The Economy

That the Parliament notes recent publications, including the EY Scottish ITEM Club, which indicate that Scotland’s economy faces many challenges in the coming year, with GDP growth forecasts downgraded; further notes, in particular, the decline in the oil and gas industry, with reported jobs losses of more than 120,000 since 2014, as reported by Oil & Gas UK recently, alongside the Bank of Scotland oil and gas sector report that shows that a third of businesses in the oil and gas industry plan to cut jobs further during 2016, showing the scale of the challenge; welcomes the Scottish Government’s Transition Training Fund but notes that it has been reported that it has helped only 91 people, and calls on all parties in the Parliament to work together to support the oil and gas industry and its workforce and for action to be taken to support the industry over the short, medium and long term.