Scottish Parliament – March 5, 2025 – 2

S6M-16667.1: As an amendment to motion S6W-16667 in the name of Kate Forbes (Achieving a FairBalance in the UK’s Economy), leave out from “deserve” to end and insert “mustgain greater recognition in order to reach their potential, attract investmentand deliver growth and opportunity across Scotland;

welcomes the UKGovernment’s commitment to investing in Scotland since July 2024, whichincludes £200 million to secure the future of Grangemouth, £125 million forGreat British Energy, based in Aberdeen, £5 million to support the ScotchWhisky industry, £1.4 billion in important local growth projects of which thereis at least £200 million to revive specific Scottish towns, support for GlasgowCity Region and North East Scotland Investment Zones and a commitment that Glasgowwill be one of the four initial regions to benefit from strategic partnershipswith the new National Wealth Fund;

notes that these measures have beenannounced within months of a Labour administration, and, by contrast, theScottish National Party administration took 16 years to convene an investorpanel to make recommendations on how Scotland can attract international capitalinvestment;

understands that the investor panel for mobilising internationalcapital to help finance the transition to net zero highlighted significantissues, including that the ‘prevailing perception is that the ScottishGovernment and wider public sector is not supportive of business’ and that ‘thecurrent investment pipeline is too diffuse. A pipeline needs to be formed of projectsthat are properly costed, shaped and prioritised. It needs to be a realpipeline, not a wish list’;

further understands that addressing these concernswill be key to unlocking the potential of Scotland to attract investment, andcalls for the Scottish Government to use all levers available to it, and towork constructively with the UK Government, to achieve the shared ambition ofdelivering growth and prosperity across Scotland.”

Original motion(S6M-16667): That the Parliament recognises that Scotland’s many high-growth sectors, which are driven by world class innovation, deserve greater recognition from, and promotion by, the UK Government, which must not unfairly focus investment in the south-east of England, or the so-called golden triangle of Oxford, Cambridge and London, or treat Scotland as an afterthought, especially when announcing or developing policy.