§ Ms OsborneTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how he plans to encourage the retention and expansion of high-skilled jobs in Scotland. [47441]
§ Mr. WilsonThe creation and retention of high-skilled jobs is very important for the future of the Scottish economy and of its international competitiveness. This requires action by Government and their agencies on a number of fronts, including education and training, the attraction of appropriate international investment in Scotland, and the encouragement of new high-tech companies.
Our education and training initiatives include Higher Still, Modern Apprenticeships, Skillseekers, the Scottish University for Industry and a range of other measures to encourage lifelong learning. In order to meet the skills needs of industry, Scottish Enterprise is currently reviewing its own approach to skills development and we intend to draw together its findings and other recent work to create an overarching Skills Strategy for Scotland.
Our inward investment strategy is targeted particularly on high value-added sectors such as aerospace and biotechnology, electronics, software and design projects. Project Alba is a particularly important fruit of this approach. In encouraging the creation and development of new high-tech companies, I attach particular importance to the Foresight initiative, which is encouraging companies throughout the UK to look at the opportunities created by new technology. Scottish Enterprise's Technology Ventures scheme is also an important initiative designed to promote commercialisation of the fruits of academic research, by facilitating links between business and the research base in our higher education institutions.