Scottish Parliament e-Brief

Issue 15, 17th April 2000

 

SECTION 1 - BUSINESS THIS WEEK

Parliament is in recess. Committee Business resumes on Tuesday 25th April and the full Parliament next meets on Wednesday 26th April.

SECTION 2 - NEWS

BUSINESS MENTORS TO BOOST BUSINESS GROWTH, ANNOUNCES HENRY MCLEISH

On 13th April, a new £300,000 mentoring scheme, aimed at helping small businesses in Scotland to grow and achieve success, was launched by Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning, Henry McLeish.

The national initiative called "Business Mentoring Scotland" has been developed between the Scottish Executive, Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise.

Under the scheme, established successful business people will be assigned to growing small companies to give advice and practical help in their development.

Mentors will provide their time free of charge. The scheme will initially focus on companies with growth potential but the Scottish Executive will be working with Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise to consider broadening the scheme over time.

Launching the initiative at the Scottish Executive in Glasgow, Mr McLeish said:

"Throughout the course of their lives everyone needs good advice and assistance from others to help them make the most of their individual talents.

"Small businesses are no different. Throughout every stage of their development they can learn from successful people who have experienced the same difficulties in building their businesses.

"That is why I am announcing the 'Business Mentoring Scotland' initiative today. This will be a private/public sector partnership that will provide new and small businesses with growth potential with an experienced business mentor to guide and support business activities.

"I am pleased to announce that two business people have already offered to act as mentors. They are:

"I am also delighted that Andy Campbell of Red Lemon Studios, a Scottish success in providing computer games software for major international publishers has also agreed to back our initiative.

"This is a good start but I want to harness the entrepreneurial skills of all the Scottish business community. We want committed and enterprising people from various backgrounds, industrial sectors, and both women and men, to provide inspiration, advice and encouragement to Scotland's new generation of entrepreneurs.

"I have set ambitious targets for the scheme to achieve in its first year. I hope 130 mentoring relationships can be established, 100 in the Scottish Enterprise area and 30 in the Highlands and Islands Enterprise area. I will consider increasing this target after the first year.

"This is an important opportunity for the business community to help shape Scotland's future by making a personal investment in the Scottish economy. I urge every business person who has the time to get involved in this initiative and play their part in helping build a vibrant and successful Scottish economy."

Scottish Enterprise Chief Executive, Robert Crawford said:

"Mentors can do a great deal to help businesses achieve their full potential. They can do this by helping to build confidence and by providing support and guidance and, when necessary, by encouraging people to take risks.

"I am confident that Scotland's leading entrepreneurs will add to the dynamism of the Scottish economy by helping other companies."

The Scottish Executive has set up a national telephone number for both potential mentors and business looking for a mentor. The number is 0845 6096622 and is open now.

 

McCONNELL ANNOUNCES INCREASE IN EU STRUCTURAL FUNDS

Last Thursday, Scottish Executive Finance Minister Jack McConnell today announced that funding for areas which are graded "transitional" under the EU Structural Funds Objective 2 programme is to increase by 40 per cent.

Speaking on the day that funding levels for the three Objective 2 programmes in Scotland were confirmed Mr McConnell said:

"I am delighted to be able to announce today that, as well as an increase in the overall Objective 2 budget, there is to be a 40 per cent rise in the cash available for transitional areas under the new programmes. Almost 200 million Euro is now available for transitional areas - accounting for almost a quarter of the full Objective 2 budget, an increase of over £50 million.

"Because of our increased economic prosperity fewer areas in Scotland now qualify for full Objective 2 status under the new round of European programmes. However those areas which are losing Objective 2 status still qualify for transitional funding and this additional money will make a real and significant difference to them - particularly since many only narrowly missed qualifying for full status.

"I am also pleased to announce that the overall value for the Scottish Objective 2 programmes has now been confirmed at 800 million Euro (currently £490 million) over the next seven years.

"This is greater than the 700 million Euro originally anticipated and is due to reallocation within the amount available to the UK. The sums available for the three programmes within Scotland are now: 480 million Euro (currently £290 million) for the West; 250 million Euro (£150 million) for the East; and 73 million Euro (£44 million) to the South of Scotland.

"This is an excellent outcome for Scotland and we must make sure we maximise the benefit over the next seven years. With enlargement of the EU imminent Scotland's relative economic position is likely to improve and we cannot count on the same level of funding in the future. So now we must make every penny count in order to leave a lasting legacy from the programmes."

Objective 2 funds, for both full and transitional areas, are designed to assist areas affected by industrial restructuring, urban deprivation, rural decline and fisheries dependence.

The draft Single Programming documents for each of the three Objective 2 Programme areas are currently being finalised by the designated Plan Teams. It is anticipated that they will be submitted to the European Commission by the end of April for approval in October. Projects will not be expected to get off the ground until the end of this year.

 

HENRY MCLEISH WELCOMES RISE IN SCOTTISH APPLICANTS TO HIGHER EDUCATION

A dramatic rise in the number of Scottish applicants to home universities was weclomed on Friday 14th April.

Figures released by the Universities and Colleges Admissions Services (UCAS) show a 19 per cent increase in the number of Scottish applicants to higher education between December and March.

A total of 3,587 Scots applied through UCAS between 16 December 1999 and 24 March 2000 - an increase of 19.2 per cent on the same period last year. The total number of Scottish applicants for higher education courses in the UK starting in autumn 2000 is now 26,802, fractionally up on the 26,780 recorded at the same time last year.

I welcome this increase in Scottish applicants to higher education. Clearly students who may have delayed their application while we examined student finance have now decided to submit it.

It seems highly likely that our announcement to abolish student tuition fees from this autumn played a significant part in this. One of the very few areas in the UK showing an increase in applicants is Scots applying to study in Scotland.

Although it is too late to influence these figures, I hope our recent announcement to pay the final honours year fees for English, Welsh and Northern Irish students, will help encourage more of them to consider Scottish institutions.

The higher education sector has been allocated £609 million this year. That is a rise of 3.1 per cent on last year.

We have also announced an additional package of £50 million to improve student support.

This, coupled with the launch of the Scottish Education Brand earlier this year and a more determined marketing effort from our universities should demonstrate to overseas applicants how much we value higher education in Scotland.

I hope we can now move on from concentrating on application figures to the wider agenda we have to tackle in higher education. Central to that is improving social inclusion through measures to widen access to further and higher education.

Improving research is also central to the creation of a knowledge economy. On Thursday 13th April, Enterprise & Lifelong Learning Minister, Henry McLeish, launched a report recommending that we establish a science strategy for Scotland. Our Universities will certainly have a key role to play in that strategy.

UCAS figures released on 14 April 2000 on the numbers of applicants and applications to UK higher education institutions as at 24 March 2000 can be accessed on their website at www.ucas.ac.uk

 

SECTION 3 - NOTES ON THIS WEEK’S DEBATES

Parliament is in recess.

 

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