Chamber and committees

Students will be able to register an intention to appeal from 25 June. However, the formal appeals process will not commence until the results are issued on 10 August. Universities will not confirm offers until they have received the certificated grades in August.

For those students waiting on a result for a university or college place or for an employment or training programme, appeals will be processed as a priority.

The SDS Helpline will be available through the summer for students to talk to an experienced adviser, with the dedicated Results Helpline opening from 10 August. The National Qualifications 21 Group has issued a letter to learners highlighting a range of support available. This is available online and can be accessed at:

https://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/files_ccc/NQ21-letter-supports-for-learners.pdf

SQA is arranging for a hard copy of the letter to be sent out to all learners.

Since the start of the pandemic supporting the recovery of Scotland’s businesses is a key focus for the Government with businesses directly benefitting from £3.6 billion in support overall, with £434.6 million paid out through restart grants and transitional payments. The Scottish Government recognises it is crucial to get businesses open safely and back to full profitability, delivering the maximum support for businesses and the economy as possible.

The Scottish Government regularly publishes statistics and management information relating to its Covid-19 business grants on our website at Coronavirus (COVID-19): business support funding statistics - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) , the next publication is due on 11 June 2021.

Teachers are not expected to be in contact with SQA, schools, or individual pupils over the summer break. Results will be published on 10 August, and schools are not required to manage handling of any queries and initiating of any appeals processes at a local level until they return from summer holidays.

The national public bodies directory has been updated to reflect the most up to date funding information for individual public bodies. I refer the member to the website: https://www.gov.scot/publications/national-public-bodies-directory/pages/executive-non-departmental-public-bodies/

The Scottish Government works with a wide range of partners, particularly our enterprise agencies and local authorities, who have lead responsibility for local economic development in the area, to deliver investment and support job creation across Scotland, including the Central Scotland region.

We have committed £500 million to the Glasgow City Deal and £50 million to the Falkirk Growth Deal to support delivery of programmes of investment directly benefitting the Central Scotland parliamentary region. This investment will stimulate economic growth and create jobs in the construction phase of projects and beyond.

Scottish Enterprise works with a wide range of local businesses to help them to meet their growth aspirations and support job creation. Since 2019, Scottish Enterprise has invested over £3.35 million in Regional Selective Assistance (RSA) Grants, and almost £12 million in Research & Development (R&D) grants, to support projects that will help create and safeguard jobs in North Lanarkshire, South Lanarkshire and Falkirk.

Businesses are also directly supported via Business Gateway. Business Gateway, delivered by the local authorities, is Scotland’s first stop shop for businesses seeking public sector support, including how to grow their business and create jobs. Since 2019, Business Gateway has invested over £6 million in supporting businesses across the Central Scotland local authority areas, and through its DigitalBoost programme, delivered over £2.3 million to support companies to develop their digital skills and online presence to reach wider markets.

Additionally, the investment we make in areas such as local government, housing, education and skills, transport and health contribute to job growth. For example, in February 2021 we completed the £1.8 billion Scotland’s Schools for the Future Programme, which saw 117 new schools built or refurbished over the last ten years. Falkirk, North Lanarkshire and South Lanarkshire collectively had 11 schools in the program, benefiting from £160 million investment, and the associated 1,500 construction jobs created by the programme at any one time. On Transport infrastructure, in March 2020 work completed on the £870 million Edinburgh Glasgow Improvement Programme, improving railway infrastructure, rolling stock and service provision throughout central Scotland including Falkirk, North Lanarkshire and South Lanarkshire. Construction supported around 600 jobs across the programme.

The Scottish Government has launched a 10 week consultation into New Year’s Day trading for large retail stores today.

The consultation is seeking the views of shop workers and retail businesses and their representatives on whether the current law should change so that large retail businesses must close on New Year’s Day, as they currently do on Christmas Day. I would encourage all relevant parties to access the consultation on the Scottish Government’s consultation hub to ensure their views are taken into account.

Estimated costs for the Government Car Service (GCS), including purchasing and maintenance, for 2021-22 and actual spend for each of the last 5 years, are provided in the following table.

The previous Minister for Further Education, Higher Education and Science was in regular contact with both the Employers’ Association and EIS-FELA in relation to the national dispute regarding instructor/assessor roles in the college sector, which has now been resolved.

The Scottish Government has been clear throughout this dispute that both the employers and trade unions must continue with negotiations in an attempt to resolve this situation, which is absolutely not in the best interests of our learners. EIS-FELA have suspended local industrial action at Forth Valley College to allow the matter to be referred to the National Joint Secretaries for review and I urge both sides to resolve this dispute without the need for further industrial action.

The Scottish Government remains firmly of the view that it is for the college unions and the employers to negotiate pay and terms and conditions voluntarily in the spirit of collaboration and co-operation. We do however continue to work with the Scottish Funding Council (SFC), who work closely with the sector, to ensure any actions taken are compliant with the Scottish Public Finance Manual, the SFC Financial Memorandum and are in line with Fair Work principles.

The SPCB has agreed to write to all passholders encouraging them to use lateral flow testing as part of a range of measures that will help keep those attending Holyrood and local offices to undertake parliamentary work as safely as possible and help prevent community transmission. 

This will be voluntary.  Anyone who attends Holyrood who has a positive lateral flow test should follow public health advice and also contact the Parliament for any specific advice in relation to their recent visits to the building. Lateral flow test packs can be obtained at testing centres and by requesting a pack via NHS Inform. More information can be found here. 

SMEs and micro businesses are critical to the social, economic and environmental health of Scotland and we are committed to leveraging the full procurement rules to make it as easy possible for SMEs to bid for and win public procurement contracts and/or participate in local supply chains:

• Scotland outperforms the UK Gov target of 33% central government procurement spend going with SMEs by 2022. Even without target setting, in Scotland, 47% of public procurement spend in 2018-2019 went to SMEs; exceeding UKG( 26%), EU average (45%) and US(30%).
• last year, 58% of procurement spend on Scottish businesses went to SMEs, which account for only 40% of business turnover in Scotland, showing that SMEs are able to take advantage of the significant benefits that exist in relation to engaging with public procurement in Scotland.
• In 2019-20, over 26,000 suppliers were awarded public sector contracts worth £6.9bn through our Public Contracts Scotland portal; our data shows that 79% of suppliers awarded contracts in Scotland were SMEs from all locations and 63% were Scottish SMEs.
• We continue to provide funding (up to £150,000 in 2021-22) to the Supplier Development Programme which delivers free training and guidance on how to submit and win public procurement bids. During FY 2020-21, over 2,400 Scottish SMEs attended training events with 93% stating they were more likely to bid for public sector contracts as a direct result.
• The Supplier Development Programme also delivers free local and national Meet the Buyer events to put suppliers in touch with public sector buyers to learn more about up and coming contracts
• In March 2021, we published the results of a comprehensive survey of suppliers which received over 1550 responses. Its findings indicate that there is much to be positive about in respect of Scottish public sector procurement and the recent work done to improve it. At the same time it found that there are clearly areas in which the Scottish public sector could do more to build on the steps already taken to maximise the impact of public procurement in Scotland.
• This year we have also launched a series of SME round table meetings to hear directly from SME suppliers about their experiences of bidding for and winning public contracts.
• Of the [1] £369 million that Scottish Government spent through its contracts, over £120 million went directly to SMEs, with many more SMEs benefiting through our supply chains; they shared over £40 million of spend as subcontractors, with £30 million of that going to Scottish SMEs.

[1] Scottish Government Procurement Annual Report 2020