Chamber and committees

The fund is targeted at supporting port and manufacturing facilities and supply chain provision for manufacturing offshore wind turbines and related components across Scotland.

It is expected that the fund will leverage significant private sector investment in the next four years and help deliver an estimated 28,000 jobs and £7.1 billion in value to Scotland’s economy over the coming decade.

I fully recognise the contribution that Educational Psychologists make in supporting children and young people to achieve their full potential and our long-standing commitment to funding educational psychology training reflects this. However, the funding provided was introduced in 1998 in response to a staffing shortage in that sector and there is now a need to ensure a consistent approach to funding of postgraduate training.

Education and lifelong learning are key drivers for jobs and economic growth. The Spending Review reflects our commitment to enable children and young people to improve their life chances, reach their full potential and make the best possible contribution to Scotland's economy. However, the Scottish budget faces real and significant long-term cuts in coming years and tough decisions have had to be made to prioritise spending. The decision to align the funding of trainee educational psychologists with funding for other post-graduate funding programmes reflects this.

Those students who are currently in training will not be affected, this means that there will be new educational psychologists entering the system for the next two years. We will use this time to work to ensure a sustainable approach going forward.

I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-04451 on 14 December 2011. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

We will continue to support the Educational Psychologist Workforce Planning Group which is chaired by Scottish Government Officials. The group will continue to meet to consider potential future impact.

The Glasgow 2014 Organising Committee is responsible for the majority of games-related contracts for the Commonwealth Games. In addition, the Scottish Government is working to use the London 2012 Olympics and Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games to help build the capacity of Scottish businesses, including social enterprises, to bid for contracts, in order that they can compete better in local, national and international markets.

The Scottish Government is determined to ensure that the public sector across Scotland makes the best use of public funds and is promoting the use of community benefit clauses in procurement contracts. Through this policy, 339 New Entrant Trainee (NET) employment places for the long-term unemployed or education leavers have already been secured in Glasgow across games projects.

Scottish companies continue to benefit from winning contracts for major events, giving a much needed boost to the economy. One hundred and thirty-three contracts out of 171 contracts awarded through the 2014 business portal have been awarded to Scottish based companies with the promise of more to come. These contracts are helping people back into work and others into their first jobs. Key to the government’s legacy aspirations is that the games act as a catalyst to support people moving into and towards employment through games-related job, volunteering and training opportunities.

Financial inclusion is part of our approach to tackling poverty, a portfolio responsibility of the Cabinet Secretary for Health, Wellbeing and Cities Strategy. Several Ministers have an interest in credit unions, depending on the issue. For example, I have portfolio responsibility for the third sector and the social economy, of which they are part.

Applications for the Enterprise Growth Fund are still being assessed and we expect decisions to be made in early December.

I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-03912 on 17 November 2011. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

The Scottish Government has committed up to £25 million towards the national football academy, funded through our Young Scots Fund. An announcement will be made early in the new year on how we will deliver the academy by 2016.

I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-03912 on 17 November 2011. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.