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Plans to replace Scotland's enterprise and training agencies with one national board were abandoned last year.

Economy Secretary Keith Brown said Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Scottish Enterprise and Skills Development Scotland would continue with their own boards.

He also announced that a national strategic board would be set up, to "align the work" of the agencies.

Opposition parties welcomed the news but said the minister had been forced to make the u-turn.

The process had been the source of a political row with Labour, Lib Dem and Conservative MSPs accusing the Scottish government of centralisation.

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The committee will then hear from:

• Linda Hanna from Scottish Enterprise, external
• David Oxley from Highlands and Islands Enterprise, external
• Sarah Deas from Scottish Enterprise, external
• Gordon McGuinness from Skills Development Scotland, external
• Dr Stuart Fancey from the Scottish Funding Council, external

Green MSP Andy Wightman asks when the work of the Strategic Board for Enterprise and Skills will be complete.

Nora Senior says her term is for two years but the board may recommend it continues its work beyond that point.

Tory MSP Dean Lockhart asks if there is enough guidance.

Ms Senior reiterates that the guidance needs to be joined up.

And that ends the first panel of today's committee.

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Ms Senior says we can't get digital graduates fast enough.

She says the strategic board will look at this.

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The latest figures for output from the economy show double the rate of growth in the second quarter of last year. But as that was 0.1%, it couldn't have been lower without stalling.

The rise in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was half the rate of growth of the whole UK, which at 0.4% is not good either.

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SNP MSP Gordon Macdonald asks how Ms Senior thinks the Scottish economy has performed in the last ten years.

The chair of the Strategic Board for Enterprise and Skills says inward investment has performed well, as has university research.

On the negative side exports, investment in people and startups have all fared badly, she says.

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Labour MSP Jackie Baillie asks what changes need to be made to the enterprise and skills agencies.

Ms Senior says she is not ready to answer that fully yet but says it is what is going to ignite the consumer.

She says the alignment between the agencies must be improved.

The Strategic Board for Enterprise and Skills chair says her role is to influence the agencies and highlights the importance of digital connectivity.

"What would you change?", asks Labour MSP Jackie Baillie.

There needs to be a clear and joined up articulation of what the Scottish government wants the skills and enterprise agencies to do, states Nora Senior.

Joined up guidance in the briefs given the the agencies would be useful, she says.

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The Scottish economy grew by 0.2% during the third quarter of last year, according to official figures.

Between July and September, services grew by 0.2%, while production was up by 1.2%. However, construction was down for a seventh quarter in a row, with a 2.9% fall.

Equivalent UK growth during the third quarterwas 0.4%.

On an annual basis, the Scottish economy grew by 0.6%, compared with 1.7% for the UK as a whole.

The latest quarterly figures, externalalso showed that GDP per person, which shows economic growth after taking population changes into account, was flat at 0%.

The Scottish government said the economy had remained resilient despite "a challenging economic environment" and continued Brexit uncertainty.

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Strategic Board for Enterprise and Skills chair Nora Senior says there are 198,000 micro businesses in Scotland.

Ms Senior says the aim is to look at investing in micros, which at the moment comes under a business gateway remit.

She says there needs to be 5,000 more companies moving into experts to move up into the OECD upper quartile.

"A lot of what we have looked at in the past has not been based on evidence."

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Here's the updated timetable for the chamber:

• 2.05pm Topical Questions
• 2.20-4.15 pm Scottish Government Debate: Developing a Scottish healthy weight strategy
• 4.15-5.00 pm Ministerial Statement: European Union Withdrawal Bill: Update
• 5.00 pm Decision Time
• 5.00 pm Members' Business — Rachael Hamilton: Scotch Whisky Contribution to Scottish Tourism Industry

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SNP MSP Gillian Martin asks about links further further and higher education, and businesses.

She suggests people find it difficult to up-skill when holding a full-time job.

Nora Senior suggests part of the issue is businesses not investing enough in re-skilling or up-skilling.

Bringing in more young people would help, but companies are reluctant to do this because it would mean having to spend more, she says.

We need to look at workplace policies, Ms Senior argues, adding that a possible solution could be to alter the working week of older workers in order to bring in new employees without losing experience.

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Brexit Minister Mike Russell will give a ministerial statement on the EU Withdrawal Bill at 4.15pm.

This follows Nicola Sturgeon rejecting the UK government's latest proposal in a row over who should exercise certain powers after Brexit.

Cabinet Office Minister David Lidington said the "vast majority" of returning EU powers will start in Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast.

He said Westminster would only be involved where a "pause" was needed to draw up a UK-wide framework.

But Ms Sturgeon said this would still restrict the devolved administrations.

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Tory MSP Dean Lockhart wonders why productivity is such a challenge in Scotland.

Ms Senior says Scotland has one of the lowest investments by business in R&D and innovation in the OECD.

Only 7-9% of businesses in Scotland adopt digitally innovative solutions, compared to a minimum of 43% of businesses elsewhere in the OECD, she reveals.

We need to look at skilling and re-skilling, Nora Senior argues.

Tory MSP Dean Lockhart asks what will be done differently to make the step change in economic performance to reach the first quartile of OECD countries.

Ms Senior says countries in the top quartile have a different economic mix than Scotland.

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The Strategic Board for Enterprise and Skills chair cites Norway and Ireland as examples of this, saying Scotland is more a low wage, medium to higher skill economy.

Meeting the target will be challenging she says, adding Scotland will have to work even harder just to keep pace.

Ms Senior says there is no other advanced economy growing at the rate to overtake the top quartile countries.

SNP MSP John Mason asks about the board's priorities.

Strategic Board for Enterprise and Skills chair Nora Senior explains the board wants to focus primarily on the customer experience and learner journey.

She notes issues in the past about companies having a quite disjointed experience when seeking enterprise and skills support.

Another priority will be looking at the alignment of the agencies and government, Ms Senior adds, including around digital support.