Portfolio Question Time – in the Scottish Parliament at on 3 September 2025.
Elena Whitham
Scottish National Party
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the recently published NatWest Group and Beauhurst’s “New Startup Index”, indicating that Scotland has one of the fastest growing start-up economies in the UK. (S6O-04869)
Kate Forbes
Scottish National Party
I am hugely encouraged by the NatWest’s “New Startup Index”, which shows Scotland’s strong performance in business formations. Scotland saw 17.9 per cent growth in new business incorporations compared with 2024, demonstrating significant momentum in the start-up economy. We are by far the fastest-growing start-up economy in the United Kingdom and one of the fastest growing in Europe. That growth is not accidental; it is thanks to sustained investment and focus by the Government and policy choices such as the Techscaler programme, alongside the ambition and hard work of Scotland’s innovators and entrepreneurs, who should be enormously proud of themselves.
Elena Whitham
Scottish National Party
Does the Deputy First Minister agree that the report shows that Scotland is the fastest growing start-up economy in the UK and one of the fastest growing in Europe, with investment growing by 120 per cent in just over four years? Does she agree that that remarkable progress has been achieved by forward-thinking Scottish Government policies, in the face of Brexit damaging trade and labour markets and successive UK Governments failing to deliver the investment that Scotland needs? That is especially the case in rural communities such as mine, where all and any opportunities and such positive growth are very much welcome.
Kate Forbes
Scottish National Party
It is certainly encouraging to see the output from the work that we have undertaken in the past few years to change our enterprise support from being quite generic to, instead, vastly improving the scale and quality of infrastructure that is tailored to high-growth founders.
Scotland’s transformation into one of Europe’s fastest-growing start-up economies is a testament to that ambition and to the resilience and innovation of our people and businesses. The 120 per cent growth in investment over just four years is not only impressive but a clear signal that our forward-thinking policies have delivered real results. That has involved working in partnership with several different organisations. It was kicked off by Scotland’s first chief entrepreneur, Mark Logan.
Question Time is an opportunity for MPs and Members of the House of Lords to ask Government Ministers questions. These questions are asked in the Chamber itself and are known as Oral Questions. Members may also put down Written Questions. In the House of Commons, Question Time takes place for an hour on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays after Prayers. The different Government Departments answer questions according to a rota and the questions asked must relate to the responsibilities of the Government Department concerned. In the House of Lords up to four questions may be asked of the Government at the beginning of each day's business. They are known as 'starred questions' because they are marked with a star on the Order Paper. Questions may also be asked at the end of each day's business and these may include a short debate. They are known as 'unstarred questions' and are less frequent. Questions in both Houses must be written down in advance and put on the agenda and both Houses have methods for selecting the questions that will be asked. Further information can be obtained from factsheet P1 at the UK Parliament site.
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