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Last year, a number of entrepreneurs gave £10 million to the Airdrie Savings Bank. Would it not be great if they were to donate even half as much to get the Harper Grameen Bank started?
Questions and Answers
Date answered:
23 December 2020
Of the 18 Local Authorities still to deliver full roll out of 1140 the following indicative dates have been shared with the Scottish Government, however councils may deliver before these dates.
I am in discussions with the UK Government and, I have to say, it has been fairly constructive to date. There is a myth that drug-checking facilities encourage or increase drug use.
Not all of the companies that we support through the Scottish Investment Bank—alongside the private sector, I emphasise—will succeed, and there will inevitably be some degree of write-off.
Is there perhaps a resource missing that would link the plan with the end user by telling them how they could reach a certain target by a date that seems really far away? I know that you cannot go back in time, so it is not helpful to talk too much about that, but I suppose that I would say that there is a missed opportunity with that delay.
That is why the provisions that we have included as part of the bill will modernise the legislation and bring it up to date. Ultimately, they seek to ensure that tenant farmers can play an equal role in delivering the outcomes that we all want, which we have outlined in our vision for agriculture, and that they can be as much a part of that process as anyon...
Our relationship with our local communities is like nothing that I have experienced in my career to date, and the collaboration and partnership working are very strong.
If we are convinced after the Deputy First Minister replies that there is a good rationale for the date, I suggest on the basis of what I have heard, and to help the clerks with their planning, that we go for option 1 rather than option 2.
However, the bank is undercapitalised; the finance that it is providing to companies is more expensive than we would like it to be; and we feel that the money for the small business bonus scheme would be far better used to support the bank.
While we await the findings of the delayed UK rail review, we are considering all options available to us for the future operation of ScotRail services after the current contract, which is expected to end in March 2022. The Abellio franchise has been an expensive disaster.