The Scottish Government held its first New Deal for Business Group meeting on 17th May, 2023. It was co-chaired by Neil Gray, Cabinet Secretary for Wellbeing Economy, Fair Work and Energy and Dr Poonam Malik.
The establishment of the group was announced by the First Minister as a mechanism to seek to develop a new model of working between the Scottish business community and Scottish Government. This was in response to widespread criticism voiced by the Chamber and other business organisations on the failure of Government to adequately respond to several policies and regulations which have been introduced despite clearly having a damaging impact on business and chamber members.
At its first meeting, the Cabinet Secretary reinforced recent messages that the Government wished to deepen the relationship and understanding with the business community, not only through engagement and communication, but actively aligning their policies to support business growth.
There are five subgroups that will sit under the New Deal for Business Group. Each subgroup will be led by one or two Group members who will bring in other members and representatives from the wider business community, as agreed, to provide advice and experience.
If you have experience and knowledge of any issue that the sub-groups are focusing on, please get in touch with us to discuss how you can contribute to their work or how we can share your insights.
