The Economy Committee takes evidence from enterprise agencies on Scotland's economic performance
Topical questions sees the minimum pricing of alcohol raised and ScotRail’s cutting of carriages between Edinburgh and Glasgow
The Scottish government leads a debate on developing a Scottish healthy weight strategy
Brexit Minister Michael Russell gives a statement on the planned EU continuity bill
Scotch whisky's contribution to the Scottish tourism industry is debated by MSPs
Labour MSP Kezia Dugdale asks how social enterprises are being supported.
HIE supports over 100 social enterprises in the region, David Oxley says.
"It is absolutely fundamental to what we do."
Scottish Enterprise's Sarah Deas says her organisation helps social enterprises which are looking to scale up.
Cohort programmes, embedding innovation and bidding for tenders are all promoted, she adds.
SNP MSP Gillian Martin
SNP MSP Gillian Martin asks about up-skilling staff.
David Oxley says HIE's most popular programme is focused on leadership.
Businesses do not engage enough with further and higher education, Linda Hanna from Scottish Enterprise suggests.
Dr Stuart Fancey of the SFC says that giving businesses the confidence to invest in skills is a barrier.
Gordon McGuinness from Skills Development Scotland says there are good metrics around how performance is measured, but he concedes Audit Scotland's comments must be looked at.
In 2016 we reported the resources of Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) were possibly being spread too thinly.
Image source, bbcGordon McGuinness from Skills Development Scotland
Spending by the two public enterprise agencies had fallen in the preceding six years.
It also said that despite spending cuts since 2008-09 there had been "little change" in the agencies' work.
The Scottish government said it would consider recommendations made in the report.
Dr Stuart Fancey from the Scottish Funding Council
HIE's David Oxley says his organisation regularly invests in social enterprises, though they are encouraged to consider their economic impact equally.
Dr Stuart Fancey from the Scottish Funding Council says inclusive growth is bound up with ensuring access to further and higher education is fair and equal.
Performance targets are raised by Tory MSP Dean Lockhart.
He asks how each agency defines inclusive growth and how changes are measured.
Linda Hanna of Scottish Enterprise says the definition is not common across the system but the Scottish government is developing an inclusive growth framework.
Inclusive growth encapsulates economic and social values, Ms Hanna says, adding the Scottish Enterprise looks to support workforces in terms of business models, investment and fair work.
Work on the regional economic partnerships and city deals is key to inclusive growth, the Scottish Enterprise representative states.
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SNP MSP Gillian Martin asks about attaining steady growth.
Ms Martin says female led businesses say they are being asked to grow faster than they are comfortable with and they would rather have steady and sustainable growth.
Image source, bbcSNP MSP Gillian Martin
Linda Hanna from Scottish Enterprise says she would be surprised if they were pushing people beyond their comfort zone.
Ms Martin says some female-led companies have not been able to access support because their targets for growth are not high enough.
David Oxley from Highlands and Islands Enterprise says there are challenges about the number of women in business.
Image source, bbcBefore and after pictures of machinery parts which have been remanufactured
Funding has been announced for nine Scottish projects designed to make things as good as new - or even better.
The cash is from the Scottish Institute for Remanufacture, supported by the Scottish government, to create a waste-free, "circular" economy.
Remanufacturing is a process that takes old but high-value products and restores them to an as-new condition.
In some cases, they are even better than when they were new.
Design flaws can be engineered out to make them better than they were in the first place.
Linda Hanna from Scottish Enterprise
Green MSP Andy Wightman asks how Scotland compares to other countries in terms of the structure and size of businesses.
Linda Hanna from Scottish Enterprise notes Scotland's self-employment rate is growing at a faster rate of the rest of the UK.
However, we are not seeing these growing into SMEs, she adds.
Scottish Enterprise is working on scaling up programmes with some early successes, states Ms Hanna.
She adds that having access finance, peer-to-peer support, and expertise on exports is important.
Image source, Getty ImagesThe membership of a new South of Scotland Economic Partnership (SOSEP) has been revealed.
Backed by a £10m Scottish government investment, it will pave the way for a dedicated enterprise agency for Dumfries and Galloway and the Borders.
Economy Secretary Keith Brown said the partnership would deliver a "new approach to economic growth".
It includes a "range of key people with but with business, education, public sector and third sector experience".
Image source, bbcDr Stuart Fancey from the Scottish Funding Council
Dr Stuart Fancey from the Scottish Funding Council says innvoation centres have been built around areas like aquaculture.
Dr Fancey says it is an incremental businesss and he says the universities and colleges are integral to the clusters and hopefully build confidence.
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Douglas Fraser
Scotland business & economy editor
Image source, Getty ImageswHIE supports businesses in the Highlands and Islands, Western Isles, Northern Isles, Argyll and Moray
Anyone who knows about the politics of the Highlands and Islands could guess that centralising the region's enterprise body was going to provoke a ferocious backlash.
The economic development agency is a rare case of a quango to which people have a real attachment.
The other puzzling element was that the policy seemed to be soft launched in half-baked form last October. Members of the boards facing abolition weren't consulted or even told in advance.
And without a clear plan, the HIE suggestion was only the most obvious of those that would set mountain hares running.
Labour MSP Jackie Baillie asks why is the Scottish economy "flirting with recession" if the skills and enterprise agencies are undertaking positive initiatives.
Linda Hannah says inward investment has been bringing in fewer jobs than in the past, but this is because it is focused on R&D and therefore the jobs are fewer but more highly skilled.
Gordon McGuiness suggests the situation would be considerably worse of the skills and enterprise agencies were not involved.
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Image source, Andrew CowanCommittee conveners quiz Nicola Sturgeon in the last parliamentary session
The Conveners Group have agreed to a number of steps including:
A copy of the report can be found here, external.
Image source, bbcHolyrood still has a way to go
The gender balance of witnesses giving evidence at Holyrood is improving, but women remain behind men making up only 37% those appearing before committees.
A new report, which was commissioned to explore the gender balance across those giving evidence to committees, shows that since 1999 there has been a 12.3 percentage point increase in the number of women giving evidence at committees.
The Scottish Parliament’s Conveners Group has considered the report’s findings and agreed the key strands to help inform an action plan to ensure the balance of witnesses at Scottish Parliament committees are more reflective of wider society.
It's worth noticing this committee has perfect gender balance in witnesses!
Dr Stuart Fancey from the Scottish Funding Council says it is important to build on the expertise of exporters.
Skills Development Scotland's Gordon McGuiness expresses concern about the fragility of employment, particularly for young people.
Better job quality leads to better economic performance for companies, Mr McGuiness adds.
Sarah Deas from Scottish Enterprise says there is a lot to celebrate and inclusive growth is central to the skills and enterprise agencies' agendas.
Skills Development Scotland's Gordon McGuiness
Image source, bbcLinda Hanna from Scottish Enterprise
Linda Hanna from Scottish Enterprise says there have been challenges around oil and gas and financial services, but there have also been opportunities in these sectors.
Ms Hanna says inward investment has been successful.
Committee deputy convener John Mason begins with asking about thoughts on the Scottish economy over the last decade.
Highlands and Islands Enterprise's David Oxley says it has been characterised by "resilience", with the Highlands and Islands in particular doing fairly well.
The productivity gap has closed, Mr Oxley adds, and he also points to some investment success.
"There remain challenges in terms of population growth", he says, particularly with young people leaving to pursue learning opportunities.