Social Justice, Communities and Pensioners’ Rights
Good afternoon. The first item of business this afternoon is portfolio questions. So that we can get as many members in as possible, I would prefer short and succinct questions and answers.
Housing Supply Budget 2016-17
To ask the Scottish Government what the priorities are for the housing supply budget in 2016-17. (S4O-05504)
Let me answer succinctly, Presiding Officer.
This Government’s priority is to increase affordable housing supply across Scotland, with a particular focus on increasing the number of social rented homes. In addition, we recognise the importance of offering a range of home ownership options, to help people to buy a new home. All our investment in housing not only provides more homes for rent and home ownership but helps to support construction jobs and sustain business across Scotland.
I am grateful for that succinct answer. Is it correct to say that the help-to-buy budget is being reduced? If so, by how much?
The help-to-buy budget is £195 million and is funded through financial transactions. All financial transactions funding is committed, including to other parts of the housing budget. Nearly 7,500 people will be assisted by the new phase of the help-to-buy scheme. That is an increase of 1,000 on the number of people who were assisted by the first phase.
Homelessness (Prevention)
To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to prevent people becoming homeless. (S4O-05505)
Preventing homelessness is a priority for the Scottish Government, and we have seen consistent falls in recorded homelessness in Scotland in recent years. The falls in homelessness are due to the promotion of the housing options approach to prevention, which local authorities and their partners have developed, with financial and practical support from the Scottish Government. We are committed to continual improvement in the delivery of the approach. Non-statutory guidance and a training toolkit will shortly be available to help to improve the consistent delivery of homelessness prevention.
Preventing homelessness is part of our overall housing strategy. With investment of more than £1.7 billion in this parliamentary session, we have exceeded our target to deliver 30,000 affordable homes, including 20,000 for social rent. We have pledged to deliver 50,000 new affordable homes over the next five years.
Homelessness is becoming increasingly visible on the streets of our cities this winter. “The homelessness monitor: Scotland 2015”, which Crisis published recently, noted that attempts to prevent homelessness are often “relatively ‘light touch’”, consisting primarily of information and signposting. Will the minister commit to a renewed approach to tackling and preventing homelessness, including a new cross-departmental strategy?
We have a strong focus on preventing homelessness in Scotland, and we work with a stakeholder group, the homelessness prevention and strategy group. I am a member of the group, as are the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, Shelter Scotland, NHS Health Scotland and other organisations. We are looking closely at how we ensure that everyone who is homeless in Scotland can access the services and the support that is available to them, and we review the position at every meeting. Reducing homelessness in Scotland is an absolute priority.
Will the minister consider looking again at people who have specific problems holding down a tenancy, to see whether additional aid can be given to support such people with their tenancies and prevent them from becoming homeless?
The member is right to highlight the issue. Support to keep people in tenancies is on-going. I visited a housing options team in Ayr this week to see how that works in practice. If there is practice that we can spread to other local authority areas and other housing options teams, who meet regularly, we will do that. Lots of good work is going on in local authorities across the country to support people with their tenancies. It is recognised that the approach works and prevents homelessness, and we will continue to work with people to ensure that we see the results of that activity.
Climate Change Targets (Fuel Poverty and Housing)
To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has made of the effect of the reduction in fuel poverty and energy efficiency funding in the “Draft Budget 2016-17” on its ability to meet its statutory fuel poverty and housing climate change targets. (S4O-05506)
We have allocated £103 million to tackle fuel poverty and energy efficiency in 2016-17, which will be used to help install energy efficiency measures, including solid wall insulation, in 14,000 homes, building on the more than 900,000 measures that have been delivered since 2008.
We have broadly maintained the expenditure that is available for fuel poverty and energy efficiency in the budgets that we have under our control, in what is a tough financial climate. The 2015-16 budget was increased over the course of the year with £15 million of consequentials from the United Kingdom Government’s green deal home improvement fund. That scheme was ended without warning by the UK Government and is therefore no longer available to us.
The Scottish Government is fully committed to eradicating fuel poverty in Scotland and overall we are on track to meet our statutory 2020 target of a 42 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, but we recognise the scale of the challenge before us.
The Government’s Scottish house condition survey has just reported. Between 2012 and 2014, it records a 3 per cent rise in people in East Ayrshire, my area, reporting that they are living in fuel poverty, and a 1 per cent rise in Dumfries and Galloway. Has the minister considered any specific steps to deal with that rise in fuel poverty, in light of the 13 per cent cut in the budget allocation?
The methodology that is used in the Scottish house condition survey to estimate fuel poverty was recently changed to include the contribution of the warm homes discount scheme. However, we are always considering ways to reduce fuel poverty. Recently, the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Communities and Pensioners’ Rights announced the energy efficiency programme for Scotland and the national infrastructure scheme, which is looking at the detail of ways in which we can improve energy efficiency in homes—in the social rented sector and other sectors—and in other buildings across Scotland.
All of that is part of our energy efficiency programme. We will continue to make progress with that programme and work with our stakeholders. We have a strategic working group that will advise and inform the Government. It is working alongside the Scottish fuel poverty forum and the rural fuel poverty task force to build on our efforts and drive forward the fuel poverty agenda.
Is the minister aware that the Scottish house condition survey, which has been mentioned, shows that more than half of households in Shetland are in fuel poverty? What specific steps will the Government take to address the particular problems in rural communities such as Shetland?
As I said in my previous answer, we have set up the rural fuel poverty task force, which is specifically considering issues in global and remote areas. We have also adapted our home energy efficiency programme Scotland—HEEPS—scheme to take into account the issue of fuel poverty in rural areas and ensure that more can be spent in those areas, because we recognised the difficulties that they face.
We have implemented a number of other measures to help with the training and accreditation of the installers, to ensure that we can support local businesses in rural areas as well.
As well as cutting the fuel poverty budget in this year’s budget, the minister has cut business rates relief for the renewables industry in Scotland. How much money will that cost, and what will be the impact on climate change of that measure?
You can answer that if you want, minister, but it is not relevant to the initial question.
I will speak to the Minister for Business, Energy and Tourism and write to the member on that issue.
Elections (Participation Rights)
To ask the Scottish Government what rights non-United Kingdom European Union citizens who live in Scotland have to participate in elections. (S4O-05507)
Non-UK EU citizens who live in Scotland can vote at European Parliament, Scottish Parliament and local government elections. In addition, Commonwealth citizens from Malta and Cyprus and citizens of the Republic of Ireland who are resident in Scotland can vote at UK parliamentary elections.
As the minister will know, that does not concern me: I live in neither Malta nor Cyprus. Would he agree with me that stopping EU citizens who reside in Scotland from voting in the EU referendum—after they will have been able to vote in every Scottish parliamentary election and in two Scottish constitutional referendums since 1997—is in fact a breach of human rights law?
The Scottish Government is very disappointed that the franchise is not being extended to EU nationals resident in the UK. Around 170,000 non-UK EU citizens have chosen to make Scotland their home. EU citizens can vote in Scottish Parliament elections, as I said. Most recently, as Christian Allard said, they had a vote in our independence referendum.
The case for extending to EU citizens a vote in the EU referendum is clear, and I urge the UK Government to reconsider. While it is at it, the UK Government should make arrangements to allow 16 and 17-year-olds to vote, too.
Argyll and Bute Council (Discussions)
To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with representatives of Argyll and Bute Council. (S4O-05508)
I am meeting Argyll and Bute Council on 1 March to discuss matters of mutual interest. Other ministers and officials also meet council representatives regularly.
Is the minister aware of the extent of the concern among councillors and the public in Argyll and Bute about the severity of the spending cuts that are being considered there and about their impact on vital local services? In particular, can he comment on the possible loss of core funding to the Argyll and Bute citizens advice bureaux network, which directly prevents dozens of people each year from becoming homeless and thus saves the council hundreds of thousands of pounds every year?
The local government settlement as a whole has been challenging but fair. That applies to Argyll and Bute as much as it does to anywhere else, and represents a 2 per cent reduction of the overall expenditure available.
I point out that, for Argyll and Bute, many of the things that we are asking for come with attached funding. The council tax freeze will be funded to the tune of £1.4 million for Argyll and Bute Council, and its share of the £250 million for health and social care is £4.6 million. I will endeavour to investigate the specific issue in Argyll and Bute that the member raises, as I am not aware whether that is a local funding issue or a national funding issue. I will write to the member on the matter.
When the minister meets representatives of Argyll and Bute Council and other councils, is he not embarrassed and ashamed of what his Government is doing to local government?
It is always a ray of sunshine when Neil Findlay comes to ask a question, isn’t it? I am very proud of the effect that our policies have had on local government since we came into government.
Proud?
We came into government and we immediately removed £2.7 billion of ring fencing, allowing local government to address its own priorities and answer to its own electorate. We have consistently protected local government from the scale of the cuts that have happened in England. If we really want to see what an embarrassing record on local government is, I suggest looking at England—[Interruption.]
Mr Findlay.
There, figures range from 27 per cent in cuts to a figure I saw last night in an analysis from the Institute for Fiscal Studies, which said that, in the run-up to the 2015 election, there was a 36 per cent cut in central Government funding to local government in England. We are far away from that and I am very proud that we are.
Third Sector Services (Commissioning)
To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with local authorities in relation to the commissioning of third sector services. (S4O-05509)
Scottish ministers and Government officials regularly meet representatives of all local authorities to discuss a wide range of matters of current interest to local organisations. Under the local authority single outcome agreement, delivery decisions on commissioning services are made locally, reflecting knowledge and understanding of local need.
Can the minister outline the process for the allocation of the additional £1.85 million of criminal justice funding, which was invested in providing additional support for victims of sex crimes across Scotland, including male and female survivors of childhood sexual abuse? Can he indicate when the many small charities that do specialist work in this area and that are awaiting decisions about their core funding applications, which were submitted in September 2015, can expect a decision?
The member raises some very important issues and I will endeavour to have my justice colleagues investigate and respond in as short order as possible.
Home Ownership (Support)
To ask the Scottish Government how many people have received support into home ownership since 2007. (S4O-05510)
Since 2007, the Scottish Government has spent more than £800 million supporting more than 20,000 households into home ownership through a range of initiatives, which include the low-cost initiative for first-time buyers scheme and the help to buy (Scotland) scheme.
From sales forms returned by buyers, we know that between 70 and 75 per cent of all sales across the different low-cost home ownership and help to buy schemes were to buyers aged between 18 and 34.
Can the minister outline how the Government intends to build on that success in supporting people into home ownership and whether such measures will be targeted at those who need support to get on to or move up the housing ladder?
Yes, I can certainly say to the member that we are committed to doing everything that we can to help first-time buyers and existing homeowners to buy a home where that is sensible and sustainable for them.
For 2015-16, we have allocated £160 million to help up to 5,000 people buy a home; £80 million of that has been allocated to our popular open market shared equity scheme to help up to 2,000 first-time buyers buy their first home and £80 million has been allocated to our help to buy (Scotland) scheme. It is an affordable build scheme to help first-time buyers and existing homeowners to get a new-build home. The £80 million allocated to the help to buy (Scotland) affordable new-build scheme forms part of the £195 million allocated over the next three years to help up to 7,500 homeowners to buy a new home. [Margaret Burgess has corrected this contribution. See end of report.]
The minister just said that £160 million has been allocated for 2015-16. What will the amount be for 2016-17? [Interruption.]
Sorry, I am just checking what we announced, but certainly in the budget announcement we set out that we will be investing a further £80 million through the open market shared equity scheme in 2016-17. That remains the same as we have spent in 2015-16. Also, £80 million has already been announced of the £195 million that has been allocated to help to buy over the next three years. That announcement was made by the cabinet secretary last month, I believe.
Housing (Dumfries and Galloway)
To ask the Scottish Government how many homes for social rent and how many for mid-market rent will have been built in Dumfries and Galloway between May 2011 and March 2016. (S4O-05511)
Between 1 May 2011 and 30 September 2015, £23 million of funding supported the construction of 642 homes for social and mid-market rent in Dumfries and Galloway. That included 595 social rented homes and 47 intermediate rented homes. Our projected investment for this year is a further £8.255 million to support the building of more affordable homes in the region.
A “Housing Statistics for Scotland Quarterly Update” will be published in March 2016 on the Scottish Government website. It will include the number of completions for the period October to December 2015. Housing statistics to the end of March 2016 will be published in June 2016.
I thank the minister for her full response. Minister, I was contacted recently by a couple with four children in a two-bedroom property with a box-room. They had 40 overcrowding points and they were one of 24 families who were applying for eight four-bedroom properties in the Annan area, none of which have become available in the past 12 months.
Consideration was being given to other methods of funding for housing associations to build additional properties for social rent, such as the use of pension funds. Can the minister give any update on whether progress has been made in looking for additional sources of funding?
We have set a clear target of 50,000 new affordable homes for the next five years of the Parliament, backed by £3 billion of investment. We are also working with housing associations, local authorities and right across the sector to look at other ways of supporting and funding affordable rented houses, so yes, that work is on-going. We have a scheme up and running in Falkirk through the Falkirk pension fund, which can set an example to other pension funds. It is clearly up to the trustees of funds where they wish to make their investments but, yes, we are certainly still looking at that issue.
Attendance Allowance
To ask the Scottish Government what assurances it can provide on the future of attendance allowance in Scotland in light of concerns in England regarding its proposed transfer to local authorities. (S4O-05512)
The United Kingdom Government has not yet published its consultation on transferring attendance allowance to local authorities down south, so I am not in a position to comment in any detail on the proposal. However, my understanding is that it will not impact on the devolution of attendance allowance to the Scottish Parliament that will be implemented through the Scotland Bill.
We are considering how we will use the new devolved social security powers, and we will publish our plans in the coming months. In the meantime, we will continue to engage with users and stakeholders as we develop the detail of our policies. I can assure members that current attendance allowance recipients will be protected however we choose to use the devolved powers.
There is a lot of concern in England about devolving attendance allowance, because of what happened to the independent living fund. When the ILF was devolved to English local authorities it was cut—
Can we have a question?
—whereas when it was devolved to the Scottish Government it was continued. Can the cabinet secretary assure us that something similar will happen to attendance allowance?
The independent living fund is a good example of how we protect services in Scotland, compared to the axing of services south of the border. The Scottish independent living fund is a new scheme in Scotland that went live in July 2015, safeguarding the rights of 2,800 existing ILF users in Scotland, with an extra £5 million committed to open up the scheme to new users.
The successful creation of the Scottish welfare fund, after the abolition of elements of the UK Government’s social fund, is another example of where we have protected provision of a vital service and increased the funding over and above that devolved by the UK Government. The latest statistics for the welfare fund show that it has paid out £81 million and helped 178,000 households since April 2013.
Fair Work, Skills and Training
Equal Pay Claims (Local Authorities)
To ask the Scottish Government how many local authorities have outstanding equal pay claims. (S4O-05514)
Local authorities as employers are responsible for dealing with equal pay claims by their staff, so information on the number of claims is not held centrally. The Minister for Local Government and Community Empowerment, Marco Biagi, has written to all Scottish local authorities asking for information about equal pay claims. The letter reiterated the need for cases to be resolved with urgency and commitment, so that those affected receive their legal entitlements and local authorities meet their legal obligations.
The minister will be aware that the long-standing issue of equal pay claims was raised in the chamber in November, when the First Minister encouraged local authorities to conclude settlements as quickly as possible. Thankfully, Fife Council has done that since then, but elsewhere many claims remain outstanding.
The minister said that the local government minister wrote to local authorities. Will she consider writing to local authorities before Parliament dissolves for the election to impress on them the importance of the issue, so that they can allow people to move on with their lives?
I share the frustration of the member and his constituents who may be affected with the on-going delays to the settlement of the claims, but I reiterate that the settlement of the claims is the responsibility of local authorities.
Mr Biagi wrote to all local authorities on 28 October. He received only 11 replies and wrote again to the local authorities that did not reply on 11 December. Following that second letter, it has been agreed that there will be a meeting between the minister and representatives from the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities and the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives and Senior Managers, which will take place on 12 February. [Annabelle Ewing has corrected this contribution. See end of report.]
I encourage all local authorities that have outstanding claims to do the right thing and ensure that they are settled as quickly as possible.
Women’s Employment
To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on women employed in part-time and temporary work. (S4O-05515)
The labour force survey that is produced by the Office for National Statistics is the source of information on women employed in part-time and temporary work. The latest available labour market statistics, which are from September to November 2015, show that female part-time working decreased by 38,000 over the year and female temporary working decreased by 7,000 while female full-time working increased by 27,000 over the year.
Although that is encouraging, I have information from the Scottish Parliament information centre that, in Scotland in 2015, 41 per cent of women worked part-time compared to 11 per cent of men. As women are more likely to work part-time and make up the majority of those in the workforce who are part-time, Close the Gap suggests that it is relevant to compare men and women’s earnings on that basis.
What is your question?
For every £1 that a man earns, a woman earns 83.2p. What is the Scottish Government actively doing to rectify that very bad situation?
If I have understood correctly, the member’s supplementary question principally concerns the issue of the gender pay gap. Of course, the gender pay gap is unacceptable. It is unacceptable that we are still talking about it in 2016. In Scotland, the gap has decreased from 9.1 per cent in 2014 to 7.3 per cent in 2015, but of course it is still unacceptable that there is any gender pay gap. The equal pay legislation was introduced in Westminster in 1970. Notwithstanding the success of Westminster Governments of both hues, we are still faced with that situation.
The Scottish Government will do everything that we can to ensure that the pay gap is narrowed to the point at which it no longer exists. We are pursuing a number of important initiatives in that regard, such as the expansion of childcare, the promotion of flexible working, challenging pay and pregnancy and maternity discrimination, challenging occupational segregation, promoting a 50:50 gender balance on boards, and of course promoting the living wage for social care workers. I hope that local authorities across Scotland will respond to the very good funding deal that is on offer and do the right thing by social care workers, the majority of whom are of course women.
Trade Union Bill
To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with the United Kingdom Government about the Trade Union Bill. (S4O-05516)
In addition to a telephone call with Nick Boles, Minister of State for Skills, on 8 October 2015, I have now written to him on five separate occasions setting out the Scottish Government’s increasing concern with the bill proposals and seeking Scotland’s exemption from the extent of the bill. However, he has not yet responded to any of those letters.
The First Minister raised the issue in her meeting with the Prime Minister on 14 December. The Scottish Parliament debate that was held on 26 January demonstrated the opposition of Parliament to the bill. I want to reassure each and every worker in Scotland that we are doing what we can to deal with the potentially damaging legislation. Just before I came into the chamber, I received confirmation of a meeting with Nick Boles, specifically to discuss the Trade Union Bill. That will take place tomorrow morning.
I support any and all means to defeat this appalling bill and its intrusion on areas of devolved competence. However, if all else fails, will the Scottish Government join councils in Scotland in refusing to comply with the legislation?
All that I can do is to refer to the words of the First Minister, who has said that we will go on doing what we are doing at the moment. There are aspects of the bill that it will be impossible to avoid. We are currently discussing some aspects directly with the Scottish Trades Union Congress among others, including the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, to establish how best we can deal with the likely consequences if the worst comes to the worst and the bill is passed. However, we are not giving up on seeking exemptions in respect of the various aspects.
Skills and Training (Adults)
To ask the Scottish Government what innovative steps it is taking to help improve skills and provide training for adults. (S4O-05517)
Achievement of our ambitions for a more productive and inclusive Scotland involves a greater focus on strengthening and developing the skills of all our people. The Scottish Government is committed to developing those skills, whether in colleges, universities, communities or workplaces, and to ensuring that our people are able to thrive in sustainable employment. In particular, Skills Development Scotland delivers an all-age careers service. We also have our modern apprenticeship programme, which applies in key and enabling sectors to those who are aged over 25.
The minister will be aware that the principal at Dundee and Angus College, Grant Ritchie, has suggested that one way of addressing the key education needs of the long-term unemployed would be to provide more opportunities to develop literacy in information technology. He has suggested that colleges could help to do that by opening in the evening to provide additional classes. Will the Scottish Government undertake to discuss with Colleges Scotland that important initiative?
I thank the member for her interesting point. I suspect that I should discuss it first with the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning, because it seems to fall within her remit. I promise to do that.
I know that Dundee and Angus College has been pursuing an interesting programme with its code academy, which I have been interested in learning about. I will visit the college in a couple of weeks, albeit to discuss another matter, but I will take the opportunity when I am there to hear more about the proposals that the member referred to.
The 2015 employer skills survey showed that 71 per cent of Scottish employers offer their staff training. That is a higher rate than in England, Wales or Northern Ireland. Will the minister provide an update on what else can be done to continue that good progress?
The recent statistics show that employers in Scotland are doing more and more to ensure that young people are given an opportunity. We will continue to work as hard as we can to bring more employers on board.
We have set a very ambitious target for modern apprenticeships of 30,000 starts a year by 2020. We are working closely with employers, training providers, the third sector and others to ensure that young people get the training that they need and that employers have the possibility to create a more dynamic workplace with young people on site and to ensure proper succession planning for themselves.
What progress has been made on ensuring that people with disabilities enter the modern apprenticeship scheme? When we previously looked at the percentages of people who are disabled who had entered the scheme, the figure for England was around 7 per cent, while the figure for Scotland was less than 1 per cent. The Government gave an undertaking to do something about that. What has happened since?
I remember that exchange in the chamber with Dr Simpson. Since that time, a number of issues have come to light. One is the issue of self-certification—whether someone certifies that they have a disability. If we leave that issue—which we have already aired in the chamber—to one side, the member may be aware that we have published, through Skills Development Scotland, the equality action plan that I referred to in previous debates. I believe that it was published on 2 December last year. We will work closely with SDS to ensure that we meet the objectives and targets that are set forth in that plan on this important issue.
Highlands and Islands Enterprise (Fair Work)
To ask the Scottish Government what aspects of fair work it has discussed recently with Highlands and Islands Enterprise. (S4O-05518)
The Scottish Government promotes the benefits of fair work in the Highlands and Islands, as we do across Scotland. We have regular discussions with Highlands and Islands Enterprise on a range of issues. For example, HIE has actively contributed to the development and implementation of the Scottish business pledge, discussions on future employment services and Investors in People. In October 2015, HIE contributed to discussions with the fair work convention in Inverness. Account managers from HIE regularly discuss fair work, innovation and internationalisation with individual businesses as part of their efforts to boost productivity and inclusive growth.
I do not know whether the cabinet secretary has sought HIE’s views on the impact on hotels of changing to the Scottish Government’s version of the living wage for hospitality workers, as the Scalloway hotel in Shetland has announced that it has done.
I have not had a specific discussion with HIE about the Scalloway hotel announcement, which we strongly welcome. I am pleased to say that the number of living wage-accredited organisations is growing rapidly and has now reached 460 out of our target of 500. Of those organisations, 37 are in the HIE area.
The accreditation of the Scalloway hotel—an excellent hotel—emphasises that employers from across Scotland, and in all sectors, are recognising the benefits of fair pay. There are now a variety of accredited employers in tourism and hospitality that are making significant efforts to reward staff—that is in two sectors where roles are traditionally low paid. The move that the Scalloway hotel has taken shows that it can be done.
Employment Support Services (Devolution)
To ask the Scottish Government when it last discussed devolution of employment support services with the United Kingdom Government. (S4O-05519)
The Scottish Government is in frequent discussions with the UK Government regarding the contracted employment support services that will be devolved from April 2017. My next meeting with the UK Minister for Employment, Priti Patel, is scheduled for 11 February. My officials continue to work with those in the UK Government to build strong relations that are focused on the future needs of unemployed Scots.
Does the cabinet secretary agree that cutting the budget by 87 per cent after deciding to devolve the powers is one of the things that break the so-called vow and that it goes against the spirit of the Smith agreement?
The drastic reduction in programme spend that the UK Government has suggested undermines the spirit and intention of the Smith commission. More to the point, it fundamentally reduces the Scottish Government’s ability to provide employment support for those who face significant barriers to entering employment. We are still awaiting progress through the fiscal framework on details of the final settlement that the UK Government is to offer. However, we believe that what is proposed on employment support would create severe financial restrictions for us to operate under following devolution of the services.
Employment Skills and Training (Ayrshire)
To ask the Scottish Government what skills and other training it provides to people in Ayrshire who have been made redundant. (S4O-05520)
Redundancy triggers support through our initiative for responding to redundancy situations, partnership action for continuing employment, which is more commonly known as PACE. Skills Development Scotland leads on the delivery of PACE support on the Scottish Government’s behalf in conjunction with a number of key partners, including the Department for Work and Pensions. Through providing skills development and employability support, PACE aims to minimise the time for which individuals who have been affected by redundancy are out of work.
PACE support is tailored to meet individual needs and local circumstances. In Ayrshire, from April 2015 until December 2015, PACE support was provided to 552 individuals from 13 companies.
The minister will be aware that, in recent months, there have been announcements of job losses that roll into the hundreds across Ayrshire. Around 60 job losses have been announced at Clydeport, 77 at Red Cross house and 212 including agency workers at Mahle in Kilmarnock. Just last week, we heard that the Brantano and Next stores in Irvine are closing.
In addition, Howco in Irvine will shed 50 jobs after public money was invested in the plant, although neither the Scottish Government nor Scottish Enterprise appears to be willing to disclose to Labour councillor Joe Cullinane how much public money was invested for the return of 50 P45s. What will the Scottish Government do about the steady leakage of jobs in Ayrshire? What will it do to protect the Ayrshire economy?
We work hard to use a number of ways to protect the Scottish economy as well as local labour markets. Work will be done by Skills Development Scotland through the apprenticeship scheme, through local employers and through the local developing the young workforce group. The local authorities are also actively encouraging employment opportunities through their local employment hubs. A great deal is being done. When people are made redundant, we put in as much support as we can to ensure that their period of redundancy lasts as little time as possible.
Does the cabinet secretary agree that the Ayrshire growth deal will do a lot to help to create jobs in North Ayrshire and put a lot of the redundant workers back to work? It shows the tremendous co-operation between the three Ayrshire councils, the Scottish Government and private business that that deal is on-going and should deliver substantially for Ayrshire in the years ahead.
I know that there is a great deal of co-operation between the three councils and that is to be commended. They are delivering and developing a good employability offer locally. I am delighted at the increased number of opportunities that have been provided in North Ayrshire. I am also encouraged by the partnership between local authorities, Skills Development Scotland, local employers and wider partners in supporting our ambitions for the further expansion of the programme and the opportunities that it will provide for young people and employers in the area.