Chamber and committees

On 12 September, I confirmed that 22 of the 30 Barclay recommendations were accepted and six required further consideration and engagement before the Scottish Government confirms its position. These include reform of charity, empty property and sports club relief and our position will be confirmed in an implementation plan by the end of this year. Additionally, the level at which the large business supplement is set will be considered in light of affordability at future budgets.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information. The administrative processes in relation to non-domestic rates overpayments is entirely the responsibility of local authorities.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-11502 on 23 October 2017. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

I recognise some patients are experience long waits, that is why I have made £50 million available to NHSScotland - with up to £11.2 million being made available to NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. This additional funding will build up their capacity and make sure that all patients are seen and treated in a timely fashion including in the specialty of orthopaedics. I expect to see improvements between now and the end of March next year.

Scottish Government officials have engaged in discussions with Benny Higgins regarding a Scottish National Investment Bank via telephone calls on 22 August, 29 August, 8 September and held face to face meetings on 1 September and 22 September, both in Edinburgh.

I met with Benny Higgins on 21 September 2017. The First Minister met with Mr Higgins on 27 September to discuss implementation planning to create a Scottish National Investment Bank. Both these meetings took place at the Scottish Parliament.

We expect the work led by Benny Higgins to develop detailed proposals for the remit, capitalisation, governance, operating model, regulatory timeline and financial risk management to report by February 2018. The Terms of Reference for this work have been published and can be found at https://beta.gov.scot/publications/national-investment-bank-implementation-plan-terms-of-reference/

Skills Development Scotland (SDS), who administer the Transition Training Fund (TTF) on behalf of Scottish Government, provide up to date information on the funds’ performance on a weekly basis. This can be accessed from the following website https://transitiontrainingfund.co.uk/.

SDS have advised that up until the 10^th September 2017, there have been 6,003 applications since the TTF was announced. This is represented across the financial years below:

• 2015-17 – 4,393 applications to the fund, resulting in 1,822 individuals supported

• 2017-18 – 1,610 applications to the fund, resulting in 675 individuals supported

SDS have advised that no information is gathered or held on applications to the fund, by sector. However, below is a breakdown of the number of applicants approved by sector, by year:

Source: SDS

The TTF is a £12 million fund, operating for a three year period. The total in Year 1 for 2016-17, was £5.1 million. The current expenditure for Year 2, calculated from 1 April 2017 until end July 2017 and includes both the actual and committed expenditure, is £1.671 million. Anticipated spend for 2017-18 is budgeted at £5 million, with a further £2 million in 2018-19.

Work is well underway to double the number of people working for Scottish Development International in Europe from 20 to 40. The expansion will mean that SDI has a presence in 10 countries in Europe. Precise locations are being based on an assessment of regional and market opportunities for Scotland. SDI expects all appointments to made in the next few months.

The Scottish Government is committed to the development of Scotland’s fintech sector and is working in partnership with the industry to support and promote Scotland as a fintech centre and create an environment that will allow Scotland's fintech community to achieve its full potential.

Development of our fintech capability presents a significant opportunity for Scotland, and is integral to the future growth of Scotland's established "Financial & Business Service's" growth sector.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-03966 on 16 November 2016, which provided totals for SDI's workforce each year from 2011-12 to 2015-16. The total for SDI's workforce for 2001-2002 and 2002-2003 are not available due to organisational Records Retention Policy. The figure for 2016-17 is not yet available as the Annual Report and Accounts for 2016-17 have not yet been published.

Figures from 2003-2004 are provided in the following table:

* Calculated as full time equivalent posts and rounded to the nearest full post.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx