Chamber and committees

I visited India from 26 October to 1 November 2012 spending time in Delhi and Jodhpur.

India is a priority country for the Scottish Government’s international engagement. The strategic aims of the visit were to develop Scotland and India’s bilateral relationship in terms of trade and investment, education, culture, tourism and government. Specifically to: promote business links between India and Scotland; develop deeper relationships with existing and potential key investors; connect and supporting cultural activity that celebrates and develops links between India and Scotland, helping to develop greater trade links and inward investment; develop a closer relationship between the Scottish and Indian Governments heritage bodies (Historic Scotland and the Archaeological Survey of India) to promote the sharing of technical expertise; develop links between educational institutes in India and Scotland; promote Scotland’s strengths in innovation and education; promote Scotland as a place to visit and develop a closer relationship with the Indian Government

On 27 October 2012, I had a high level business meeting with India’s newest Global Scot, Mr SK Munjal, Chairman of the Hero Group. At the meeting we discussed HERO’s continued commitment to working in Scotland and their future business plans.

I then met with the Director General of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) - an autonomous organisation affiliated to the Indian Ministry of External Affairs. At the meeting they discussed areas to develop Scotland and India’s cultural collaborative relationship, such as by encouraging more Indian artists to perform in Edinburgh’s Festivals. I then attended a lunch (facilitated by ICCR) with leading members of the Indian cultural sector, including Pratibha Prahlad, Director of the Delhi International Arts Festival and Shashi Tharoor, who was subsequently appointed Minister for Human Resource Development.

Later that day I met with the British High Commissioner to discuss issues of interest regarding Scotland and India’s bi-lateral relationship.

On 28 October 2012, I travelled to Jodhpur in Rajasthan to witness the signing of a historic three - year agreement between Celtic Connections and the Jodhpur RIFF (Rajasthan International Folk Festival). The reciprocal performing arrangement will enable Scottish and Indian musicians to showcase their work internationally. Indian musicians will perform at Celtic Connections in January 2014, the year of the Commonwealth Games.

During the festival, I supported Scottish musicians who were performing and met with the patron of the festival – His Highness Maharaja Gaj Singh II of Marwar-Jodhpur. I also visited a local Rajasthani village to learn about the impact of a ‘water harvesting’ project run by the Jal Bhagirathi Foundation to provide clean drinking water to villages in the region. I shared information about the innovative working taking place in Scotland in relation to the ‘Scotland as the hydro nation’.

On 30 October 2012, I returned to Delhi and visited a local school where I met with young people who are participating in Scottish Opera’s ‘Friendship Oratorio Project’. The project will unite 100 young people and emerging artists from seven Commonwealth countries who will develop their own stories about what friendship means to them. In India, they are working with the Tehelka Foundation - an organisation who aim to empower disadvantaged young people through arts education. The Friendship Oratorio will be performed in Scotland in 2014 as Glasgow gears up to host the Commonwealth Games.

Later that evening, I raised the profile of Scottish Dance Theatre’s first tour of India, by attending their performance as part of the Delhi International Arts Festival. Alongside the Director of the Indian Council of Cultural Relations, the British High Commissioner and the Artistic Director of the Delhi International Arts Festival, I congratulated the performers and highlighted Scotland’s burgeoning cultural relationship with India.

On 31 October 2012, I shared a platform with senior representatives from the Planning Commission (Government of India), Federation of India Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and senior representatives from Scottish Universities, at the Innovation in Education Roundtable.

At the event, which was attended by more than 40 representatives of the Indian government, academia, business and industry, I positioned Scotland as a centre of excellence for research and innovation, reinforcing Scotland’s commitment to work in, and with, India in developing sustainable partnerships. This built on last year’s visit to India by the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning.

I announced four innovative partnerships: Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen (RGU) will work with the Maharashtra Institute of Technology School of Telecom Management (MITSOT), to host Indian postgraduate students in Scotland for part of their postgraduate diploma; Dundee University will run a UK-wide work placement programme as part of the UK-India Education and Research Initiative, helping graduates to gain work experience in India; Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh will run a project that will use Scottish academic expertise to support the development of sustainable community-led tourism businesses in rural India; and following a successful pilot-programme in India, Scottish Investment Operations has launched the Investment Accounting Diploma, an industry-made professional qualification backed by the world’s largest financial institutions.

Later that afternoon, I attended a workshop as part of VisitScotland’s Indian sales mission. The event was attended by 25 Indian travel agents and tour operators who were graduating from the Scots agents programme – an online educational programme providing in-depth information about what to see and do in Scotland.

That evening, I hosted a ‘Team Scotland reception’ at the British High Commissioner’s Residence with over 200 high level guests from the India business, education, tourism and culture sector, where I delivered a keynote speech that launched the Indian business network and announced the opening of the new Scottish Development International office in Hyderabad. Musical collaboration between Indian and Scotland was showcased as well as Scottish food and drink.

On 1 November 2012, I welcomed the expansion of Scottish energy company Wood Group’s Indian operations. I visited their new office in Gurgaon, South of Delhi, where they will consolidate all their activities in India and presented the Wood Group with a plaque to commemorate their expansion and move to new offices. The visit reinforced the Scottish Government’s commitment to supporting and encouraging business links with India.

Later that afternoon, I met with the President and Country Head of Yes Bank to hear about progress being made on the Cooperative Tourism Development project. Yes Bank are a key partner in the project (financed through the Scottish Government’s South Asia fund) which aims to deliver sustainable economic development through the creation of tourism enterprises in Uttararkhand and West Bengal. The project uses the destination management organisation (DMO) model which was originally developed in Scotland and is being refined by Queen Margaret University in this project.

During the course of the visit, I had meetings with several Indian Government departments, including the Planning Commission and the Indian Council for Cultural Relations. I also met with Dr Sengupta, the Director General of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) – an office of the Indian Ministry for Culture. At this meeting I gifted the ASI and Indian people valuable data (three-Dimensional animations and models) from the Scottish Ten site in India – Rani ki Vav in Gujarat. They discussed the progress of the Scottish Ten Project and the continuation of partnership and skill sharing between Archaeological Survey of India, Historic Scotland, the Glasgow School of Art and CyArk.

Rani ki Vav is currently on the UNESCO Tentative World Heritage List which means that the World Heritage Committee will consider it for official World Heritage Site (WHS) designation. It is hoped that the Scottish Ten digital preservation project will contribute to the ASI’s bid for UNESCO World Heritage Status recognition for the site.

My visit successfully developed Scotland and India’s bi-lateral relationship in terms of trade and investment, education, culture, tourism and government. The visit also attracted positive press coverage in both India and Scotland.

On 26 November 2012, the nineteenth meeting of the British-Irish Council was held in Cardiff, Wales. We had a successful meeting attended by ministers from all eight member administrations. The Deputy First Minister, the Minister for Children and Young People and I represented the Scottish Government.

The meeting began with a discussion on current economic developments and the measures being taken by each administration to tackle these issues. More specifically, delegates focussed on administrations’ respective efforts to stimulate the economy through the utilisation of well managed and coordinated programmes of capital investment. The Scottish Government asserted that the three-pronged approach being taken in Scotland, which focuses on boosting public sector capital investment; taking action to tackle unemployment and, in particular, youth unemployment; and enhancing economic confidence by encouraging private sector investment and providing security to Scottish households, is crucial to securing future prosperity for the people of Scotland. The Deputy First Minister called on the UK Government to provide a much needed stimulus to the economy through increases to capital investment.

The Council then welcomed a paper on Early Years policy, with all council members recognising the importance of continuing in efforts to do everything possible to protect and nurture our children and give them the best possible start in life. The Minister for Children and Young People made clear the projected benefits, both social and economic, in taking a strong collaborative approach with local authorities and health and social service providers to deliver support to parents throughout the key formative years of their children’s development.

In line with discussions held at previous summits on youth employment and its particular significance to both the contemporary and future economic and social climate, delegates noted the latest relevant data provided in a report to the Council. It was agreed that such data should be supplied at every summit meeting as a supporting element of the now substantive agenda item on the economy.

The council noted the ongoing collaborative engagement of administrations through the various policy workstreams. Members agreed that final proposals for a new workstream on creative industries, to be chaired by Jersey, should be consolidated into a report to be presented to the council at the next summit.

Members also acknowledged the progress of the Standing Secretariat in this first year since their having been established in Edinburgh and agreed that the Secretariat should continue to report to the Council on the actions that they undertake in providing support to Senior Coordinators and Workstreams.

The Communiqué that was issued by the British-Irish Council after the meeting can be found on the Secretariat website at:

http://www.britishirishcouncil.org/sites/default/files/19%20-%20Nineteenth%20Summit%20-%20Cardiff%20-%2026%20November%202012%20.pdf.

The 2012 Ryder Cup at Medinah outside Chicago provided a unique opportunity to promote Scotland to a worldwide audience at one of the biggest global sporting events; and to develop new and existing business relationships through an extensive programme of wrap-around activity.

The next Ryder Cup will take place at Gleneagles in 2014 and has the potential to generate £100 million for the Scottish economy with tens of thousands of spectators attending from all over the world and millions more watching the tournament on television in more than 180 countries. Over 200,000 people attended the 2012 tournament at Medinah and over 500 million watched it on television.

The Ryder Cup 2014 Host Nation Agreement obliged a Scottish delegation to be present at Medinah for the handover (Wales were under a similar obligation as hosts of the 2010 Ryder Cup to attend in Kentucky in 2008). Alongside representatives from The Gleneagles Hotel, Perth & Kinross Council, Tayside Police and Ryder Cup Europe, representatives of Team Scotland partners (the Scottish Government, VisitScotland, EventScotland and Scottish Development International) were able to observe and learn from the hosting of this year’s event to help inform preparations for the 2014 Ryder Cup at Gleneagles.

The Scottish delegation was led by the First Minister accompanied by the Minister for Commonwealth Games and Sport. The First Minister visited the State of Illinois from 25 September 2012 to 1 October 2012 and the Minister visited from 24 to 29 September 2012. As well as attending the opening ceremony of the 2012 Ryder Cup at Medinah, the First Minister accepted, at the invitation of Ryder Cup Europe, the official ‘Silver Putter’ at the closing ceremony, symbolising the handover of the tournament to Scotland as the host nation for the 2014 tournament. Ministers also carried out an extensive programme of targeted engagement with high-level business, media, tourism and civic leaders, to develop relationships, support potential and existing inward investment in Scotland, and to promote Scotland, as the Home of Golf, and the host of the 2014 Ryder Cup. Ministers were supported by a team of 12 officials from the Scottish Government with a policy, logistical support and media engagement remit. In addition 22 officials from VisitScotland and Scottish Development International attended with a specific tourism, events and business remit.

Scotland’s strong presence at Medinah not only helped build and strengthen relationships with the world’s media ahead of Ryder Cup 2014 but resulted in significant press, broadcast and online coverage throughout the globe, particularly following the official handover ceremony. On the Monday morning following the Medinah event more than 9,000 online articles mentioned the 2014 Ryder Cup and Gleneagles or Scotland. In addition, our Gleneagles 2014 stand was seen by tens of thousands of spectators on the ground and millions watching at home.

The First Minister also helped to encourage the expansion of Scottish companies into the North American market. He joined Airdrie-based company Albert Bartlett - which currently employs 700 full-time staff in Scotland – to announce details of the company’s launch into the US market. By partnering with supermarket giant Walmart, Albert Bartlett’s brand Rooster potatoes will be sold in Colorado and Georgia, before a wider roll-out to stores in multiple US states during 2013. The First Minister then hosted a reception to welcome to Chicago a Scottish development international trade mission of 13 Scottish food and drink and golf related companies seeking to do business in the United States. Also present at that reception were around 20 US companies from the aerospace, financial services, life sciences, automotive and chemicals industries who are exploring opportunities to invest and grow their businesses in Scotland.

The First Minister’s work in Chicago also included a number of business meetings which secured over 140 new jobs and tens of millions in new investment from US based companies who are successfully expanding their operations in Scotland.

• Following a roundtable discussion with key stakeholders in the oil and gas sector, GE oil and gas announced a £9 million expansion of their oil and gas centre of excellence in Montrose and the creation of 40 new jobs by 2014.

• The First Minister also met key representatives of automotive company American Axle ahead of a joint announcement that the firm was establishing a new manufacturing and engineering centre of excellence in Glasgow, by investing £3.6million in new equipment and supporting approximately 80 jobs, aided by financial assistance, totalling over £570k, from Scottish Enterprise.

• Further reinforcing Scotland’s world-leading position in the field of life sciences, the First Minister met with global life-science and high-tech chemical company Sigma Aldrich to announce the expansion of the company’s operations on its Irvine site with a new manufacturing project creating 24 new jobs.

The First Minister also delivered a keynote speech to business leaders and decision makers at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, one of the USA’s oldest and most prominent international affairs organisations, where the First Minister outlined an independent Scotland’s ability to be an influential nation on the global stage.

Following the speech the First Minister met with Mayor Rahm Emanuel to discuss strengthening links between Scotland and Chicago particularly through sharing expertise on major infrastructure and educational initiatives.

The First Minister also supported the cultural activities going on in Chicago during the Ryder Cup which brought Scotland’s rich and diverse culture to the people of Illinois. As well as appearing on Chicago’s premier fine art’s radio station, WFMT, the First Minister attended the US premiere of the Transatlantic Sessions by traditional US and Scottish musicians from the world famous Celtic Connections festival, to a crowd of thousands in Chicago’s Millennium Park. He also viewed the Kelpies public art by Scottish sculptor Andy Scott which is being exhibited as part of the Chicago Sculpture International Outdoor Exhibition in Grant Park. The Kelpies are scale models of artwork that will form part of the £41 million Helix project taking shape over the Forth and Clyde canal.

The Minister for Commonwealth Games represented Scotland at a number of official Ryder Cup engagements, including the Junior Ryder Cup at Olympia Fields on
25 September 2012 where she discussed the success of Scotland’s ClubGolf programme, which has introduced over 260,000 nine year olds to the game of golf. The Minister’s programme of portfolio and cultural engagements in Chicago included a meeting with the Consortium to Lower Obesity in Chicago Children (CLOCC) to learn about Chicago’s approach to tackling the epidemic of childhood obesity and to share examples of Scotland’s own successes with initiatives such as free school meals, the Take Life On campaign and Active Schools. While in Chicago, the Minister supported Scotland Re: Designed, a collaboration between the Scottish Government, Creative Scotland and Scottish Development International to showcase up and coming Scottish fashion and textiles designers to US fashion buyers and media. A similar Scotland Re: Designed initiative in the US earlier this year generated sales of £180,000. The Minister also hosted guests of Scotland at a special performance of the National Theatre of Scotland’s critically acclaimed production of The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater, in celebration of the Year of Creative Scotland and Scotland’s growing cultural links with the city of Chicago.

The overall cost of Team Scotland’s participation at the 2012 Ryder Cup was £468,580, and every effort was made to minimise costs including liaising with partner organisations to secure preferred rates where possible and identifying in-kind support. The Team Scotland approach in Chicago will help ensure we maximise the economic benefits of hosting the Ryder Cup in 2014 which will generate at least £100 million for the Scottish economy.

The aim of the Council House Building Programme which was introduced in April 2009 was to incentivise local authorities to begin building new homes, the first such central government support to councils in a generation. Since 2009 we have committed almost £115 million of funding which will deliver over 4,400 [4,470] council homes across Scotland. We have also brought into one budget council and registered social landlord (RSL) funding streams. This will enable each council to exercise its strategic role more flexibly and to put forward to government a programme of social and affordable housing developments based on their local housing strategy.

The minimum income guarantee, for students from lowest income households is part of a package of changes to student support that, together with our commitment to free tuition fees, will provide the best overall package of support.

Students from lowest income households will be able to access a combination of loans and bursaries amounting to £7,250.

The simplification of the system will allow all prospective students to understand the funds available to them to assist their studies.

All Scottish domiciled students, irrespective of circumstances, will be able to access at least £4,500 in student living cost loans if they wish to do so. This recognises the financial pressures on middle income families as a result of difficult economic conditions, the need articulated by the NUS for students to have more cash, and the expense of alternative finance through credit cards and exorbitant pay day loans.

The Scottish Government has today published its refreshed International Framework. This is available from the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 54392).

Scotland’s International Framework builds on the sense of outward-looking optimism currently developing in Scotland. It sets out our renewed commitment to supporting a focused and collaborative approach to our overseas engagement so that Scotland can develop relationships on the international stage and increase sustainable economic growth.

Working closely with our partners (such as Scottish Development International, VisitScotland, EventScotland and Creative Scotland) and engaging with our priority countries and regions, we will ensure that Scotland is the first choice when people are thinking about where to invest, live, study and visit.

Through our Partnership Action for Continuing Employment (PACE) initiative, we are working very closely with the Department of Work and Pensions to deliver a package of support which will be specially tailored to meet the needs of employees facing redundancy at the Remploy Netherton factory.

A Disability Employment Adviser will be appointed as a Personal Case Worker to provide support to each individual employee. The package of support is due to begin during week commencing Monday 30 July and will last for a period of up to 18 months as required.