impact; understands the significant opportunities for Scotland in becoming the home of space launches in Europe through the development of spaceports for civilian, science and technology programmes; welcomes the UK Government's commitment to support the space sector in the UK, including the recent £6.5 million of funding from the UK Space Agency, which benefitted UK-wide projects such as providing £373,000 for Space Scotland to strengthen the Scottish space ecosystem; further understands that ensuring that employers in the space sector have access to the skills and expertise they need in the workforce is essential to long-term success in the sector, and recognises that this will require improving delivery of STEM subjects in schools and revitalising skills delivery so that it is flexible, aligned to industry, and capable of reskilling and upskilling; emphasises the requirement for physical space for advanced manufacturing to be set up affordably and in proximity to supply chains to deliver effective clustering effects for the space sector; acknowledges the importance of cooperation and pooling, such as at the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland, to enable the development of advanced manufacturing in the space industry, and highlights the importance of a supportive regulatory regime and of the Scottish Government engaging collaboratively to ensure that this is delivered.

That concludes decision time.