Chamber and committees

The Individual Training Account (ITA) scheme was launched in October 2017. Between October 2017 and March 2018, 7,015 claims for ITA funding were made. The value of these claims was £1,305,091.

In the 2018/19 financial year so far 19,812 claims for ITA funding have been made. The value of these claims has been £3,719,568.

It is anticipated that when all verified individuals in the system have been processed, the number of people who have benefitted from ITAs will exceed 22,000 this financial year.

Following a hugely successful year for this new Individual Training Account (ITA) programme, demand from individuals has been strong and the target of 18,500 accounts has been exceeded ahead of schedule. It is anticipated that when all verified individuals in the system have been processed, the number of people who have benefitted from ITAs will exceed 22,000. Skills Development Scotland (SDS )has therefore paused the ITA programme to new applicants until April 2019. In the interim, individuals who visit the My World of Work website will be given information on how to contact SDS for wider career advice and those who have registered an interest in opening an ITA will be proactively contacted by SDS in the lead up to the new financial year.

Company and employment law are matters which are currently reserved to the UK Government. As such, actions which might be taken by the Scottish Government or its agencies depend on the terms and conditions associated with any grant provided from public funds, including the possibility of seeking repayment of any funding where such terms and conditions have not been met.

This is an operational matter for Scottish Enterprise.

I have passed your query on to Steve Dunlop, the Chief Executive, and asked him to respond to you directly.

The Scottish Government did not receive any direct correspondence or communication from Kaiam Europe or Kaiam UK. As one of their account managed companies, Scottish Enterprise lead on direct communications.

This is an operational matter for Scottish Enterprise. Scottish Enterprise have advised they are not aware of any significant interests by way of executive officer roles during the period in question beyond formal directorships. Scottish Enterprise are also unable to advise whether the individual may have held any shares in any other business during this time as this would be personal information relating to an individual and is not necessarily associated with an executive role or controlling interest.

Kaiam notified Scottish Enterprise on 16 November 2018 that the company was in financial difficulty and seeking a buyer for the business, the Scottish Government was informed on 22 November 2018. On learning of this development, Scottish Enterprise worked with Kaiam to explore all viable options to support the business to retain the jobs in Livingston. Unfortunately, a solution could not be found.

Grants and loans entered into by Scottish Ministers and any public body subject to the Scottish Public Finance Manual (SPFM) are subject to the principles set out in the manual and have appropriate terms and conditions applied to protect public resources.

Scottish Ministers also make clear provision for recovery of funds if an organisation in receipt of grant funding disposes of assets acquired or developed with the aid of that funding in accordance with conditions attached to the grant. In the case of loans and grants if circumstances meant that the company was in administration, or some other factor meant that it was not able to pay back the amount, the Government would fall into line in the same way as any other creditor.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-20176 on 21 December 2018. 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 refer the member to the answer to question S5W-20173 on 21 December 2018. 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