Adam Ingram

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham · 3 Feb 2016

In developing the Scottish approach to employability support services, the consultation Creating a Fairer Scotland: Employability Support consulted been June and October 2015 to draw on as wide a range of perspectives, experience and expertise as possible on the future employability services which unemployed people in Scotland want, need and deserve.
Our aim was to listen to service users and providers, plus employers and other stakeholders, on how they would like the Scottish approach to employability to look in 2017 when these powers are devolved. We received 179 written responses to the formal consultation document, Creating a Fairer Scotland: Employability Support, a further 36 responses to our SurveyMonkey questionnaire. We also gained invaluable feedback from more than 70 face to face events and meetings with user and stakeholder groups across Scotland.
We will use the analysis of the consultation responses, published last week, to inform decisions on the shape of devolved employability services. I am keen that we continue to engage with stakeholders, building on the strong relations established during the consultation phase, as this work develops.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop · 7 Dec 2015

On 27 November 2015, the twenty fifth meeting of the British-Irish Council was held in London. The summit was attended by ministers from all eight member administrations. The Scottish Government was represented by the First Minister, the Minister for Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform and myself.
The British-Irish Council remains a valued forum for member administrations to come together and share their views and experience.
On this occasion council members took the opportunity to welcome the agreement A Fresh Start: The Stormont Agreement and Implementation Plan, which followed cross party talks in Northern Ireland and was published on 17 November 2015.
Members also offered their condolences to the people of France following the recent terrorist attacks in Paris.
On the agenda was a very timely discussion about the domestic resettlement of refugees. I informed the Council of Scotland’s recent experience in receiving the first arrivals of Syrian refugees and that Scotland remained committed to take a proportionate share of the total number of Syrian refugees coming to the UK. The council noted the efforts being taken to help those refugees and the value of joint working and cooperation between member administrations on the resettlement of refugees.
The council discussed the economic situation and considered the continued improvements in their respective administrations. The First Minister advised the council that Scotland’s economy continues to perform well, with now three years of continuous economic growth, a record number of registered businesses and increasing employment. In particular the First Minister highlighted the progress being made in Scotland in female and youth employment, however stressed that we cannot be complacent about continued positive economic performance. The First Minister raised the impact of the UK Government’s Spending Review, welcoming the UK Government’s reversal on tax credits and expressing concern about the decision to end the capital budget for the Carbon Capture and Storage Competition.
The council also discussed the challenge of safeguarding natural capital and the need for continued collaboration to share knowledge and understanding, especially given the fact that our natural capital is a cross-border issue.
The communiqué that was issued by the British-Irish Council, after the meeting, can be found on the website at: http://www.britishirishcouncil.org/. I am also arranging for a copy the document to be placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 57492).

Answer · John Swinney · 9 Dec 2015

At a Spending Review Barnett consequentials are determined on a departmental level as opposed to a programme level; it is therefore not possible to isolate the financial impact of individual spending decisions.
Whilst it is not possible to determine the specific impact, any consequentials from HS2 will be reflected in the Scottish Government's total capital allocation announced in the Spending Review. While the first phase of HS2 construction will only just have started, in 2019-20 Scotland’s capital DEL budget will be 3.2% lower in cash terms – over half a billion pounds in real terms – than it was in 2010-11.

Answer · Fergus Ewing · 3 Sep 2015

The UK Government undertook in its March Budget to work with the Scottish Government in order to find a solution enabling restoration of opencast sites.
The Scottish Government has written to the UK Government on three occasions to make progress. UK and Scottish Governments with key industry representatives discussed this on 27 August 2015. The carbon price support exemption proposal was discussed at length during this meeting and the taskforce is now awaiting a response from the UK Government on the matter.