Chamber and committees

I have a question that is linked to Ms Hyslop’s. The Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee has written to the UK Government, and one of its questions is about clause 1 of this bill, which is expected to be repealed once the Procurement Bill comes into force. Can you say more about how the two bills interact? We are spending all this time trying to looking at the changes in this bill, but what bits of it are going to be repealed? Am I correct in thinking that it is the Procurement Bill that will remain and that it is likely that aspects of this bill will be repealed?

Our next item of business is an evidence session as part of the committee’s pre-budget scrutiny work. The purpose of this session is to inform our scrutiny with the aim of influencing the budget before spending priorities for the next financial year are set. Members will be aware that there will be a budget statement the first week back after October recess. The focus of today’s session is the cost crisis and its impact on the tourism and hospitality industries.

I welcome Marc Crothall, who is the chief executive officer of Scottish Tourism Alliance; Bryan Simpson, who is industrial organiser at Unite hospitality; and Leon Thompson, who is executive director of UKHospitality Scotland.

A similar panel was before us in advance of last year’s budget and the main call that we had at that time was for investment in stage 2 of the tourism recovery fund. The committee supported that call and the Government was sympathetic to it. That seems like a distant memory as we face a cost of living crisis and a rise in business costs. The sector is under pressure. Are we facing a bleaker situation as we go into this winter than we did coming out of the Covid pandemic? I will come to Marc Crothall first.

As members have no other questions, we move to agenda item 3, which is formal consideration of the motion to approve the draft order. I invite the minister to speak to and move motion S6M-05863.

Motion moved,

That the Economy and Fair Work Committee recommends that the Companies Act 2006 (Scottish public sector companies to be audited by the Auditor General for Scotland) (No. 2) Order 2022 [draft] be approved.—[Ivan McKee]

Motion agreed to.

Agenda item 4 is consideration of the legislative consent memorandum for the UK Infrastructure Bank Bill, which is a United Kingdom Government bill. It was introduced in the House of Lords on 11 May 2022 and it seeks to change the law on devolved matters.

I again welcome Ivan McKee, Minister for Business, Trade, Tourism and Enterprise. The minister has been joined by Geoff Owenson, senior policy officer at the Scottish Government, whom I also welcome. I invite the minister to make a brief statement on the Scottish Government’s position. We will then move on to questions from members.

Thank you, minister. You said that the Government wrote to the UK Government on 9 June looking for some assurances and you indicated that there are some on-going discussions. On the proposal for a memorandum of understanding between the UK Infrastructure Bank and the Scottish National Investment Bank, do you think that there is an understanding of the need for that? You mentioned a mechanism “such as a memorandum of understanding”. Are any other solutions being looked at in relation to the relationship between the two banks?

We may get progress there. I understand that there has been a suggestion or request from the Scottish Government that an individual with relevant knowledge of Scotland’s policy and project landscape be included on the board of the investment panels in order to give that level of knowledge and expertise at the centre of decision making. Has there been a positive response to that?

Agenda item 6 is consideration of a legislative consent memorandum?on the UK Parliament Trade (Australia and New Zealand) Bill. This UK Government bill, which was introduced in the House of Commons on 11 May 2022, changes the law on devolved matters.

I welcome back to the meeting the Minister for Business, Trade, Tourism and Enterprise, Ivan McKee, as well as Julie Bain, who is a lawyer, and Alasdair Hamilton, who is procurement policy portfolio manager, all from the Scottish Government. We are joined this time by Leslie Henderson, who is team leader in food and drink regulation and trade at the Scottish Government.

I invite the minister to make a brief statement on the Scottish Government’s position and then we will move to questions from members.

Thank you very much. I will take questions from members.

There is an issue that I want to follow up on before I bring in Colin Beattie. You mentioned that the national insurance cut will be worth about £10,000 a year. The UK Government has sold that change by saying that it is

“committed to a low-tax, high-growth economy”

and to ensuring that businesses have

“the right conditions to drive investment, growth and productivity.”

It has stated that,

“As a result of this tax cut, businesses will have more money to invest in becoming more productive, pay higher wages, create more jobs and support the overall growth of the UK economy.”

However, it does not appear that that £10,000 will be useful for that this year.

We have had one statement from the Scottish Government about this year’s budget. Within the budget that the committee is responsible for scrutinising, a saving in the region of £50 million has been made in the employability line. That has been partly to fund the Scottish child payment, so it is a decision that the Government has made. In correspondence with us, it has explained that, given the high employment rate at the moment, it feels that it can take some savings out of that budget line.

Bryan Simpson, do you have a view on that? The Government is not denying that it will have an impact, but it says that the impact should be minimal, because there will still be money in the employability budget although £50 million is coming out of it. Do you have any concerns about the impact of that?