7. To ask the Scottish Government how it is working with SMEs to pursue sustainable and ethical economic growth. (S5O-04515)

Our aim is to build a stronger, fairer and greener economy. We therefore continue to encourage businesses of all kinds to sign up to the Scottish business pledge, and have supported initiatives such as Scotland CAN B, which helps businesses to assess their social and environmental impact. We are also supporting businesses to capitalise on the growth opportunities that are provided by growing green markets.

Recently, I read an article by one of the Scottish Government’s advisers who said that 80 per cent of jobs in Scotland are in the private sector, and that 98 per cent of those employers employ fewer than 50 people. We can see that SMEs are the key part of the Scottish economy. However, I am asking myself where the jobs and growth of the future are going to come from, and what the strategy is.

Where is the Scottish National Investment Bank at? Will it pursue a clear strategy to invest in SMEs? What is the overall strategy for investment and growth in SMEs across Scotland? Do we have a strategy under which we are going to fund specific areas and sectors?

SMEs are the backbone of Scotland’s economy—the numbers that Alex Rowley cited demonstrate that—so all of our economic response will have an impact on them and will support them. “Economic Recovery Implementation Plan”, which we published recently, demonstrates in which sectors we believe SMEs can develop. They will be supported in that transition.

We have doubled the flexible workforce development fund to ensure that SMEs can help their staff to retrain and upskill, and we have increased the digital boost fund to help SMEs to capitalise on the increasing digital and online market. Digital and green jobs are most definitely where we see opportunities for the future. We are also making sure that we maximise the opportunities for our SMEs to capitalise on procurement activity—in particular, with the health service.

There is a wide range of areas on which we are very focused, but Alex Rowley is absolutely right: whatever we do in economic support must focus on SMEs, because they are disproportionately important to the economy in Scotland, compared with the rest of the UK.