Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government is currently consulting with local government, colleges, the third sector and employers on the most effective allocation of the additional £30 million Opportunities for All funding.

As a first step, I announced on 22 December £1.5 million across the next three years to support up to 1,000 of the most disadvantaged 16 to 24 year-olds through employer recruitment incentives and additional flexible support for individual young people.

We will work with key partners to deliver Opportunities for All from next financial year to ensure an offer of a place in learning or training for every 16 to 19 year old who is not already in work, education or training. We will continue to target those who achieve few or no qualifications as we have been through 16+ Learning Choices.

The Scottish Government has committed to consult with a range of partners on the best use of the £30 million in additional funding to support youth employment. With that in mind, final decisions on the targeting of this resource have not been made.

The Scottish Government is already working closely with both public and private sector partners to provide a comprehensive package of services to help graduates into employment. Over the last two years, we have provided over £270,000 for new initiatives. This has improved web-based services which provide advice and information on job vacancies; it has supported the development of the Talent Scotland Graduate Placement Programme that aims to provide business placements for around 750 graduates in Scotland; and it has supported graduate placements under the successful “Adopt an Intern” Scheme run by the Centre for Scottish Public Policy.

It is a long-established convention, as set out in the Ministerial Code, that the Scottish Government does not disclose whether it has or has not received legal advice from the Law Officers.

It is a long-established convention, as set out in the Ministerial Code, that the Scottish Government does not disclose whether it has or has not received legal advice from the Law Officers.

It is a long-established convention, as set out in the Ministerial Code that the Scottish Government does not disclose whether it has or has not received legal advice from the Law Officers.

The Scottish Government supports measures that enable a well functioning financial system and improves access to finance, particularly for small and medium-sized businesses. Clear evidence that a Tobin Tax will help achieve this goal is therefore needed before the Scottish Government backs the EU’s proposal for one.

The Scottish Government remains concerned over how a proposed Tobin Tax could affect the relocation of financial services away from Scotland to more favourable tax jurisdictions if it was not imposed on a global scale and the potential knock-on implications that this could have for businesses in Scotland.

Between May and December 2011, the Lord Advocate attended 14 meetings of the 23 meetings of the Scottish Cabinet.

The High Pay Commission has been established independently from the UK Government. The Scottish Government has not yet made a submission to the Commission.

Ministers have been kept appraised of progress and developments as necessary.