Scottish Government officials have engaged in discussions with Benny Higgins regarding a Scottish National Investment Bank via telephone calls on 22 August, 29 August, 8 September and held face to face meetings on 1 September and 22 September, both in Edinburgh.

I met with Benny Higgins on 21 September 2017. The First Minister met with Mr Higgins on 27 September to discuss implementation planning to create a Scottish National Investment Bank. Both these meetings took place at the Scottish Parliament.

Skills Development Scotland (SDS), who administer the Transition Training Fund (TTF) on behalf of Scottish Government, provide up to date information on the funds’ performance on a weekly basis. This can be accessed from the following website https://transitiontrainingfund.co.uk/.

SDS have advised that up until the 10^th September 2017, there have been 6,003 applications since the TTF was announced. This is represented across the financial years below:

• 2015-17 – 4,393 applications to the fund, resulting in 1,822 individuals supported

• 2017-18 – 1,610 applications to the fund, resulting in 675 individuals supported

SDS have advised that no information is gathered or held on applications to the fund, by sector. However, below is a breakdown of the number of applicants approved by sector, by year:

Source: SDS

The TTF is a £12 million fund, operating for a three year period. The total in Year 1 for 2016-17, was £5.1 million. The current expenditure for Year 2, calculated from 1 April 2017 until end July 2017 and includes both the actual and committed expenditure, is £1.671 million. Anticipated spend for 2017-18 is budgeted at £5 million, with a further £2 million in 2018-19.

We expect the work led by Benny Higgins to develop detailed proposals for the remit, capitalisation, governance, operating model, regulatory timeline and financial risk management to report by February 2018. The Terms of Reference for this work have been published and can be found at https://beta.gov.scot/publications/national-investment-bank-implementation-plan-terms-of-reference/

The Scottish Government is committed to the development of Scotland’s fintech sector and is working in partnership with the industry to support and promote Scotland as a fintech centre and create an environment that will allow Scotland's fintech community to achieve its full potential.

Development of our fintech capability presents a significant opportunity for Scotland, and is integral to the future growth of Scotland's established "Financial & Business Service's" growth sector.

Work is well underway to double the number of people working for Scottish Development International in Europe from 20 to 40. The expansion will mean that SDI has a presence in 10 countries in Europe. Precise locations are being based on an assessment of regional and market opportunities for Scotland. SDI expects all appointments to made in the next few months.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-03966 on 16 November 2016, which provided totals for SDI's workforce each year from 2011-12 to 2015-16. The total for SDI's workforce for 2001-2002 and 2002-2003 are not available due to organisational Records Retention Policy. The figure for 2016-17 is not yet available as the Annual Report and Accounts for 2016-17 have not yet been published.

Figures from 2003-2004 are provided in the following table:

* Calculated as full time equivalent posts and rounded to the nearest full post.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

Table 1 shows total employment, self-employment, annual change and annual percentage change in Scotland from Mar 1999–Feb 2000 to April 2016-Mar 2017. Apr 2016-Mar 2017 is the most recent Annual Population Survey data available..

Table 1: Total employment and self-employment in Scotland, 1999-2016

Sources: Mar 1999–Feb 2000 to Mar 2003–Feb 2004 Local Area Labour Force Survey, ONS.

Apr 2004–Mar 2005 to Apr 2016-Mar 2017 Annual Population Survey, ONS.

There is a discontinuity in this series with information prior to April 2004-Mar 2005 being sourced from the Local Area Labour Force Survey and the Annual Population Survey being used from Apr 2004-Mar 2005 onward.

The Annual Population Survey was first produced by ONS in 2004 as a replacement for the Local Area labour Force Survey.

Table 1 shows the overall level of self-employment and as a percentage of the total number of people in employment in each year from Mar 1999–Feb 2000 to April 2016-Mar 2017. Apr 2016-Mar 2017 is the most recent Annual Population Survey data available.

Table 1: Level of self-employment and percentage of all in employment, Scotland, 1999-2016

Sources: Mar 1999–Feb 2000 to Mar 2003–Feb 2004 Local Area Labour Force Survey, ONS. Apr 2004–Mar 2005 to Apr 2016-Mar 2017 Annual Population Survey, ONS. There is a discontinuity in this series with information prior to April 2004-Mar 2005 being sourced from the Local Area Labour Force Survey and the Annual Population Survey being used from Apr 2004-Mar 2005 onward. The Annual Population Survey was first produced by ONS in 2004 as a replacement for the Local Area labour Force Survey.

Information on jobs growth which can be attributed specifically to immigration is not held centrally.

Table 1 shows the total numbers in employment in Scotland, the level of annual change and the annual percentage change.

Table 2 shows total numbers of non-UK nationals in employment in Scotland, the level of annual change, annual percentage change and total non-UK nationals as a percentage of total employment in Scotland between 2011 and 2016.

Total numbers in employment in Scotland increased each year between 2011 and 2015, increasing from 2,476,000 in 2011 to 2,583,000 in 2015 before decreasing slightly in 2016 to 2,581,000. The total number of people in employment in Scotland has increased by 4.2% between 2011 and 2016.

The number of non-UK nationals in employment increased from 141,000 in 2011 to 147,000 in 2012, before decreasing slightly to 144,000 in 2013 and increasing again to 190,000 in 2016. The number of non-UK nationals in employment has increased by 34.8% between 2011 and 2016.

Non-UK nationals account for 7.4% of all people in employment in 2016, compared with 5.7% in 2011.

Table 1: Total employment (16+) in Scotland, 2011-2016

Source: Annual Population Survey, Jan-Dec datasets, ONS

Table 2: Total non-UK nationals in employment in Scotland, 2011-2016

Source: Annual Population Survey, Jan-Dec datasets, ONS

Note: non-UK nationals is based on self-reported nationality rather than country of birth.

The Manufacturing 4.0 service will be delivered by the Scottish Manufacturing Advisory Service (SMAS) and the Digital Transformation team within Scottish Enterprise. These teams include around 40 practitioners in total.

A pilot has already commenced with eight account managed companies and the service is due to be launched in April 2018. It will measure businesses’ capability and ambition to develop their own ‘Manufacturing 4.0 Improvement Plan' with a supporting plan from Scottish Enterprise and partner organisations, helping businesses to embrace the opportunities offered by digitally enabled products and processes, automation, and connected supply chains.

SMAS has an annual budget of £500k, used to facilitate external support for companies, and will continue to use existing Scottish Enterprise investment tools, products and services to encourage manufacturing businesses invest and raise their digital ambition.