Chamber and committees

Yes. Scottish Government Ministers and the Fife Economy Partnership (FEP) have met annually since 2011 to discuss a wide range of issues relevant to the Fife economy. As part of that process, I met with the FEP last month on Wednesday 14 November.

The FEP engages with local MSPs, helping to ensure that the views of business, communities and elected representatives are heard. Most recently, the FEP and Fife Chamber of Commerce jointly held a Discussion Forum 29 August 2018 to which all Fife Constituency and Regional MSPs and MPs were invited. These Discussion Forums are intend to continue on an annual basis. Should any MSPs wish to attend a particular FEP meeting this would be matter for the Member and the FEP to discuss.

The Fife Task Force met eight times between 30 April 2015 and 25 October 2016. Elected Members involved in the Fife Task Force through its eighteen month term included the constituency MSP, constituency MP, and further MSP representation from Scottish Labour and Scottish Conservatives. Scottish Liberal Democrats were represented by a local councillor. These members were invited to attend Task Force meetings to discuss the progress of projects supported by the Fife Task Force Action Plan, and received updates on supported projects ahead of each meeting in papers.

Following closure of the Task Force, oversight of the Fife Task Force Economic Recovery Plan and related projects passed to the Fife Economy Partnership, a business sector led partnership tasked with considering policy and practice concerning economic infrastructure across Fife. A senior officer group continues to monitor the ongoing delivery of key Task Force projects against a framework based on key activity and output measures, as set out in project business cases.

At the time of the final meeting, the invitees included representatives from the Scottish Government; Fife Council; Tullis Russell Group; Scottish Enterprise; Skills Development Scotland (SDS); Department of Work & Pensions (DWP); Fife Economy Partnership; Fife Chamber of Commerce; Unite; Jenny Gilruth MSP; Peter Grant MP; Claire Baker MSP; Murdo Fraser MSP and Cllr Tony Martin.

The final meeting was co-chaired by Paul Wheelhouse MSP, then Minister for Business, Innovation and Energy, and Cllr David Ross, then Leader of Fife Council. It was attended by representatives from the Scottish Government; Fife Council, including Cllr Altany Craik of the Glenrothes Area Committee; Tullis Russell Group; Scottish Enterprise; SDS; DWP; Fife Economy Partnership; Murdo Fraser MSP; Claire Baker MSP; Cllr Tony Martin; and representatives from the constituency offices of Jenny Gilruth MSP and Peter Grant MP.

Local business interests were directly represented on the Fife Task Force itself by the Fife Chambers of Commerce. Local businesses were represented on the Fife Task Force Operational Group, which had a remit to consider draft business cases governing the projects and respective spend, proposed. These businesses cases and formal approval were then considered and approved at formal Task Force meetings. This representation was drawn from agreed representatives of the Fife Economy Partnership, a business led partnership. In addition senior representatives of Tullis Russell attended both the Task Force and Operational Group meetings given their locus as site owners and as a Fife business operator.

Additionally, Operational Group members through business networks and relationship management meetings, regularly referred local company or business requirements to the Fife Task Force. Fife Council advise that evidence of this engagement is provided in Fife Task Force meeting papers. Specifically Paper 3: Strand 2 – Business Recovery and Growth, tabled at the final meeting of the Task Force on 25 October 2016, which in extract states:

“…All [Scottish Enterprise] account managed companies in Fife were proactively contacted to determine if proposed investment plans could be brought forward to stimulate growth, and intervention rates were increased to 50% to assist this investment.

At 31 March 2016 there were 123 account managed companies with 21 in the growth pipeline and 5 growth prospects, which had grown from 120 account managed companies the previous March with 15 companies in the growth pipeline and 6 growth prospects, respectively…

… To end-September 2016, the [Business Gateway] Advisers have carried out: 107 Diagnostic Reviews; 4 Expert Help; 11 Task Force Events. … In addition, 12 Task Force small grants have been awarded, totalling £11,709. These have created 13 jobs and safeguarded a further 4 jobs. The uplift in turnover expected as a result is forecast to be £408,300.”

Information provided by Fife Council confirms that £5.1 million had been committed to agreed projects by the time the final meeting of the Task Force was held.

The Fife Task Force Action Plan identified a series of initiatives across four strands of activity: Workforce support and training (Strand 1); Business recovery and growth (Strand 2); Community regeneration (Strand 3); and Business infrastructure and investment, including the future use of the Tullis Russell site (Strand 4). Projects approved by the Task Force at the date of its closure were as follows:

Strand 1: Workforce support and training

• PACE support for employees impacted by the closure of Tullis Russell.
• Grow Your Own programme, supporting employers in the implementation of training, pre-employment support and apprenticeships to create additional jobs.

Strand 2: Business recovery and growth

• Acquisition and refurbishment of Iona House in John Smith Business Park, to safeguard existing jobs and create new employment in Kirkcaldy.
• A Business Growth Programme to provide additional resources to enhance the level of business growth activity undertaken by Business Gateway Fife.
• Development of a new Glenrothes Enterprise Hub to support of future enterprise training and development for Central Fife.
• An eight-month Entrepreneurial Leadership Programme (ELP), focussed on enhancing and developing participants’ business leadership skills.
• Financial support to enable to Glenrothes Papers Ltd to continue to trade from a building on the former Tullis Russell site.

Strand 3: Community Regeneration

• Delivery of a Town Centre Improvement Programme in Leslie and Markinch.
• Promotion and development of events in Glenrothes that offered new visitor activities, such as the Fife Science Festival and the Fife Comedy Festival.
• An Options Appraisal of dilapidated commercial and residential property in Glenwood Centre.
• Financial Support to Glenrothes Community Groups.
• Financial support to support the Tullis Russell Mills Band’s long-term aspiration to create a Centre for Musical Excellence in the Glenrothes Area.
• Development of Adam Smith Enterprise Academy in Kirkcaldy Town Centre’s Merchant Quarter.
• Installation of lighting on the Promenade in Leven, and redevelopment of the listed Kino Cinema building.

Strand 4: Business infrastructure and investment

• Projects focused on the Queensway Industrial Estate Area, adjacent to the Tullis Russell site, and acquisitions in order to assemble land and make it available for development.
• Stage 2 Development Framework to explore potential use of the Tullis Russell site.

Today I am publishing my further plans for tackling alcohol-related harms in Scotland, in Alcohol Framework 2018: Preventing Harm
(https://www.gov.scot/ISBN/9781787813328 ). In this new Framework, I am prioritising 20 actions to build on the wide range of existing measures which seek to change Scotland’s relationship with alcohol, including the world-leading minimum unit pricing policy.

The new work I am taking forward from today includes considering the options for mandatory restrictions on alcohol marketing in Scotland to protect children and young people, taking a firm stance on giving consumers useful health information on product labels and campaign work to raise awareness of the Chief Medical Officer’s lower-risk drinking guidelines of 14 units per week.

Following calls from across the Scottish Parliamentary Chamber earlier this year to keep the minimum unit price under review, in this new Framework I commit to reviewing the minimum unit price after two years of operation.

The Scottish Government made £6 million available to Fife Council to support delivery of the Fife Task Force Action Plan.

Prior to closure of the Task Force on 25 October 2016, all projects seeking funding were framed in a business case agreed by Fife Council or Scottish Enterprise prior to submission for consideration by the Fife Task Force Operational Group. The Operational Group, with membership drawn from the Scottish Government, Fife Council, Scottish Enterprise, Skills Development Scotland and the Fife Economy Partnership, was responsible for assessing business cases and making recommendations to the Scottish Government and Fife Council, who then gave subsequent approval to each business case on behalf of the joint chairs of the of the Task Force.

When the Task Force closed, responsibility for ongoing implementation of the original Action Plan and associated investment programme passed to the Fife Economy Partnership. Fife Economy Partnership (FEP) meets quarterly and brings together key people from Fife’s business community and representatives of Fife Council and the wider public sector, including Scottish Government officials. All of the resource originally provided to the Task Force has been allocated. Annual meetings between Scottish Government Ministers and the FEP have been held since 2011 and, as part of that process, I met with the FEP yesterday, Wednesday 14 November to discuss a wide range of issues relevant to the Fife economy.

Our starting point for the Child Protection Improvement Programme has always been that our system has areas of significant strength. The programme is therefore about building on those strengths and recognising the distance travelled. The Child Protection Improvement Programme blog provides an update on the progress being made, including a number of key recommendations which have been completed:

The National Child Protection Leadership Group has been established and is overseeing the implementation of the recommendations of the Child Protection Improvement Programme which incorporates the Child Protection System Review Chaired by Catherine Dyer. In the spirit of transparency and open government minutes are published on www.gov.scot .

A National Action Plan on Internet Safety for Children and Young People was published in 2017 which priorities equipping children and young people themselves to stay safe online, supporting professionals, parents and carers.

In April 2018, the second Annual progress report on the National Action Plan to Prevent and Tackle Child Sexual Exploitation was published.

The formal public consultation on section 12 of the Children and Young Persons (Scotland) Act 1937, to explore the limitations of the current offence and the scope of a reframed offence, is due to be launched shortly.

Scotland’s first Human Trafficking and Exploitation Strategy , published in May 2017 sets out how we can get better at identifying and supporting victims; at identifying perpetrators and disrupting their activity; and in raising awareness across the board.

The first annual progress report on Human Trafficking was published on 14 June 2018.

During the recent leadership events, the Care Inspectorate reported that they have found local services, in the majority of circumstances, to be having a good or very good impact on children and families.

The Chief Officers’ Leadership Events which took place in April and May 2018, in Glasgow and Perth respectively were well received. The presentations and a summary of the day are available on the CELCIS website .

The Scottish Government will continue to work with partners to ensure implementation of the remaining recommendations and will continue to record progress on the Child Protection webpages .