Social Justice, Communities and Pensioners’ Rights
Third Sector (Funding Schemes)
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with third sector organisations regarding changes to funding allocated under schemes such as the community innovation fund. (S4O-04698)
In a challenging funding environment, the Scottish Government is committed to supporting the development of a capable, sustainable and enterprising third sector. We recognise the pressures that are faced by the third sector at a time when it has a key role to play in helping to drive forward public sector reform and prevention, and we will continue to invest in supporting third sector capacity and sustainability.
The Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Communities and Pensioners’ Rights will join the Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Constitution and Economy at a meeting with the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations and other third sector leaders on 11 November to discuss the spending review. We will continue to work collaboratively with the sector on a strategic approach to social enterprise, and with a wide range of stakeholders, including Big Scotland—the Big Lottery Fund in Scotland—and independent funders to explore opportunities to maximise the resources that are available to support the work of the sector.
I asked the question because of concerns that have been expressed by groups including Perth Autism Support, which has found it difficult to access the community innovation fund despite its belief that it meets the relevant criteria in providing, in Perth and Kinross, support to 400 families that are affected by autism—support that is not available through statutory partners. I ask the minister to look at that situation because it is of serious concern for the families that are affected and for the groups that are doing their level best to help them.
In our Scottish landscape, there are two community innovation funds. I assume that the one to which Liz Smith refers is the one that is operated by NHS Tayside.
It is.
The fund in question was developed in response to a consultation that showed that people were concerned not just about health but about wider environmental factors. Groups were invited to apply for a share of the fund in order to establish projects to take action that would affect the everyday lives of people in communities under various headings. It is an important fund that has recently been relaunched, so I would be happy to look at how NHS Tayside is operating it, and at the concerns that Liz Smith highlights.
Charities (Ethical Investment)
To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers that charities with social welfare objectives should make ethical investment decisions that are consistent with those objectives rather than seek to maximise income at all costs. (S4O-04699)
The legislative framework for Scotland’s charities is the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005. The act sets out the general duty of care that charity trustees must follow, which includes a requirement that charity trustees act in the interests of their charity and seek to ensure that the charity acts consistently with its purposes.
The trustees of a charity are free to make decisions for their charity as long as those decisions are within the powers of the law and the terms of the charity’s governing document. The Scottish Government expects trustees to select investments that are right for their charity, which means taking account of how suitable any investment is for the charity, and taking advice, when appropriate, from someone who is experienced in investment matters.
Given that some charities seem to think that they are obliged to achieve the maximum possible income when they dispose of assets or make investment decisions, will the Government issue guidance that makes it clear that it is perfectly proper for charities—especially charities with social welfare objectives—to take account of community benefit and community harm when they dispose of assets or make investment decisions?
I will certainly discuss that with my colleague Fergus Ewing, who is responsible for how charities operate. It is clear in the 2005 act that charities are not required to make investment decisions on that basis. However, I will discuss the matter with my colleague to see whether the Scottish Government can do anything to make that clearer to charities.
Local Government Budget Reductions (Impact on Poverty)
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact of local government budget reductions on poverty rates. (S4O-04700)
Despite the significant cuts that Westminster has imposed on this Parliament’s budget, the Scottish Government has protected the funding that it provides to local authorities. The local government finance settlements have been maintained over the period from 2012 to 2016, with extra money being provided for additional responsibilities. As a result, the total settlement in 2015-16 amounts to more than £10.85 billion.
Does the Government agree that cuts that have been made to local government finance and the centrally imposed council tax freeze have forced increased charges on some of the most vulnerable elderly and disabled people? Will the minister indicate support for Siobhan McMahon’s bill, which seeks to address that growing problem?
First, it should be said that local government in Scotland does very well financially and has done much better than English local authorities according to any independent analysis of how the two Governments have responded to the same financial pressures.
As my colleague Shona Robison, the Cabinet Secretary for Health, Wellbeing and Sport, has said about care charging at the Public Petitions Committee, we are looking at the budgets ahead in our extensive discussions with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities. We have taken early steps to address some of the issues that have been highlighted. Shona Robison has met campaigners on a number of occasions, and will continue to have that discussion with them and COSLA.
Does the minister agree that the United Kingdom Government’s policies for the next five years, in particular in relation to welfare cuts, will push more households—especially those that include carers, people with long-term conditions and children—into further poverty?
I completely agree. We have in front of us evidence in relation to tax credits, as just one example, that next year—if the UK Government somehow goes ahead despite a fiat under the Westminster constitution—the measures would cost the families that would be affected £1,500 a year on average and would affect a quarter of a million people. We are not talking about measures having been stopped, but about their simply being delayed. Even Ruth Davidson has joined in the criticism of the measures. I hope that we could have the powers here, so that we could choose a different way on child and family poverty.
Does the minister accept the conclusions of the recent Scottish Parliament information centre report, which found that although the UK Conservative Government has passed on a 3 per cent cut to Scottish Government funding, the Scottish National Party ministers have in turn passed on a 6 per cent cut to local government finance? What impact have those cuts had on vulnerable elderly and disabled citizens in local areas?
I do not agree. The departmental expenditure limit reduction in the Scottish budget has been about 10 per cent. I would perhaps agree with another point in the SPICe report that highlights that the council tax freeze—I cannot remember whether Labour is in favour of or against it this week—has been overfunded by an estimated £165 million.
Fife Council (Meetings)
To ask the Scottish Government when it last met Fife Council and what issues were discussed. (S4O-04701)
The Scottish Government engages regularly with Fife Council and all other local authorities in Scotland on a wide range of issues.
Housing will play an important part in the successful delivery of integrated health and social care. Fife Council is investing significantly in affordable housing, but the complex needs of, for example, suitable retirement housing that might require a care element, is what will be needed in the future if the joined-up social care agenda is to work. What discussions are the minister and the whole ministerial team having with the Cabinet Secretary for Health, Wellbeing and Sport to support the role of local government in delivering integrated social care and healthcare?
On the 8 October, the Cabinet Secretary for Health, Wellbeing and Sport met the chair of NHS Fife and the leader of Fife Council to discuss delayed discharges and the wider operation of the integration joint board. That is an area to which we pay particular attention, in part because of its importance for delayed discharge, but also because it is a key part of public sector reform that we want to get right. I would be happy to have discussions with Claire Baker if there are specific obstacles or issues about that programme that need to be highlighted and addressed.
Fuel Poverty Target
To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made toward achieving its target that no person will live in fuel poverty by November 2016. (S4O-04702)
The Scottish Government is committed to eradicating fuel poverty, as far as is reasonably practicable, by November 2016. This year, it is making available a record budget of £119 million to help to achieve that. However, the major challenges to meeting the target are household incomes and rising fuel prices, over which we have no control.
Last year, the number of winter deaths in Scotland was at its highest for 15 years. Figures show that, far from our target on fuel poverty being achieved, fuel poverty peaked in 2013, when almost 1 million households—or four in 10 of all households in Scotland—were living in fuel poverty, and 252,000 of them were in extreme fuel poverty.
Does the cabinet secretary agree with Theresa Fyffe of the Royal College of Nursing Scotland that it is
“indefensible that cold, hard-to-heat homes continue to leave the most vulnerable in our society at the mercy of cold weather each winter”?
What assurances can he give that we are back on track and that the target will be met by November 2016?
As I said in my original answer, this year we are spending £119 million on dealing with fuel poverty, which is a record amount. However, that is against a background of the impact that substantial cuts in welfare benefits have had, as well as the impact that the recession has had over the past five years on increasing unemployment—fortunately, the trend is that the unemployment rate is beginning to come down again—and the effect that it has had on the standard of living and particularly on low-paid people’s incomes. That is why fuel poverty has been a much greater challenge in recent times than it was prior to the recession.
Will the cabinet secretary provide an estimate of how many people would be in fuel poverty if the cost of fuel had increased in line with inflation since 2011?
Please give a spontaneous answer, cabinet secretary.
Our initial estimate is that, if the cost of fuel had increased in line with inflation since mid-2011, 743,000 households would have been in fuel poverty in 2013. That is equivalent to a fuel poverty rate of 30.9 per cent, which is 2.3 percentage points lower than the fuel poverty rate in mid-2011 and 9 percentage points lower than the actual fuel poverty rate for 2013. I just happened to have that information ready to hand.
Well done.
I am looking for the same level of spontaneity from the cabinet secretary. He will be aware of the remark by Norrie Kerr of Energy Action Scotland that the chances of our hitting the fuel poverty target by November next year are slim to vanishing. Does the cabinet secretary accept that it would be valuable at this stage to reappraise that target so that everybody who is involved in the sector can redouble their efforts and focus on a target that is achievable not just next year but in the medium to longer term?
We have well over a year to go before the target must be met. Any reassessment will be done much nearer the time, once we know what the situation is after the spending review on 25 November and after the budget next year. All those decisions will impact on the level of fuel poverty in Scotland.
If the reductions in tax credits go ahead, that will further aggravate the fuel poverty problem in Scotland. It is a great pity that the Liberal Democrats sustained the Tories in power for five years, because it is as a result of measures that were introduced, in some cases, by Liberal Democrat ministers that the fuel poverty level in Scotland is so high.
Given the cabinet secretary’s tremendous powers of recall, could he tell us about the situation in the preceding five years? [Laughter.]
To save your time, Presiding Officer, I will write to the member.
Many thanks.
Town Centres (Business Rates)
To ask the Scottish Government how town centres could benefit from business rates being set by local authorities. (S4O-04703)
The Scottish Government is committed to giving communities control over their futures. The substantial new power that was delivered under the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 will give councils more control over business rates and an opportunity to tailor rates to their areas. With those new flexibilities, councils could use their local knowledge to attract new investment into town centres and help to create vibrant communities where people want to live, socialise and do business.
When I first opened my office in Paisley’s Johnston Street, there were many empty shops, but we now have almost full occupancy. Although I would like to claim credit for that, I do not believe that it is all my doing. Does the minister agree that policies such as the small business bonus and the devolution of business rates to local level will encourage businesses to open in our town centres?
Yes. The benefits of the small business bonus scheme are clear; indeed, it has reduced or removed business rates bills for more than two in every five rateable properties in Scotland. The Federation of Small Businesses has commented that the small business bonus continues to give most Scottish firms
“a competitive advantage over counterparts in other parts of the UK.”
Councils could use the newly devolved power to reduce rates bills as they choose for town centres or other localities, individual properties, particular growth sectors and so on. I look forward to further innovative thinking in that regard. The ball is in the court of the local authorities, which have had the power decentralised to them, and the Scottish Government will continue to work in partnership with any councils that are interested in using the power to explore further opportunities.
Town centres could benefit from locally set business rates, as long as they were lowered to incentivise businesses to set up and prosper in the area. Will the Scottish Government assess how the setting of business rates by local authorities could benefit local consumers?
We will produce factual guidance on the power that councils will be able to use and, as with any power, we will keep it broadly under review. I am sure that the member applauds the fact that with the power business rates can be varied downwards, which will probably only assist businesses. We have high hopes for the power, if councils apply it creatively; we do not want to stifle their innovating with it. It would be appropriate to consider it again a few years down the line, but the ball is very much in the local authorities’ court and I trust that they will use the power well.
Council Tenants (Right to Buy)
To ask the Scottish Government how many council tenants it estimates would have exercised their right to buy but will no longer be able to after 1 August next year. (S4O-04704)
The Scottish Government estimates that, over a 10-year period, up to 15,500 houses will not be sold as a result of the ending of right to buy on 1 August 2016. Those homes will be kept within current stock, to the benefit of tenants and communities across Scotland.
I have been contacted by a number of constituents who, having expressed an interest in buying their homes, have had the exercise of their right postponed because the local council has designated their homes as being in a pressured area. With the Scottish Government moving to end the right-to-buy policy for all council and housing association tenants on 1 August next year, the constituents in question have discovered that, although they had already expressed an interest in buying their homes, the right is to be totally removed. What advice does the minister give those tenants, who want to own their homes but have no other route to achieve that aspiration?
Given that local authorities create pressured areas because of a lack of supply of housing stock and given that they can continue to apply that status, the tenants that the member mentioned could have found that that status continued year on year, so they would in effect not have had the right to buy anyway.
The Scottish Government has a number of schemes to help people into the housing market, including our open market shared equity scheme for those who want to move into owner occupancy and the help to buy scheme, which the First Minister has announced will continue for those who want to purchase a new home. I point out that our abolition of the right to buy is popular among not only tenants but all housing associations and housing professionals, and it has given local authorities the confidence to build council houses in the knowledge that they will not lose those houses from their stock. Other measures are in place for those who want to buy their homes.
Carers Allowance
To ask the Scottish Government what its plans are for carers allowance when it is devolved. (S4O-04705)
The Government recognises the vital role that carers fulfil by caring for their family, friends and neighbours and the tremendous contribution that they make to our society. The amount of support that they receive in the form of carers allowance is the lowest of all working-age benefits, which is simply not fair. I am delighted by the First Minister’s recent announcement that, when powers over carers allowance are devolved, the Scottish National Party Government will begin to increase it so that it is paid at the same level as jobseekers allowance, which would give carers about £600 more a year.
I declare an interest, as my wife receives carers allowance. I welcome the First Minister’s announcement, but does the cabinet secretary agree that it would be welcome if in the autumn statement or the upcoming budget the Chancellor of the Exchequer were to take the position that carers should have carers allowance uprated? Does the cabinet secretary also agree that given that in the many years that SNP members, including my late colleague Brian Adam, have been raising the matter with the United Kingdom Government, that uprating has failed to happen, it is more likely that we will have to wait for the Scottish Government and this Parliament to have the powers before carers get the equality that they deserve?
I whole-heartedly agree with every point that Mark McDonald made.
Fair Work, Skills and Training
Longannet Power Station Closure
To ask the Scottish Government when the Longannet task force and partnership action for continuing employment team will report on the interventions that they have made with the workers and apprentices affected by the power station’s closure. (S4O-04708)
The Scottish Government’s PACE team has been in discussions with Scottish Power and supply chain companies to offer PACE support and is implementing tailored programmes of support for affected workers where the offer of support has been accepted. I can confirm that there are no apprentices at Longannet.
Longannet power station will remain fully operational until 31 March 2016. However, a resource centre is being established to provide direct support on site for employees of Scottish Power and for employees of on-site contractors, and that will be in place from mid-November 2015. In addition to the range of PACE support that will be provided, plans are also being developed for a jobs fair to be held on site during January 2016.
We monitor the impact of our PACE interventions on affected employees, and regular progress reports are provided to the Longannet task force, which is chaired by the Minister for Business, Energy and Tourism. The next meeting of the Longannet task force is scheduled to be held early in 2016 and I will ensure the member receives a copy of the PACE update from that.
I thank the minister for that extremely useful response. Can she clarify how much financial and staffing resource has been invested to engage with the workers at Longannet, particularly given that, as I understand it, more than 50 per cent of them are over 50, so that we can tailor that assistance and retain the workers’ skills in Scotland’s energy sector, and ensure that we can make the economic transition that we need to make to renewables and green energy in Fife?
I do not have information on how much is currently being spent on resourcing the PACE involvement, but we are conscious of the age range of the employees, a significant number of whom are over 50. That is why so much work is being done on employee support. A draft economic recovery plan is being considered. The task force looked at the draft plan on 29 September, when it last met, and its meeting in January 2016 will allow officials to progress a variety of work in the intervening period. For example, another meeting directly affecting employee support has just been held, on 20 October. Support will continue to be put in place for affected employees. We are cognisant of the fact that the age range is as high as it is. That is evident from the fact that there are no apprentices, as I indicated, and it is a factor that is being looked at.
As well as setting out the support that will be provided for those who will be made redundant as a result of the Longannet closure, will the progress reports also include the support that is being given to those in the supply chain, such as those at Hunterston in my constituency?
As Mr Gibson will know if he listened to my initial answer, I am not actually on the task force. However, I can tell him that it is currently looking at a variety of options and working closely with contractors as well as directly with Scottish Power, and I am absolutely sure that all those who are directly affected by the closure, regardless of where they might be, will be taken into consideration. I advise Mr Gibson to take up directly with Fergus Ewing any specific concerns he may have about detailed aspects of that work.
Question 2 has not been lodged.
Youth Unemployment (West Scotland)
To ask the Scottish Government how it is reducing youth unemployment in West Scotland. (S4O-04710)
The Government has invested in a wide range of employment initiatives that are directly helping to create sustainable employment opportunities for young people in the West Scotland region. They include supporting more than 10,000 modern apprenticeship starts in the past three years; supporting 621 young people through community jobs Scotland in the past three years; and the allocation of funding to support 329 young people who have specific barriers to employment and to support employers to recruit modern apprentices from July 2015 to March 2016 through Scotland’s employer recruitment incentive. I should point out that that information was collected at local authority level, and that it therefore includes data from Inverclyde, West Dunbartonshire, East Dunbartonshire, Renfrewshire, East Renfrewshire and North Ayrshire.
I thank the minister for that detailed answer. Is she aware that in the past three years Renfrewshire Council has reduced youth unemployment from 10.9 per cent to 2.2 per cent, which is below the Scottish average of 2.6 per cent? Will the Scottish Government take any lessons from the excellent work done by my colleagues in Renfrewshire Council and its business partners to replicate that success across West Scotland?
I thank Mary Fee for that information on the work of the local authority that she referred to. We welcome any initiative, from wherever it comes, that helps to ensure that young people have access to jobs, which is what everyone across the chamber wishes to see.
On exchanging helpful information, I point out that recently at West College Scotland I launched the developing Scotland’s young workforce west Scotland regional group, which will be a bridge between employers and schools. That is a very significant development for West Scotland. I am sure that we all wish the regional group continued success in getting young people into the world of work.
Colleges (West Scotland)
To ask the Scottish Government what role it considers colleges play in providing skills and training opportunities for people in West Scotland. (S4O-04711)
West College Scotland is Scotland’s second largest regional college. It delivers education and training to 30,000 students and around 500 modern apprentices, and provides 12,000 hours of learning to 3,000 school pupils from its three main campus areas.
The college works closely with industry partners to ensure that each curriculum sector is aligned to both local and national industry. Skills development opportunities for students, including work placement and industry-related skills development, are a priority.
Recently, I have heard from a number of people who are concerned about the widely felt impact of college cuts on skills and training opportunities. The cabinet secretary will be aware that her Government’s cuts have resulted in the colleges budget being slashed by more than £100 million in real terms since Labour was last in power. Will the cabinet secretary give students and staff a commitment that there will not be another real-terms cut to the colleges budget next year? If not, given the importance that she places on colleges providing skills and training opportunities, will she lobby the finance secretary against further real-terms cuts?
I have regular conversations with the finance secretary about a great many things, as Neil Bibby will be aware. I do not recognise the caricature of college funding that he paints. We are investing more in colleges than Labour ever did. Our college resource budget of £526 million in 2015-16 is well above Labour’s highest level in 2006-07. [Interruption.]
Order.
We have invested more than £530 million in the college estate in the same period, which is £230 million more in cash terms than the figure during Labour’s time in office.
Will the cabinet secretary admit that in order to reach that figure, she has had to ignore capital inflation since the last year of the Labour Administration?
One could argue that Labour is just as keen to ignore any and all such things when it suits it.
We have invested record amounts of money in college funding and we have gained huge dividends from refocusing how the college system in Scotland works. We have far more full-time equivalent students, as members know perfectly well. The work that colleges are doing is now focused on employment and education, which is where it should be focused.
Trade Union Bill
To ask the Scottish Government when it last discussed the Trade Union Bill with the United Kingdom Government. (S4O-04712)
I discussed the Trade Union Bill with Nick Boles, Minister of State for Skills, in a telephone conversation on 8 October. That was followed up by my letter of 12 October in which I highlighted my concern that the bill as currently drafted leaves far too much scope for abuse in the future.
The bill is an unwarranted ideological attack on the recognised rights of trade unions. The proposals that it sets out are completely out of step with the partnership approach that this Government takes and there is a real risk that it could undermine what we are trying to achieve in Scotland. We, along with the Scottish Trades Union Congress and many others, consider the bill to be highly regressive, and I have asked the United Kingdom Government to completely exclude Scotland from it.
I ask the cabinet secretary to tell the UK Government the next time she meets it about what the general secretary of the STUC, Grahame Smith said when he addressed the Scottish National Party conference. He said that the Trade Union Bill
“should be of concern not just to unions and their members, but to anyone concerned about democracy, human rights and civil liberties.”
Does the cabinet secretary agree that everyone in Scotland who cares about those things should join in opposing a blatant attack on the rights of people in Scotland?
Of course I agree with all of that, and I expect that at least my Labour colleagues might agree with it, too, particularly given Grahame Smith’s comments. Indeed, I am sure that they agree with those comments, regardless of the platform on which Grahame Smith chose to express them.
I have made it clear on several occasions that I believe that the Trade Union Bill proposals have the potential to undermine the effective engagement of trade unions across Scottish workplaces and in particular across the Scottish public sector. The proposals are in stark contrast to the work that we are trying to do, which we set out in our response to the “Working Together Review: Progressive Workplace Policies in Scotland” and the fair work convention. We are trying to build a stronger and more collaborative approach to the relationship between unions, employees and employers. Our strategy reflects the strategies of many of the most successful European countries. I believe that taking such an approach is the only way in which we will be able to maintain the integrity of our more progressive approach of working in partnership with unions.
Like, I hope, everybody else in the chamber, I encourage every person who is in a workplace to join a trade union. That would be the best response to what is now emanating from Westminster.
Youth Employment Scotland Fund (Evaluation)
To ask the Scottish Government in which month the evaluation of the youth employment Scotland fund will be completed and whether it will publish the full evaluation. (S4O-04713)
The evaluation is scheduled to be completed by the end of December 2015, and it will subsequently be published in full thereafter.
Why did the Scottish Government not evaluate the fund before replacing it?
Where we are with the evaluation is that, after the initial delay in the procurement process, which the member may be aware of, the contractor that is now in place has reported that it has had difficulties in receiving responses from some local authorities, which has impacted on the timescale that dictates when we will receive the evaluation.
In the member’s supplementary question, I suspect that he was referring to the recently launched Scotland’s employer recruitment incentive programme, but I am not entirely sure about that. We have proceeded with that programme and picked up lessons of good practice from where we have been to ensure that we have a more straightforward, easy to operate, simple and flexible scheme that will focus both on helping those with the most challenges to obtain work experience and a job and on providing micro and small businesses with the support that they may need to meet the cost of taking on somebody in those circumstances, and that will ensure that support is provided for a longer period than under the youth employment Scotland fund.
I am not entirely sure whether that addresses the member’s question. I am trying to be helpful, but the question was rather vague in its terms.
Employment Policy (Impact of Public Procurement)
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions the Cabinet Secretary for Fair Work, Skills and Training has had with the Cabinet Secretary for Infrastructure, Investment and Cities regarding the impact of public sector procurement on employment policy. (S4O-04714)
I have regular discussions with the Cabinet Secretary for Infrastructure, Investment and Cities on those issues. I am particularly conscious of the significant role that public sector procurement can play in promoting fair work, which is why I have been pleased to work with the Cabinet Secretary for Infrastructure, Investment and Cities on the development of the statutory guidance that addresses fair work practices through public procurement. That is an important step forward, in particular as a way of encouraging more organisations to pay the living wage. Through such cross-Government activity, we are helping to create and nurture a culture of fair work that will ensure that work improves people’s lives and strengthens businesses so that everyone shares the benefits of a stronger, growing and more inclusive economy.
On 16 October this year, BAM was awarded a £170 million contract to upgrade the Aberdeen to Inverness rail line. How can it be that companies that have blacklisted workers are, one after another, being awarded multimillion-pound contracts in clear defiance of Scottish Government procurement guidance that says that they must take appropriate remedial action, which would include owning up, apologising, paying compensation and proving that they have self-cleansed by employing some of the very people who they blacklisted in the first place?
It is estimated that the Aberdeen western peripheral route will generate over £6 billion additional income for the north-east. I think the member needs to remember that 14,000 jobs are expected to be generated along with that.
On a point of order, Presiding Officer.
It is anticipated that around 1,500 employees will work on this project at its peak—
Forgive me, cabinet secretary, but there is a point of order from Mr Findlay.
She has not finished the answer.
Presiding Officer, I never mentioned the AWPR in my question.
That is not a point of order. Please continue—my apologies, Ms Cunningham.
The question was about a railway.
Right. I am sorry if I have addressed the wrong issue. The principle is the same.
If it is about the BAM contract, the member needs to be aware that we have no authority over Network Rail procurement in the first place; it effectively remains an arm’s-length body of the United Kingdom Department for Transport, with no direct accountability to the Scottish Government. Network Rail also retains full operational and commercial responsibility for managing the railway infrastructure within defined regulatory and control frameworks, including all procurement activities related to its regulated infrastructure programme. I cannot be responsible for an organisation for which I am not responsible.
On a point of order, Presiding Officer. I wonder if I may be of help to the cabinet secretary. The contract was awarded by Transport Scotland.
That is not a point of order, nonetheless. As you will be well aware, Mr Findlay, the answers that ministers choose to give are entirely a matter for them.
Employment (Young People in Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley)
To ask the Scottish Government how it is supporting young people into employment in the Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley constituency. (S4O-04715)
The Government has invested in a wide range of employment initiatives, which are directly helping to create sustainable employment opportunities for young people in Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley. Within the East Ayrshire local authority area some of those activities include supporting more than 1,900 modern apprenticeship starts over the past three years; supporting 138 young people through community jobs Scotland in the past three years; and the allocation of funding to support 77 young people who face particular challenges in terms of employment and to support small employers to recruit MAs from July 2015 to March 2016, through Scotland’s employer recruitment incentive.
The minister will be aware that since 2008 the number of school leavers in positive destinations in Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley has increased by 4.7 per cent, while the number of school leavers in employment has increased by 4.2 per cent. Those are both welcome figures, even though they are still slightly below the Scottish average. Will the minister outline what further measures the Government might take to close that gap and, in particular, how we can assist youngsters with a disability to overcome their particular barriers to employment?
I know that the member takes a keen interest in the key issue of youth employment. This Government will of course do all that it can to ensure that young people can access the world of work and find sustainable employment. As I am sure that members are aware, we have set a very ambitious target to reduce youth unemployment by 40 per cent by 2021. Although we have made considerable progress through some of the initiatives that I referred to in my first response, we recognise that there is always more work to be done.
On the specific issue of young people with a disability, we have embarked on a number of initiatives, including the SERI project, which I referred to a moment ago, as well as in answer to Mr Brown. In addition to that general approach, there is a specific additional in-work support package available to support access for disabled young people. We will continue to proceed with such initiatives to ensure that young disabled people have access to employment.
Modern Apprenticeships Target
To ask the Scottish Government whether it is on target to create 30,000 apprenticeships a year by 2020. (S4O-04716)
We are currently on target to deliver 30,000 new modern apprenticeship opportunities each year by 2020. In 2015-16 we have increased the number of opportunities to 25,500.
I welcome the fact that last year’s target was met and I appreciate the new target that the minister has told us about.
However, I am concerned that there appears to be a significant gender imbalance and also very low numbers of people with disabilities among those who are undertaking apprenticeships. Can I simply ask what actions the minister might take to address that imbalance?
We are undertaking a number of initiatives to look at gender segregation, gender balance and access on the part of people with disabilities to, for example, the modern apprenticeship programme. There is a range of activities, which I will write to the member to describe in detail, as I think that I am running out of time.
We also expect to see published in the reasonably near term the equalities action plan that we promised to produce. We will propose a number of initiatives in that as well.
That concludes portfolio questions.
Previous
Welfare ReformNext
Universities