Scottish Government Debate: Empowering Entrepreneurs and Innovators

Kate Forbes S6M-17785 That the Parliament supports the Scottish Government’s ambition to establish Scotland as one of Europe’s fastest-growing start-up economies; welcomes the significant progress made towards this goal; congratulates Ana Stewart on her appointment as Scotland’s new Chief Entrepreneur, and welcomes the record investment of over £30 million to accelerate Scotland’s emergence as a leading hub for innovation, entrepreneurship and high-growth businesses. Murdo Fraser S6M-17785.3 As an amendment to motion S6M-17785 in the name of Kate Forbes (Empowering Entrepreneurs and Innovators), leave out from “supports” to end and insert “calls on the Scottish Government to make greater effort to support businesses and entrepreneurship in Scotland; notes concerns identified by the Fraser of Allander Institute that only 9% of Scottish businesses believe that the Scottish Government understands the business community, and that the New Deal for Business has caused this relationship to stagnate further; recognises that Scotland has a lower business birth rate and stock rate compared to the rest of the UK, which has hindered entrepreneurship; congratulates Ana Stewart on her appointment as Scotland’s new Chief Entrepreneur, but believes that a new approach is needed to deliver the high-growth economy that businesses and entrepreneurs need; welcomes the publication of Lessons from Singapore for Scotland’s Economy by the Hunter Foundation, which urges the Scottish and UK governments to stop punishing entrepreneurs, deliver a long-term growth strategy and foster a more business-friendly environment through lower taxation, and believes that entrepreneurship and innovation can be enhanced through Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party plans to drive economic growth by cutting taxes for workers and businesses.” Daniel Johnson S6M-17785.2 As an amendment to motion S6M-17785 in the name of Kate Forbes (Empowering Entrepreneurs and Innovators), insert at end "; believes that Scottish businesses across sectors have not had adequate support from the Scottish Government to break down barriers to innovation, and that support must extend beyond start-up stage to provide advice and investment for scaling up; notes that the proportion of businesses in Scotland that are innovating, that is those introducing or developing a new product, service or process, has fallen from 50% in 2012-14 to just 32% in 2020-22, and calls on the Scottish Government to reform Scotland’s economic agencies to better support entrepreneurs and innovation in sectors across Scotland, including capital intensive sectors like life sciences and advanced manufacturing."