Fair Work, Skills and Training
Good afternoon. The first item of business is portfolio questions. To get as many questions in as possible, I would prefer short and succinct questions and answers.
Graeme Dey does not appear to be here to ask question 1, so we will go straight to question 2.
Youth Employment (Edinburgh Western)
To ask the Scottish Government what the youth employment trends are in the Edinburgh Western constituency. (S4O-03792)
The Office for National Statistics advises that the sample size in the annual population survey for the past two years is too small to obtain a statistically reliable indication of recent youth employment trends in the Edinburgh Western constituency. However, I can say to the member that youth unemployment in Scotland is at its lowest rate for five years and that, in comparison with the United Kingdom, we have a higher youth employment rate and a lower youth inactivity rate.
Does the minister agree that programmes for investment in young people, such as learning for life, which is run by Diageo in my constituency, are vital if we are to maintain professional competence and drive in all sectors of the economy?
I agree that investing in our young workforce is essential for sustainable economic growth across all sectors of the economy. It is clear to me that employers have a crucial role to play in the development of young people. Diageo is a shining example of a business that recognises that tapping into the talents of a young and diverse workforce not only is the right thing to do but makes economic sense for employers and for Scotland. Diageo’s commitment to youth employment was recognised recently when the company was among the first in Scotland to gain the new investors in young people award, which is an accolade that the Scottish Government supports for businesses that have a strong track record of recruiting and developing Scotland’s young women and men.
The rolling out of an accolade that recognises firms that have taken a particular interest in supporting our young people was a key recommendation of the commission for developing Scotland’s young workforce. The investors in young people award is available only in Scotland and is another example of how the Scottish Government and Scottish employers are committed to supporting our young men and women into employment and to growing their talent.
Living Wage (Education Sector)
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure that all workers in the education sector are being paid at least the living wage. (S4O-03793)
As the member will know, we are the first and only Government in the United Kingdom to commit to paying the living wage to employees who are covered by our pay policy and to employees in the national health service. However, the Scottish Government is not able to set pay levels in the private sector or indeed in the wider public sector. Pay for higher and further education and local government employees is a matter for their employers and trade unions. That said, as the member also knows, we strongly encourage all organisations to follow our example.
I welcome the recent announcement about the agreement that has been reached to ensure that all cleaners at Scottish Government locations will be paid the living wage. However, the agreement relates only to staff who are directly employed by the Scottish Government. Last week, James Kelly pointed out that Mitie employs cleaners in Anniesland College who are indirectly paid by the Scottish Government but are not being paid the living wage. Will the cabinet secretary assure me that all companies that bid for new or renewed contracts with the Scottish Government will be required to pay at least the living wage to all their employees in future?
As I just said, we are not able to set pay policy other than for our direct employees, and conversations about people who are contracted in the wider public sector need to be had with the individual organisations, such as colleges, and directly with the contractors.
However, as I think the member is aware, we will publish statutory guidance to the wider public sector—that should be done by the end of 2015. I very much hope that people will take notice of the guidance, which will be for public bodies and will be on how workforce-related matters, including the living wage, may be taken into account in public procurement processes. We simply do not have the power, at the moment, to mandate what the member—and, indeed, I—would like to see.
Does the cabinet secretary agree that the real answer to Mr Malik’s problem would come if Scotland had control of the statutory minimum wage and could then control pay policy throughout society?
Of course. It is unfortunate that the Smith commission recommendations do not go as far as we would have liked. If we had control of the minimum wage, we could set policy in a much more direct fashion than we are currently able to do and that would also help with the slightly tricky procurement issues in respect of the European Union directives.
Youth Employment Training (Support)
To ask the Scottish Government what support it has given to youth employment training in the last year. (S4O-03794)
The number of young people unemployed in Scotland is at its lowest level for five years, with Scotland outperforming the United Kingdom on both youth employment and youth inactivity rates.
In each year of the current parliamentary session, the Government has asked Skills Development Scotland to deliver 25,000 modern apprenticeships, increasing year on year to 30,000 by 2020, and 17,150 pre-employment training places through the employability fund. The majority of starts on those programmes continue to be firmly targeted at young people. In addition, we have established the youth employment Scotland fund, which supports employers to recruit young people, and community jobs Scotland, which provides job training opportunities for young people in a supportive third sector environment. Such interventions continue to enhance the skills of our young people and support transitions to further study, training and employment.
According to the Scottish index of multiple deprivation, 16.6 per cent of the population of my Kirkcaldy constituency is employment deprived, compared with 12.8 per cent of the population of Scotland as a whole. What additional support does the Scottish Government make available to prepare young people who are living in deprived areas for employment?
Opportunities for all is the Government’s explicit commitment to offering a place in learning or training to every 16 to 19-year-old who is not in employment, education or training. Through local youth employment activity plans, Skills Development Scotland is working with local partners across Fife and Scotland to make sure that training provision is closely aligned to the needs of young people in each local authority area. In that way, we ensure access for all regardless of social background.
Furthermore, a refresh of the youth employment strategy will be published this month and will focus on the long-term aim of implementing the recommendations of the commission for developing Scotland’s young workforce. In the context of improving labour market conditions, there will be a refocus of current programmes to incentivise the recruitment of young people who face barriers. We will support small businesses to offer modern apprenticeship opportunities and there will also be a focus on encouraging businesses to offer more higher-level modern apprenticeships.
Why are 30,000 16 to 19-year-olds not in education, employment or training when there are so many of the strategies that the minister has now repeated three times today on offer?
There are indeed a number of strategies, but surely we are all determined that our young people should have opportunities in life. The modern apprenticeship programme is indeed exceeding its ambitious target of creating 25,000 apprenticeships a year, rising to 30,000 by 2020.
It is also fair to reflect that the unemployment trend in Scotland is at its lowest for five years. That is evidence of the direction of travel that our policies are ensuring in Scotland. We all have a duty to our young people to do all that we can to maximise their opportunities. In my new portfolio, I hope to work with people across the chamber to ensure that that objective is met.
Commission for Developing Scotland’s Young Workforce (Implementation of Findings)
To ask the Scottish Government what progress it is making with the implementation of the findings of the report of the commission for developing Scotland’s young workforce. (S4O-03795)
Since publication of commission’s report in June, we have made considerable progress in taking forward its recommendations. We have already deployed £5 million of £12 million allocated in 2014-15, with a further £16.6 million set aside for this work in 2015-16. Our commitment to the young workforce is clear.
I will be able to say a good deal more about how we will implement the commission’s recommendations next week, during the debate in the chamber.
The National Deaf Children’s Society has highlighted that deaf young people’s educational outcomes and opportunities to enter the workforce vary dramatically in comparison with those of their peers without additional support needs. The cabinet secretary will be aware of tomorrow’s members’ business debate on deaf children’s educational attainment. Will she commit to ensuring that deaf young people’s specific needs are not forgotten as the commission’s findings are implemented?
Although I welcome the commission’s recommendations to increase opportunities for young disabled people, will the cabinet secretary consider the NDCS’s recommendations to improve deaf young people’s educational, employment and training outcomes?
I thank Jayne Baxter for raising that issue in the chamber. It is important for us to remember that there are a great many access needs across our society. I discussed some of them at the national economic forum this morning and the issue of disabled access to employment was part of that conversation.
I reassure Jayne Baxter that we are taking on board all those issues. We are not only looking at issues for the young workforce, but implementing the fair work programme, which I am taking forward on roughly the same timescale. Jayne Baxter might be pleased when she hears more information about that, because it is very much part and parcel of what we want to ensure: that everybody, regardless of their background or ability, is able to get some access to employment, and to make that employment the best that it can be.
The commission’s recommendation 15 says:
“Businesses across Scotland should be encouraged and supported to enter into 3-5 year partnerships with secondary schools. Every secondary school in Scotland and its feeder primaries should be supported by at least one business in a long-term partnership.”
Does the minister agree that a partnership approach is very important to increase school pupils’ understanding of local businesses in their area? What specific support is the Government providing to ensure that that recommendation is implemented across Scotland?
As Jamie McGrigor knows, we are talking about a seven-year programme across the sectors. Early action is clearly needed to assess the cost of full implementation over the whole of those seven years. However, we are confident that the £28.6 million allocated over this year and next will address costs in the early stages. The commission recommended that its recommendations should be met through mainstream funding; it was not looking for additional special funding.
Jamie McGrigor raises an important issue and we are aware of the need to ensure that the partnerships develop as well as they can. This will not work without partnership development. Partnerships are not just about what Jamie McGrigor is talking about; they go much wider than that.
We are absolutely clear that partnerships will not succeed without the involvement of schools and the education sector. That is why we are putting a very strong focus on them, which will be very much part and parcel of what we will discuss next week in the chamber.
Young People (Recruitment and Training by Smaller and Micro Businesses)
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has developed a recruitment incentive package to equip and support smaller and micro businesses to recruit and train more young people. (S4O-03796)
In response to the economic downturn that followed the 2008 global financial crisis, the Scottish Government acted quickly in partnership with local authorities to establish the youth employment Scotland fund, which offers recruitment incentives to help micro, small and medium-sized businesses employ young people.
Given the improving labour market conditions, we will be reviewing that fund and other recruitment incentives. The review will form part of our refresh of the youth employment strategy and will be in the context of our work to implement the recommendations of the commission for developing Scotland’s young workforce’s report, “Education Working For All!”
I look forward to hearing members’ contributions to the debate on our implementation plan, which will, as the cabinet secretary indicated, take place next week.
Great progress has been made in Dumfries and Galloway on modern apprenticeships, with numbers having doubled since 2007. As the minister said, there will be further benefits when the Wood report recommendations are implemented, in particular with more help being given to micro businesses, which dominate in the area. How will that implementation be rolled out across the country?
I thank the member for her interest in the subject. I am delighted with the increase in the number of modern apprenticeship starts in Dumfries and Galloway since 2007. We will of course seek to build on that with a wider expansion of the modern apprenticeship programme, as we work towards our new ambitious target of 30,000 new opportunities each year by 2020.
Through the development of skills investment plans and wider industry engagement, we are identifying opportunities to promote the benefits of apprenticeships to businesses big and small across Scotland.
As recommended by the commission for developing Scotland’s young workforce, we are working to better understand the barriers that are faced by small and medium-sized enterprises when taking on modern apprentices. We will look to develop appropriate support to help those businesses throughout Scotland.
Details of our plans will be included in the implementation plan, which we look forward to debating next week.
Work Programme (Devolution to Local Authorities)
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will support devolving to local authorities delivery of the work currently carried out under the Department for Work and Pensions’ work programme. (S4O-03797)
The Government agrees that partnership is crucial to the current delivery of employability services in Scotland. That commitment was clearly set out in our 2012 employability framework, “Working for Growth”, continuing through the Scottish employability forum. Partnership will therefore be key to the successful delivery of any new employment programmes.
We recognise the need for, and value of, locally tailored services to meet the needs of individuals and local labour markets. We think that we can do that best in concert with the third sector and local authority employability schemes.
Glasgow is the powerhouse of the Scottish economy. With the ability to tailor support for jobseekers that reflects the reality of local labour markets around the country, we have a real opportunity to improve the successor arrangements for the work programme.
Will the cabinet secretary agree to meet representatives of Glasgow City Council in early course to discuss devolution of the work programme? Will she give further consideration to how the work of Skills Development Scotland could be better aligned to take into account local need and local opportunity?
It is fair to say that, since the Smith commission report was published, the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations, Skills Development Scotland and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities have all expressed a view that they would be able to run the new employment programmes emanating from the agreed devolution. We do not actually have that devolution yet, of course, and we are still in the process of trying to establish when that will come to us.
However, I am happy to commit to meeting representatives of whichever organisation members wish me to meet to discuss all the issues that lie within this area of my portfolio responsibility. In any case, I would have expected to meet representatives of organisations as large as Glasgow City Council in the normal course of events. I can promise the member that that conversation will take place.
Work Programme (Extension)
To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it has had with the United Kingdom Government regarding the extension of the Department for Work and Pensions’ work programme. (S4O-03798)
Last week, I wrote to Iain Duncan Smith, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, to note that the decision of UK ministers to extend the work programme contract without reference to the Scottish Government was incompatible with the terms of the Smith commission agreement on the devolution of contracted DWP programmes.
On 3 December, Iain Duncan Smith responded to me to indicate that ministers had made the decision in August and would not change that decision.
I agree with the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations, which said that the extension of the contract has caused a
“delay in ridding Scotland of this exploitative, punitive and under-performing programme.”
Does the cabinet secretary agree that, when Scotland designs its own employability programmes, such as community jobs Scotland, which cost just £35 million and is approaching its 5,000th successful job, they meet employment and training needs far better than the UK Government? Does she agree that the UK’s decision should be reversed, and that the work programme should be passed to Scotland as a matter of urgency?
I agree, of course. Drew Smith might be interested in this aspect of the discussion, too. I can assure Bob Doris that our ambitions in delivering employment services through the devolved powers outlined by the Smith commission exceed the success that the work programme has so far achieved in Scotland, which, by our assessment, is nowhere near good enough.
In designing employability services, we can continue to draw on the strengths of a range of partners—I have already mentioned Skills Development Scotland, local authorities and the third sector—and build on their current successful delivery across a range of initiatives.
The Scottish Government is committed to providing the best possible support for the unemployed, but we do not believe that we can do that unless we have the ability to make the changes that we consider to be necessary. Right now, it does not look as though we will have that ability any time in the near future.
Social Justice, Communities and Pensioners’ Rights
New Homes (Town Centres)
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to encourage more new homes to be built in town centre locations. (S4O-03801)
The Scottish Government’s town centre action plan is clear on our commitment to town centre living. We launched a £2.75 million town centre housing fund to bring more empty town centre properties back into residential use. That will secure 82 units for affordable housing.
Complementing that, new guidance that was published in August 2014 encourages local authorities to fully consider the role that town centres can play as residential communities when drawing up their local housing strategies.
I thank the minister for her response. I am sure that she will be aware that, with the changing nature of retail, we are seeing more and more disused shops in secondary trading situations. What more can be done to encourage conversion of those disused shops into residential properties? Also, what more can be done to encourage conversion of empty spaces above shops in town centre locations? In relation to planning, what specific encouragement will the Scottish Government give to local authorities to be more flexible in their approach to applications for such conversions?
We have certainly given guidance to local authorities through our town centre first principle. Also, we have not just the town centre housing fund, but the empty homes fund, which is about encouraging town centre properties to be brought back into use. I have visited some of those properties recently. We are looking again at our empty homes loan fund and trying to align it better with our town centre housing fund in order to make the best use of those funds. One of the things that we are looking at is premises that are above shops or retail spaces. We are also looking at retail premises that are no longer in use, or that will no longer be in use, for retail purposes.
Can the minister tell me how many affordable homes were built as a result of the investment in the town centre housing fund and what the current status of the fund is?
As I mentioned in my initial answer, 82 properties will be secured through the town centre housing fund. Through the empty homes fund, we brought 76 properties back into use in its first year, 278 properties back into use the following year and this year we have already exceeded that figure. Some of those empty homes are in town centres and some are not. The town centre housing fund has all been used and we intend to bring 82 homes into use through it.
Empty Shops
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Local Data Company’s recent report on empty shop numbers. (S4O-03802)
I welcome the recent finding in the Local Data Company’s report that the retail vacancy rate in Scotland has fallen from 14.5 per cent in 2013 to 13.7 per cent this year.
That statistic does not reflect local variation, but it does suggest that, overall, the town centre action plan may already be having a positive impact. The “Town Centre Action Plan—One Year On” report, which was published on 4 November, provides a progress update of the activity that is under way and highlights the measures that are designed to help our town centres to diversify, including the adoption of the town centre first principle, the promotion of the business improvement district model and related initiatives such as the can do towns challenge.
I thank the minister for that answer. He will be aware that Anstruther, in my constituency, was highlighted as one of the most improved towns. It was also found to have the highest proportion of independent shops. Does the minister believe that that is a factor in the reduction in shop vacancies? What additional support can the Government offer to independent business start-ups?
Anstruther is well known for its independent shops, including—if I may say so—the sort of independent fish and chip shops that quite literally put food on my table as I was growing up. I congratulate all who are involved in making the place a success.
The town centre action plan recognises the value of healthy small businesses. I highlight the support that we are giving, through the most generous package of support for small business anywhere in the United Kingdom, which totals £594 million, and through the small business bonus—which helps businesses with small properties or a small number of people—fresh start relief, business gateway and the enterprise agencies.
The Community Empowerment (Scotland) Bill that is currently going through Parliament will allow local authorities to launch targeted business rates schemes of their own, which they may well wish to focus on town centres.
Pensioners’ Rights (Impact of Ageing Populations)
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact of an ageing population on pensioners’ rights. (S4O-03803)
Before I answer the question, I wish Ms Boyack all the best in the Labour Party leadership election. Had I a vote, I would have voted for her.
The Scottish Government routinely uses emerging evidence on demographic change in its policy development process. As a consequence, we have undertaken a range of actions to support pensioners’ rights.
I thank the cabinet secretary for his reply. Sadly, the ballot is now closed, so he can no longer join our party and give me that vote.
With the proportion of the population who are of pensionable age being projected to increase in the coming decades, we are all interested to know more about the impact that that will have on the Scottish Government’s responsibility for public sector pensions. I note from this year’s budget that the overall funding for the Scottish Public Pensions Agency is set to increase by more than 40 per cent in real terms, which includes an increase of more than 50 per cent in funding for the national health service superannuation scheme.
Can the cabinet secretary clarify the reason behind the significant increase, and provide assurances that funding for public sector pension schemes is sustainable in the long term?
First, I emphasise Sarah Boyack’s point about the ageing population. The figures for the next 20 years show that the number of 75-year-olds will increase very significantly. In fact, the registrar general estimates that one fifth of all the babies born in Scotland today will live until they are 100 years of age. That increase is a permanent feature of our society, not a short-term phenomenon.
On public sector pensions, Sarah Boyack will know that we have in the past two or three years been in detailed discussions with the Treasury, because the United Kingdom Government has responsibility for most of those pensions and for deciding the employer and employee contributions. She will know that the employee contribution has been rising in recent years, even at a time of pay restraint, which we have opposed. That is one of the reasons why the funding situation has changed. The UK Government is now increasing the employer contribution, which is one of the major reasons why there is such pressure on our health budget, for example.
Empowering Communities Fund (Additional Investment)
To ask the Scottish Government what benefit it expects the additional £10 million being invested in funding and empowering communities to bring. (S4O-03804)
The Scottish Government expects that additional funding to bring huge benefits to communities throughout Scotland, especially those that are suffering disadvantage.
The precise benefits will be determined by communities themselves, as they are best placed to know which challenges and opportunities to focus on in order to deliver more prosperity and fairness.
The new £10 million empowering communities fund is very welcome, and I will certainly encourage communities in my Falkirk East constituency to take advantage of it.
For communities to be engaged, however, requires local bodies such as community councils to be active. As the minister will be aware, there are some areas of Scotland without community councils. What can the Scottish Government do to encourage participation and ensure that every square mile of Scotland is represented by a community council?
Local authorities have statutory oversight of community councils and are required to set up schemes for their areas. We have been working since 2013 in collaboration with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities and the Improvement Service to roll out support, start a website to raise public awareness, provide resources and work through the network of community council liaison officers.
The Government takes community empowerment very seriously, but it must work from the ground up. The Community Empowerment (Scotland) Bill recognises the importance of bodies such as community councils and will confer extra powers on them. I know from some of my visits that, where community councils set up community development trusts, they often demonstrate what a great job community councils can do. There is nothing better for community empowerment than leadership by example.
Referendum (Democratic Participation)
To ask the Scottish Government how it will ensure that the high level of democratic participation seen in the referendum continues. (S4O-03805)
The Scottish Government has a strong record of public engagement, which is demonstrated through a programme of Cabinet meetings in venues the length and breadth of Scotland, an extensive series of public town hall meetings and regular engagement with stakeholders. We want to continue that conversation with the people of Scotland and be a Government that is defined by its openness and accessibility.
In the summer, we launched a consultation exercise to seek views on how we can improve the quality of democracy in Scotland by encouraging wider engagement and participation in elections. Our programme for government, which was published in November, sets out our commitment to strengthen the way in which we engage and involve people and communities in decision making so that they get the opportunity to argue for the outcomes that they want. In doing that, we will use the lessons learned in the referendum to harness and maintain the incredible participation and engagement levels that we all witnessed.
The minister will be as aware as I am of the democratic participation that took place, from the very youngest in our society to, shall I say, the more mature. Like me, he will be delighted to hear that the Labour Party now supports votes at 16. In a recent debate that I led, members of all parties supported votes at 16. Given that, does he agree that we should have responsibility for the franchise transferred to the Scottish Parliament as quickly as possible, rather than wait for the Smith proposals, to ensure that 16-year-olds can vote in the 2016 election?
The short answer is yes. The Smith commission recognised the need for that to happen. It recommended that the Scottish Parliament should have all powers in relation to Scottish Parliament and Scottish local government elections.
Lord Smith called on the United Kingdom Parliament to devolve the relevant powers in sufficient time to allow the Scottish Parliament to extend the franchise to 16 and 17-year-olds for the 2016 election. The First Minister has emphasised the need to make rapid progress on that, including in a letter to the Prime Minister on 26 November and when she met the Secretary of State for Scotland on 4 December.
Glasgow City Council (Meetings)
To ask the Scottish Government when the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Communities and Pensioners’ Rights last met representatives of Glasgow City Council and what matters were discussed. (S4O-03806)
I have not had the pleasure of meeting representatives of Glasgow City Council since assuming my current ministerial responsibilities.
Will the cabinet secretary join me in congratulating Glasgow City Council on its affordable warmth dividend, which is paid to the over-80s? To ensure that that good work in directly tackling fuel poverty continues, will he ensure that Glasgow receives a fair award in the local government finance settlement, on which we will hear a statement tomorrow?
The local government finance settlement remains the responsibility of my colleague the Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Constitution and Economy, John Swinney. It would be entirely wrong of me to pre-empt the statement that he will make to Parliament.
Is the cabinet secretary aware that deafblind people in Glasgow have to contribute up to £168 per week to Glasgow City Council for a guide communicator, whereas deaf people can access a British Sign Language interpreter free at the point of use? Will he confirm whether other local authorities provide free guide communicators to deafblind people? Does he agree that charging for guide communicators risks depriving deafblind people of essential support, which can affect not just their quality of life but their ability to do what the rest of us take for granted?
I have a lot of sympathy with the fair points that Margaret Mitchell makes. A wider issue is the social care charge increases in Glasgow City Council in recent times. As she knows, the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities has strict guidelines on how care charges should be applied. Clearly, an issue has to be addressed in Glasgow, because some of the increases have been extremely steep, and they apply to the most vulnerable members of our community. Therefore, I have a great deal of sympathy with the member’s point but, as the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Communities and Pensioners’ Rights, I have no powers to intervene.
Anti-poverty Measures (Highlands)
To ask the Scottish Government what specific anti-poverty measures it considers are needed to support people in the Highlands. (S4O-03807)
The challenges of living in rural areas are well understood. Increasing travel and fuel costs and issues with access to digital services can often have a greater impact in rural areas such as the Highlands and Islands. The measures that are needed to address those challenges are wide ranging and there is no single solution.
Our revised child poverty strategy takes a national approach to tackling poverty with the aim of improving outcomes for households across Scotland. It includes actions such as investing more than £300 million since 2009 and a further £94 million this year and next in measures to address fuel poverty, and encouraging greater digital participation and use of the internet in rural areas.
In a parliamentary debate just over 18 months ago, I raised the issue of higher electricity prices in the Highlands and Islands. Does the minister think that it is socially just that electricity consumers in the north pay more for their electricity than those in other parts of the land?
The member raises an important issue. He will be aware that energy regulation and prices are a reserved matter. However, as the Minister for Business, Energy and Tourism, Fergus Ewing, said in Parliament last month, the Government is
“concerned about the level of energy bills throughout the country”
and
“especially in the north of Scotland.”—[Official Report, 5 November 2014; c 8.]
Fergus Ewing has since raised the issue of high electricity bills in the north of Scotland directly with the chief executive of the Office of Gas and Electricity Markets, and he has written to the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change. Fergus Ewing has highlighted our concerns about the impact of the charging arrangements and the apparently slow pace of progress in Ofgem’s further investigation, and he will continue to press for a timely and effective resolution.
North Lanarkshire Council (Meetings)
To ask the Scottish Government when the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Communities and Pensioners’ Rights last met North Lanarkshire Council. (S4O-03808)
Neither the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Communities and Pensioners’ Rights nor I have met representatives of North Lanarkshire Council since assuming our current ministerial responsibilities.
Labour-controlled North Lanarkshire Council is still dragging its feet on settling staff pay claims. It continues to have meetings to discuss the matter in private. It does not allow opposition councillors to see paperwork before those meetings and it gathers the paperwork back in after the meetings. In the light of Labour’s hypocrisy on paying the living wage but failing to meet equal pay claims, what action can the minister take to ensure that the council stops dragging its feet?
I am appalled at the level of reluctance and foot dragging that has been demonstrated and which I have observed in the country. It is unfair to women, and fighting tooth and nail to avoid paying out stands against all values of fairness.
Unfortunately, because of the close legal relationship between the employer and the employee, the Scottish Government has no power to intervene. However, I repeat that such behaviour is unacceptable. The Equal Pay Act was passed in 1970, and there is no place for this historical wrong to be defended in court by people who are supposed to represent all people in their area, whatever gender they may be. I do not think that what is happening should go unchallenged, and I do not intend to let that happen.
Paternity Leave (Fathers in Receipt of Jobseekers Allowance on Mandatory Placements)
To ask the Scottish Government what the equalities impact will be in Scotland of the United Kingdom Government’s decision not to honour the legal entitlement for paternity leave for fathers who are in receipt of jobseekers allowance and are in mandatory work or community placements. (S4O-03809)
The Scottish Government believes that, ideally, all fathers, including those on out-of-work benefits, should be able to spend quality time with their new babies. I urge the Department for Work and Pensions to examine the policy again and to consider whether it is in the best interests of children. This UK Government policy threatens to be detrimental to low-income, vulnerable families.
Does the cabinet secretary agree that the policy undermines the early years work that the Scottish Government is carrying out across portfolios to reduce poverty and inequality?
I absolutely agree. As the member knows, we have a range of initiatives, including the expansion of nursery entitlement, the early years collaborative and the early years change fund. It ill behoves the UK Government to impose such a restriction at a time of need, particularly when it preaches the values of family life. Our view is that family life should be promoted and protected at every opportunity and that fathers should get the maximum opportunity to look after their children at such a young age. I totally agree with the member and think that, from a humanitarian point of view, the UK Government should think again on its policy.
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