Chamber and committees

Will the member give way?

Will the member take an intervention?

Will Ms Boyack give way on that point?

I am enjoying the debate thus far.

Richard Leonard might have surprised Anas Sarwar and Keir Starmer with his socialistic approach, as it has been sadly lacking in the Labour Party of late.

This is more than just a piece of legislation. It is a commitment to transforming our local economies and creating a Scotland where economic success is genuinely shared by everyone in every place. Like other members who have contributed thus far, I think that we need to build on what is already there.

As Lorna Slater said, I would like to see us move forward on compulsory sale orders. We have already seen the changes to compulsory purchase orders that I put through, but there is still more to do. Beyond that, we must get procurement right. I note that Elena Whitham is sitting to the right of me, and that one of the companies that had benefited in her local area, Mossgiel Organic Farm, recently lost a contract, which is to the detriment of all. Those kinds of things must be resolved.

Community wealth building is fundamentally about making economies work for our people and our communities. It is about addressing economic and wealth inequality by actively supporting the generation, circulation and retention of wealth in our local and regional economies.

The principle behind community wealth building is sound. It is nothing more than increasing the velocity of money at the local level, and the concept of the velocity of money is brutally simple. The more hands that a pound spent by the Government or public sector passes through, the better. In the worst-case scenario, a pound that is spent at a large multinational company does not circulate in Scotland at all—it simply goes back to its headquarters in London. In the best-case scenario, however, that same pound spent at a local company can work its way through many Scottish hands. The local company pays its local suppliers, contractors and employees, and that money is spent again at other local companies, which in turn spend the money yet again with their local suppliers, contractors and employees, and so on.

That is vital, because when money flows into and is kept in an area, whether through good jobs, local business growth or profits being reinvested locally, new opportunities are created and more wealth is retained. That rewires the economy to deliver prosperity across economic, social and environmental dimensions. Key to making that work are anchor organisations and local businesses. Anchor organisations such as local authorities, the NHS, universities and enterprise agencies get the ball rolling by spending money in the local economy.

The next link is Scotland’s small businesses, which are the backbone of local economies. They can expand wealth to create local jobs, support community life and reinvest locally. However, that virtuous circle is currently struggling to work because almost three quarters of small businesses that bid for public contracts find the process complex and challenging.

Change is therefore needed, and the bill is a significant step towards ensuring the consistent implementation of the community wealth building model of economic development across Scotland. It will place duties on Scottish ministers and various public sector bodies to work collectively and to use the economic levers that are at their disposal to create meaningful local action. The bill will harness their impact by leveraging their spending power through procurement and their role as an employer to help to create jobs, reduce supply chains and strengthen local and regional economies.

However, it will be vital to keep local small businesses at the heart of the process, and we need to ensure that the vital economic leverage of our anchor organisations truly benefits the small and micro-enterprises that employ more than 900,000 people in Scotland.

I support the bill, and I will vote for it today.

In Labour-run Wales, the NHS has the lowest satisfaction rate in the whole of the United Kingdom. Does the First Minister therefore agree that Scottish Labour needs only to look at its colleagues’ records on the NHS to know that those in glass houses should not throw stones? Will he reaffirm his commitment to ensuring that the SNP Government continues to tackle the longest waits, increase access to care and improve delivery in Scotland’s NHS as a matter of priority?

I am sure that Carol Mochan will recognise that, in Labour-controlled NHS England, levels of dissatisfaction are currently at their highest since the British social attitudes survey began, and it is four decades since that came into being. [Interruption.]

The cabinet secretary mentioned electricity prices in her statement. High electricity and gas prices are the greatest driver of fuel poverty, and I am sure that many people across the chamber will share my deep frustration with the UK Labour Government, which pledged to cut energy bills by £300 but, instead, has overseen a rise in energy bills of £200. Can the cabinet secretary advise what impact that has on delivering the Scottish Government’s ambitions and say what effect that broken promise from Labour is having on thousands of families across Scotland? Will she join me in calling on the UK Labour Government to take immediate action to bring down electricity prices and put money back in the pockets of those who need it most this winter?

It is vital that we continue to stand up for Scotland’s manufacturers, including Alexander Dennis, and to protect skills, jobs and industries. Will the cabinet secretary give us an insight into the challenges that are posed by UK economic policies such as the energy profits levy and, in the case of Alexander Dennis, the Subsidy Control Act 2022? What is the impact of such policies on jobs and economic growth?

The ExxonMobil press statement today points the finger for the decision that it has taken at

“the UK’s current economic and policy environment”.

We have heard about the high energy costs that companies face, the impact of the energy profits levy and, of course, Labour’s tax on jobs, which adds to companies’ woes. Labour seems quite happy to intervene in England and Wales, including at Scunthorpe, but it seems that Scots do not matter. Scotland is, once again, an afterthought. How can we change that? Do we require independence to get things right for industry here, in our country?

It was Anas Sarwar who said:

“Read my lips: no austerity under Labour”.

Now his Westminster bosses threaten to inflict more than £1 billion of cuts to Scotland’s budget. The cuts would fly in the face of the economic growth that Scotland needs, as outlined in Professor Muscatelli’s report. Does the First Minister share my view that that threat proves, beyond doubt, that decisions on Scotland’s finances should be made here in Scotland, with a fresh start with independence, and not by a Westminster Government that fails Scotland at every turn?