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Chamber and committees

Official Report: search what was said in Parliament

The Official Report is a written record of public meetings of the Parliament and committees.  

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Dates of parliamentary sessions
  1. Session 1: 12 May 1999 to 31 March 2003
  2. Session 2: 7 May 2003 to 2 April 2007
  3. Session 3: 9 May 2007 to 22 March 2011
  4. Session 4: 11 May 2011 to 23 March 2016
  5. Session 5: 12 May 2016 to 5 May 2021
  6. Current session: 12 May 2021 to 16 February 2025
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Displaying 663 contributions

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Social Justice and Social Security Committee [Draft]

Pensioner Poverty

Meeting date: 6 February 2025

Gordon MacDonald

Adam Stachura mentioned that 40 per cent of pensioners live in a home with a low EPC rating. I am trying to understand whether that refers to home owners or people in social housing. We had the quality homes standard brought in in 2015 to try to tackle that. In Wester Hailes in my constituency, 180 blocks of flats have just had external cladding put on, which has led to fantastic reductions in people’s energy bills. Are the 40 per cent of pensioners that were mentioned in social housing or private housing? If it is private housing, how do we deal with a situation in which people are asset rich but cash poor?

Social Justice and Social Security Committee [Draft]

Pensioner Poverty

Meeting date: 6 February 2025

Gordon MacDonald

So, it is a political choice.

Social Justice and Social Security Committee [Draft]

Pensioner Poverty

Meeting date: 6 February 2025

Gordon MacDonald

I have a quick question. We have touched on the fact that pensions are so low in the UK. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development said that the UK spends about 4.7 per cent of GDP on pensions, whereas Greece spends nearly three times that—13 per cent. It also said that 10 countries spend double the amount that the UK does, and that 27 countries spend more than the UK.

We can identify how we can adjust or improve pensions, but what is the underlying reason why they are so low? I understand that there are private pensions but, as Adam Stachura said, not everybody has access to a private pension. Why is there such a low pension rate in the UK?

Economy and Fair Work Committee [Draft]

City Region and Regional Growth Deals

Meeting date: 5 February 2025

Gordon MacDonald

Good morning. My questions are about finance and funding. I have found it difficult to identify how much local spend there has been by looking at some of the city deal annual reports. The Edinburgh and south-east Scotland annual performance report is good, as it highlights that 80 per cent of its labour spend and 82 per cent of the overall spend have been spent locally. In other city region deal annual reports, there is no mention of local spend or the number of local jobs that were created. Bearing in mind that city growth deals are a mechanism for growing the local economy, what guidance has the Scottish Government issued to encourage the deals to use local supply chains and local companies?

Economy and Fair Work Committee [Draft]

City Region and Regional Growth Deals

Meeting date: 5 February 2025

Gordon MacDonald

Thanks very much.

Economy and Fair Work Committee [Draft]

City Region and Regional Growth Deals

Meeting date: 5 February 2025

Gordon MacDonald

It would certainly be helpful for that information to be available in the reports. Currently, it is not as explicit as you have stated, other than in the report on the Edinburgh and south-east Scotland deal.

You have touched on the impact of inflation on every city deal. In most of the deals, the heads of terms were agreed prior to 2021, although they were not all signed. At that time, inflation was around 1.5 per cent. It then crept up to 10 per cent at the tail end of 2022, which had a major impact on what can and cannot be delivered. However, Scottish Government funding is fixed, as is UK Government funding. How do we achieve what the deals originally wanted to do? Have you been approached by any of the growth deals requesting additional funding?

Economy and Fair Work Committee [Draft]

City Region and Regional Growth Deals

Meeting date: 5 February 2025

Gordon MacDonald

One of the things that Kevin Stewart picked up on was the need for private partners. All the annual reports talk about what the deals are trying to achieve. In fact, the Glasgow city deal says that it will

“Lever in an estimated £3.3 billion of private sector investment to support the delivery of the projects”.

How is achieving that leverage measured, given the pressure on the budgets from inflation? I know what you have said about value engineering and how we are dealing with the issue, but are we still going to achieve the leverage from the private sector that we expect to achieve? How is that being measured and reported?

Economy and Fair Work Committee [Draft]

City Region and Regional Growth Deals

Meeting date: 5 February 2025

Gordon MacDonald

We touched on this earlier, but my final question is on what happens next. You said that you had started discussions with the UK Government. How concerned are you about funding for future growth deals, bearing in mind that, in September 2024, the UK Government paused the funding for the Argyll and Bute deal? The funding has since been reinstated, but it was paused. Moreover, when Ian Murray was in front of the committee, he would not guarantee multiyear funding. How concerned are you about any new deals, given those two indicators, which suggest that they might not be possible?

Economy and Fair Work Committee [Draft]

City Region and Regional Growth Deals

Meeting date: 22 January 2025

Gordon MacDonald

Another aspect of the situation is the ability to attract the right mix of skills and labour to fulfil a contract. Unemployment in Scotland is lower than in the rest of the UK, so are businesses able to attract the right quality of staff to fulfil a contract?

Economy and Fair Work Committee [Draft]

City Region and Regional Growth Deals

Meeting date: 22 January 2025

Gordon MacDonald

Can you say which deal that 75 per cent figure that you have given relates to? Do you have numbers for all 10 deals that are currently up and running?