Chamber and committees

I am delighted to speak today; I pay tribute to my colleague Stephen Kerr for securing this debate on road safety in Falkirk.

Mr Kerr made a strong case for introducing a 20mph speed limit in Airth and Reddingmuirhead. Falkirk residents have been vocal in their support for the measure, with 87 per cent of respondents to a recent survey by Mr Kerr calling for a 20mph zone to be introduced on Main Street. In particular, the community complained about a lack of visible policing on Main Street and the risk to schoolchildren from speeding cars. Such concerns have been repeatedly shared with me in my region.

For local roads, I agree that councils are best placed to respond to the road safety requirements of the communities that they serve, so I caution against a top-down blanket approach being taken on 20mph zones. They can be effective at reducing casualties and accidents on the road, but they are not the only approach. Road humps, speed cushions, traffic islands, signs and markings provide alternative and sometimes more suitable traffic-calming measures. Such decisions are best taken at local authority level, based on local knowledge and community feedback.

I agree with Stephen Kerr. Please could the minister not laugh from a sedentary position? The safety of children around schools is very important and—[Interruption.] Shame on you. I would like just like to say—

The updated Covid strategic framework emphasises the importance of testing and anticipates a significantly increased demand on testing capacity this winter. Will the Scottish Government provide assurances that sufficient testing resources are in place to meet demand over the coming months?

That is a good answer. Thank you.

I notice that the proposed CPG has a broad and important remit and that a large and varied selection of organisations, from Unison to Children in Scotland to the Scottish Association for Mental Health, will contribute. I hope that that bodes well.

Given that the remit is very broad, what are your personal success factors? In your mind, how will you know when you have a good CPG?

The figures show a 29 per cent decrease in the number of pupils who took computing sciences at higher level between 2016 and 2020, as well as a significant decline in the number of computing teachers over the past decade. What action is the Scottish Government taking to increase uptake in that area to ensure that a pipeline of talent is in place to meet serious challenges such as cybercrime, which has nearly doubled in the past year?

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the discover cyber skills programme. (S6O-00354)

As part of the fair and managed transition to renewable energy, does the minister welcome the North Sea transition deal and the joint Government and oil and gas sector investment of up to £16 billion to reduce carbon emissions by 2030?

Does the minister recognise the importance of working with commercial partners as part of the transition to greener, fairer and healthier communities, such as the partnership between BP and Aberdeen City Council on the low-carbon hydrogen energy hub, which the Scottish Government’s Green coalition partners oppose?

The challenges that our young people face as a result of the current public health crisis cannot be overstated and have implications for social, economic and health-related outcomes. Against that background, the ambition for the young persons guarantee was bold, and I, too, thank Sandy Begbie. The aim is that, within two years of its introduction, every 16 to 24-year-old will be in paid employment, on an apprenticeship or training programme, enrolled in education or engaged in formal volunteering.

Key to the guarantee’s success is its design and the pace of implementation, but the think tank Our Scottish Future argues that job creation through the scheme is taking second place to several rounds of consultation and governance design. Overall, it identifies

“a disconnect between ambition, incentivisation and opportunity creation”.

We know that time is of the essence. Figures that were published in September show that there are about 8,300 more unemployed young people than there were pre-pandemic, which is a rise of 2.7 per cent. However, the minister confirmed earlier this year that the Scottish Government has not set targets—[Interruption.] The Government might come up with a figure of about 9,000, but it has not set targets for the guarantee. Meanwhile, the overarching key performance indicator is a return to pre-pandemic levels of unemployment by the end of this parliamentary session, which is five years from now. [Interruption.] I might take an intervention when the clunky website has been sorted out and something that is easier to navigate has been produced, but not now.

It is, of course, critically important that we assess the impact of Covid-19 on the opportunities that are available to young people. However, the absence of opportunities cannot be blamed on the pandemic alone. [Interruption.] No, I want to make progress.

Labour market statistics for Scotland show that the employment rate for 16 to 24-year-olds has been decreasing since July 2018, which suggests that at least some of the underlying drivers are systemic.

Ensuring that Scotland’s young people have the right training and skills is key to long-term attachment to the labour market. Apprenticeships, in particular, can help to provide the next generation of workers with the skills that our economy needs, yet modern apprenticeship starts for 16 to 19-year-olds have fallen every year since 2014. We know from the most recent Scottish employer skills survey that more than one fifth of all vacancies were skill-shortage vacancies. Employers could not fill them, because applicants simply did not have the skill set, knowledge or experience to do the role. That is the case not only with software engineers. Further, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s 2020 report on skills in Scotland emphasised that improvements could be made to increase the “responsiveness, quality and flexibility” of the apprenticeship system.

It is good to hear the minister say that he is heeding the calls from organisations such as Confederation of British Industry Scotland and the Scottish Conservatives, who have always advocated strongly for a demand-led approach that would enable businesses to create apprentice places based on their specific needs. That is the skills revolution that Scotland needs.

It is undoubtedly true that the past 18 months have been incredibly challenging, but there is scope to create a skilled workforce of young people that can meet the emerging needs of the economy as it recovers.