Image source, bbc

Employability and Training Minister Jamie Hepburn says the Scottish government recognises the importance of emerging technologies and how they will impact on the workforce.

Mr Bowman says almost a quarter of jobs in Dundee could be lost to automation by 2030 according to a report.

Mr Hepburn says Dundee has one of the strongest growth rates in private sector jobs.

Image source, Getty Images

Automation could cost Scotland 230,000 jobs over the next decade, according to a report.

Jobs in Dundee are most at risk from the rise of robot labour, with Edinburgh and Aberdeen better placed to adapt to the changes ahead, it said.

The Cities Outlook report, external is an annual health-check of city economies and this year highlighted the potential impact of automation and globalisation.

It said 1 in 5 posts in Scottish cities could be displaced by 2030.

Tory MSP Bill Bowman asks what action the Scottish government is taking to ensure that an increasing use of automation and artificial intelligence over the next decade will increase employment opportunities in Scotland.

Tory MSP Alexander Stewart seeks an update on talks around the Tay Cities Deal.

Keith Brown says the Scottish government is working closely with the UK government.

He suggests preempting announcements would be disruptive to this joint working.

Image source, bbc

Economy Secretary Keith Brown says the Scottish government is committed to implementing the Tay Cities Deal as soon as possible.

He confirms the relief road is one of the proposals, but he is unable to confirm which projects will be included in the final deal.

Image source, Dundee City Council

Last February we reported that a £1.84bn proposal to create up to 15,000 jobs in Tayside and North East Fife has been announced.

The Tay Cities Deal submission document, external includes more than 50 projects, including a scheme to boost employment through oil and gas decomissioning.

The bid seeks £826m over 10 years from the Scottish and UK governments and their agencies.

The remainder would come from councils, colleges and universities, and the public, private and voluntary sectors.

Read more here.

Lib Dem MSP Willie Rennie asks the Scottish government whether the Cupar North relief road will be funded through the Tay Cities Deal.

Image source, bb c

Downing Street has insisted Britain will leave the EU customs union after Brexit amid claims of Tory disunity over the UK-EU future relationship.

Theresa May has faced calls to spell out what she wants from the talks ahead of the UK's departure in March 2019.

In a customs union the UK would have tariff-free trade within the EU, but would lose the ability to strike its own deals with other countries.

It comes ahead of a meeting with the EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier.

Economy Secretary Keith Brown says the Berlin hub is operational, while work is ongoing to build on work in Brussels to ensure proper transition ahead of the hub opening.

He says the Scottish government is looking to build ties and create hubs is because of concerns about the impact of Brexit - which he suggests the Scottish Conservatives have not been asking the UK government about.

Image source, Scottish government

Last April we reported a new business hub for the Scottish government and development agencies had been opened in London.

The investment and innovation centre is similar to one opened in Dublin, with others planned for Brussels and Berlin.

Scotland House is located at Victoria Embankment, near the Houses of Parliament at Westminster.

It is intended as a centre for business membership to showcase products and meet customers and investors from the UK market and beyond.

Tory MSP Rachael Hamilton asks the Scottish government when the Berlin and Brussels trade hubs are expected to open.

Tory MSP Dean Lockhart asks about efforts to build upon ties with the UK single market.

Keith Brown accepts that some work is common to both areas, but also highlights some differences between the Scottish and English financial sectors.

Scotland is looking to grow business within the UK and with the rest of the EU, he says.

Image source, bbc

Economy Secretary Keith Brown notes the finance sector directly employs 86,000 people in Scotland.

Mr Brown says the enterprise and skills agencies are working with the sector to support growth.

Funding of £200,000 was committed to fund FinTech Scotland, he adds.

SNP MSP Joan McAlpine highlights plans for some firms to relocate to Dublin post-Brexit and asks whether this is a danger to Scotland.

The economy secretary agrees, noting passporting may no longer be an options after Brexit.

In the absence of certainty from the UK government, finance firms are having to base their plans on the worse case scenario, he states.

SNP MSP Joan McAlpine asks the Scottish government what it is doing to support the financial services industries.

Image source, bbc

Economy, jobs and fair work ministers, and then finance and constitution ministers, will be quizzed during portfolio questions

Economy, jobs and fair work ministers and finance and constitution ministers are quizzed during portfolio questions.

Image source, PA

Justice Secretary Michael Matheson will make an extended statement on undercover policing. Questions on the resignation of Phil Gormley are being permitted.

Image source, Caroline Power/Twitter

The government will then lead a debate entitled ‘Stemming the Plastic tide: Action to Tackle the Impact of Single-use Plastics on Land and in our Seas’.

Image source, Horseback UK

Tory MSP Liam Kerr will then lead a member’s debate highlighting the difficulty of veterans seeking help for physical or mental health problems, focussing on the work of the Aberdeenshire-based military charity, Horseback UK.