Boosting Scotland’s recovery

Anyone in politics who is able to remember Norman Lamont’s ill judged claims that he could see the green shoots of economic recovery has a natural wariness of making similar claims. When times are hard economically, the last thing that struggling households want to hear is that their government does not understand how difficult their situation is.

It is an unfortunate certainty that for many people times will remain tough, with interest rates having reached 4%, double the 2% target. This means the price of everything we buy will rise and as incomes will not, almost every household’s purchasing power will be reduced as a result.

However, despite the enormous challenges that remain ahead of us, there is some comfort that can be drawn from recently released employment figures in Scotland. In the last quarter, unemployment in Scotland fell by 13,000 while employment rose by 23,000 – the seventh consecutive reported rise. Contrast this to the figures for the UK as a whole which are moving in the opposite direction with unemployment rising by 44,000 and employment falling by 68,000.

The employment rate in Scotland is now 71.1% compared to 70.5% for the UK as a whole. The figures show that Scotland was the only UK nation with rising employment and falling unemployment over the quarter, and this trend in the statistics is no accident.

The Scottish Government has been working hard since the start of the economic crisis to secure the recovery in Scotland, by putting in place a robust and comprehensive Economic Recovery Plan to support jobs and training. The employment figures show that this action is paying off and the budget which was just passed in Holyrood will go ever further with this approach.

The SNP Government has committed to creating a record 25,000 modern apprenticeships in the next financial year, which will provide real help for young people - who are amongst those currently struggling the most - to increase their skills and make it into work. The budget also contains more support for Scotland’s small business community, with funds to help them take on a member of staff and create valuable employment opportunities.

There is still a long and difficult road ahead of us as Scotland’s economic recovery continues, but the Scottish Government is demonstrating its effectiveness in tackling the problems it has power to address. Even as budgets are squeezed as never before, I know that the SNP Government will not let up in its determination to further improve Scotland’s economy and help support hard pressed families across the country.

Progress on discards

I have written many times about the efforts of Banff & Buchan’s fishing industry to lead innovation across Scotland in fishing both sustainably and profitably. One such measure which was successfully trialled last year was the catch quota scheme, which allowed the 17 vessels taking part to catch less, but land everything they catch. The amount of cod skippers can land increases, while discards are reduced.

This scheme has now been expanded to 26 vessels following negotiations in Europe by the Scottish Government. This is a welcome step forward, although given that 58 skippers or around half the whitefish fleet applied to take part, it is disappointing that other countries blocked greater expansion in the scheme.

Although it will undoubtedly be disappointing for those vessels not able to take part, the expanded scheme does present a real opportunity for Scotland to demonstrate once again it can lead the way and strengthen the case for responsibility for fisheries to be managed on a regional basis.