Chamber and committees

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to supporting schools to raise awareness of, and provide the required assistance to, people with hearing and sight difficulties. (S6O-04864)

The most recent census data shows that the number of pupils who are recorded as having a vision impairment has doubled since 2011. At the same time, the number of qualified teachers of children and young people with vision impairment has not increased sufficiently, and additional concerns have been expressed about the ageing profile of the workforce. What action is the Scottish Government taking to address the specialist teacher recruitment and training shortage, to ensure that blind and partially sighted pupils continue to receive the quality education that is necessary to reach positive destinations and to narrow the attainment gap with their fully sighted peers?

The cabinet secretary referenced culture change. The permanent secretary gave evidence to the Finance and Public Administration Committee yesterday, during which he confirmed that nearly 50 per cent of all Scottish Government staff are in a management role. That culture must change as part of public sector reforms. Is the cabinet secretary absolutely assured of the complete support of the permanent secretary, as accountable officer, to make that skewed figure into a much more normal distribution?

In a statement on 11 June, the chief executive officer of Alexander Dennis said:

“The stark reality is that current UK policy does not allow for the incentivisation or reward of local content, job retention and creation, nor does it encourage any domestic economic benefit.”

He further made it clear that its commitment to the UK is dependent on the content of the UK Government’s forthcoming industrial strategy. To what extent has the Scottish Government been consulted in relation to the preparation of said strategy and, in particular, the mitigation of the issues that Alexander Dennis outlined?

First, Presiding Officer, I apologise for being a little late.

Can the minister help other political parties understand who is ultimately accountable for the head count of the civil service? At a recent meeting of the Finance and Public Administration Committee, the outgoing permanent secretary, John-Paul Marks, stated that his role included

“being steward of head counts”.—[Official Report, Finance and Public Administration Committee, 18 March 2025; c 17.]

To that end, will the minister confirm that his good efforts on reform, including having the right number of people in the right roles, will be fully supported by the new permanent secretary?

This week, the Confederation of British Industry has downgraded its growth forecast for the United Kingdom, warning that rising costs, including the Labour Government’s national insurance tax hike, are set to cause weak business investment, reduce recruitment and reduce economic growth over the next two years. Does the First Minister share my concern about the impact that Westminster economic mismanagement will have on the ability of this Scottish National Party Scottish Government to grow our economy?

The chief executive of Scottish Engineering has warned that Labour’s immigration proposals risk undermining the recruitment of vital workers, saying:

“Immigration is a vital source of skills and experience that cannot be replaced overnight.”

My concern is not only for Scotland but for my constituency, including Grangemouth, where science, technology, engineering and mathematics skills must be part and parcel of any future economic recovery. Will the Scottish National Party Government continue to make the case for a separate immigration system for Scotland, not only because it is the right thing but because it is an economic imperative?

That is simply not true. Every single week, I listen to baying from across the chamber about multiple policies. My point is that we must allow for some risk taking if we are to drive innovation and entrepreneurship, and businesses accept that. I am making that point to all of us, and to civil servants. There is a fundamental dichotomy at play that will not serve us well in the world.

I completely agree. It is well known that I would spend most of every day talking about such matters. We need a wealthy economy to support the social changes and contribution that we want to make.

Thomas Watson, the founder and long-term chair of IBM, probably put it better than I can when he said:

“If you want to increase your success rate, double your failure rate.”

Fundamentally, if we want to drive innovation and entrepreneurship, we all have to understand that we need to increase our tolerance for risk. That is even more important in today’s world, given the speed of change.

We have been talking a great deal about Sir Tom Hunter’s report, but Oxford Economics, which did the research, also made it clear that Singapore’s success rested to a large extent on higher-value manufacturing such as electronics and precision engineering. To that end, what commentary does Daniel Johnson have for the planned cut in the immigration of engineers? That is surely a worry.