Chamber and committees

The announcement will clearly come as a disappointment to communities and people who have campaigned on the issue over the years, but it is important to focus on exactly how this has happened. Can the minister confirm that the decision has been taken at a time of extreme financial pressures globally, that it is based on an assessment of value for money and that it is in line with HM Treasury’s “The Green Book” requirements, which ministers are required to follow.

If we are to improve the situation for disabled people, we need to understand what has worked and build on that. Labour market data states that, under the Equality Act 2010, employment levels for the disabled have increased from 40 per cent nine years ago to 50 per cent now—a substantial 25 per cent increase—and that the disability employment rate gap has dropped from 38.7 per cent to 31.2 per cent, which is a 19 per cent closure of the gap. What has worked that we can look at as a good example? Ashley, you touched on the partnership working in Dundee. What parts of the fairer Scotland action plan that are delivering for disabled people can we build on?

Emma, is there anything that you would like to add?

There are vacancies across public, private and third sectors. You talked earlier about how you are getting 1,000 people a year into employment. Is it equal across the board, or are there certain sectors in which it is easier to get placements for disabled people?

I want to ask about support for business start-ups, and particularly the new network of Techscaler hubs that has been set up via CodeBase. I realise that the announcement was made only in July, with the launch being in November, but what will be the measure of success for those hubs? How will we know whether that venture has been successful?

The seven Techscalers are mostly in cities, although there is none in Perth or our new city of Dunfermline. If they prove to be the success that we hope for, will they be rolled out in other areas, including rural Scotland?

Can the model of hubs be used in non-tech sectors?

Good morning, cabinet secretary. I want to ask about the pressures on businesses. You mentioned that inflation is at 10.5 per cent, and there are the high energy costs and labour costs that flow from that. What support has the Government put in place for businesses in the areas in which it has responsibility, given that businesses are looking for some form of certainty so that they can plan for the recession that is being forecast?

You touched on the small business bonus scheme. When it was introduced in 2008, roughly 60,000 premises benefited from the scheme; that figure is now more than 100,000. How is the scheme helping businesses in Scotland in financial terms?

I thank all the members who supported the motion in order that it could be debated tonight. In addition, I welcome to the gallery, from the National Robotarium, Stewart Miller, the chief executive officer, and staff and researchers; I am sorry that they have had to wait so long.

Last November, I visited the new £22 million National Robotarium, which is located at Heriot-Watt University Research Park in my constituency of Edinburgh Pentlands. It is a collaboration between Heriot-Watt University and the University of Edinburgh, and it is part of the £1.3 billion Edinburgh and south-east Scotland city region deal, which is funded by the Scottish and United Kingdom Governments. It is the largest and most advanced applied research facility for robotics and artificial intelligence to be found anywhere in the UK.

The state-of-the-art facility boasts high-specification laboratories with unrivalled technology and facilities. It is the only centre of its kind in the world that features laser labs, an autonomous systems laboratory and a living lab for trialling technology in a realistic home setting. It is dedicated to the development and testing of robotics and artificial intelligence solutions in three distinct areas: robotics and autonomous systems, human and robot interaction, and high-precision manufacturing. This centre of excellence aims, through research and knowledge exchange, to address real-world challenges and industrial needs, with a focus on hazardous environments, offshore energy, manufacturing, construction, healthcare, human-robot interaction, assisted living and agritech.

Why is it necessary? According to data from the 2021 “World Robotics” report, it is estimated that there are in the region of 3 million industrial robots in the world, which is a 10 per cent increase from the preceding year. Oxford Economics estimates that the figure is expected to increase to around 20 million industrial robots by 2030.

To remain competitive and grow our economy, the UK needs to increase productivity. However, that is at a time when the exodus of European Union labour as a result of Brexit has ensured that we have the second-lowest growth in the G20, just ahead of Russia, according to a forecast by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. One way of replacing that lost labour would be to invest in robotics, but an examination of the use of robotics in the manufacturing sector highlights how far the UK has fallen behind in using that technology.

The “World Robotics” report highlights that the world average number of robots in manufacturing per 10,000 employees at that time was 126. The UK had 101, which put it in 24th position in the global league table of robot densities. In comparison with other leading G7 economies, the UK was last; both Japan and Germany had nearly four times the UK’s robot density. The situation was even worse when the UK was compared with the leading countries of Korea and Singapore, as it had only 11 per cent and 17 per cent of their respective densities.

To start to address the shortfall in industrial robotic use, there needs to be a strategic policy that focuses on the ecosystem that is required to build a robotics sector in Scotland. That would highlight the way forward in education and skills; research and testing; a testing certification regime for robotics; and appropriate investment.

Another area that is facing similar challenges in recruiting and maintaining staff is social care. That is at a time when demand for the service is increasing, as people get older and health conditions become more complex. The UK population over the age of 65 is expected to increase from 12 million today to 17 million by 2035. A parliamentary office of science and technology briefing on “Robotics in Social Care” highlighted that robotics in social care

“can provide three types of assistance: physical, social, and cognitive”.

The briefing highlights that that “can take many forms”, including robots that have

“been developed to assist with ... feeding”

and “washing”.

It also mentions robots

“that remind users when to take their medicine and those that detect and prevent falls”,

and

“robots designed to provide companionship and assist with loneliness and social engagement”.

We need focused tax breaks from the UK Government to encourage investment in robotics, and in home-grown manufacturing in particular, so that such technology can help to address labour shortages.

In other countries, a rise in the adoption of robotic vacuum cleaners was observed during Covid-19. The need for disinfection and thorough cleaning at the same time as cleaning staff were off sick or in lockdown gave rise to the increased use of such vacuum cleaners. That technology proved so ideal that it is now estimated that there are 40 million robotic vacuum cleaners in the world, and the market is expected to increase by 23 per cent by 2030.

Scotland, unlike many areas of the UK, still has a manufacturing base, and the National Robotarium is in a position to move innovative products and services rapidly from laboratory to market, and to develop new prototypes and support early-stage product development within an incubator environment that drives productivity. The National Robotarium has already been instrumental in developing affordable solutions in health and social care. Researchers at the centre devised an artificial intelligence companion for people who are living with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia that aims to aid memory recollection, boost confidence and combat depression.

Recently, a project that was supported by the National Robotarium was launched to improve robotic cancer surgery, with a probe being built to take mechanical measures of tumours and surrounding tissue, linked to software with intelligent algorithms for data collection. However, it is not just in healthcare that the National Robotarium is innovating groundbreaking solutions. Researchers are also involved in what is considered to be the world’s first autonomous wind farm inspection. Last summer, they supported EDF Renewables UK to deploy a remotely operated vehicle to carry out an inspection of its Blyth offshore wind farm off Northumberland, as part of a project between EDF and ORCA—Offshore Robotics for Certification of Assets—Hub.

We need to support our manufacturing sector to work alongside researchers from the National Robotarium to ensure that we can tap into the growing robotics sector as manufacturers, and not assemblers, of robots. Otherwise, we will not be part of the industrial revolution that is bringing good-quality high-tech employment opportunities to those countries that are already at the forefront of robotics development.