Chamber and committees

For courses at Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) levels 1 to 7, the full-time equivalent (FTE) student places was 3% higher in 2012-13 than in 2006-07.

It is for colleges to deliver a balanced curriculum that meets the needs of learners and employers in their region.

The Scottish Qualifications Authority provides data on candidates entered for Advanced Highers in Scotland. The latest available data for colleges is provided in Table 1.

Table 1: Candidates entered for at least one Advanced Higher by Further Education Colleges

Source: Scottish Qualifications Authority

It is for colleges to deliver a balanced curriculum that meets the needs of learners and employers in their region.

The Scottish Government has laid out its position on childcare in Scotland’s Future and the subsequent Childcare and Labour Market Participation – Economic Analysis paper, which contained economic analysis of increased female activity. Evidence shows that access to childcare is a barrier to participation for many parents with young children. Norway and Sweden have universal entitlements to childcare from age one and high female labour market activity rates. In the long-term, an increase in the female participation rate to Swedish levels would be expected to increase output by £2.2 billion and revenues by £700 million.

The policy’s key aim is to encourage current and future parents of young children to enter or stay in the labour market by effectively increasing their earnings net of childcare costs. The increase in employment that could result from this would have an expansionary effect and boost overall national income.

As shown on page 4 of Childcare and Labour Market Participation - Economic Analysis, the number of females that are active in the labour market would have to increase by a) 35,000 for the female participation to rise by 2.0 percentage points (broadly in line with the rate in Finland and the Netherlands) b) 68,000 to match the rate in Norway c) 104,000 to match the rate in Sweden.

This refers to changes over the long-term, as the benefits of the proposed childcare policy are not constrained to economically inactive women with young children at a single point in time. Being able to stay within the labour market whilst their children are of nursery age, would mean that the outcomes would be improved for women when the children are grown up, compared to what would have happened had they taken time out of employment.

The Annual Population Survey provides the preferred measure for detailed labour market information for subsets of the population in Scotland. The latest data covers the period from January 2013 to December 2013.

In 2013, there were an estimated 80,000 economically inactive women with dependent children aged from one to five.

Notes:

1. Estimates rounded to nearest thousand.

2. Estimates exclude those who gave no response to this question.

The Scottish Government is committed to providing the best quality care and treatment for people living with heart failure in Scotland. As with all aspects of heart disease we want services that address a person’s care needs on an individual basis.

The Scottish Government’s preferred approach to improving outcomes for people with heart failure is to work with the Scottish Patient Safety Programme to deliver the Heart Failure Bundle as part of a national programme of work being taken forward in relation to heart failure.

The 6 percentage point increase in female participation referred to in the question is based on the gap between female participation in Scotland and Sweden, which has a range of policies designed to support parents into work including a universal entitlement to childcare from age 1. As outlined in the paper, closing this gap could lead to an increase in output by £2.2 billion and revenues by £700 million.

The analysis published in the Childcare and Labour Market Participation – Economic Analysis paper highlights the potential effects on the Scottish economy of increasing female activity rates. It illustrates the impact of increasing the female participation rate by 2 percentage points and then of matching the rate observed in Norway and Sweden.

The Scottish Government modelled the impacts of increased female participation using a detailed Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) model of the Scottish economy. The model is used by the Scottish Government to model the impacts of economic shocks and changes in policy. Further detail on the framework is available in the Scottish Government report published on corporation tax modelling, which can be accessed by following the following link:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/0038/00388940.pdf

CGE models are widely used for dynamic policy modelling by many national governments and international organisations. The Scottish Government’s CGE model was built by a widely respected Fraser of Allander Institute at the University of Strathclyde, who are considered to be among the leading experts in this field of economic modelling.

As outlined in the Childcare and Labour Market Participation – Economic Analysis paper, an increase in tax revenues by £700 million could arise from matching Sweden’s female participation rate. As highlighted in the paper, as individuals move into employment or increase the hours they work, they would pay more tax through income tax and national insurance. In addition, as income and spending rises, receipts from indirect taxes such as VAT, fuel duty and excise duties would also be expected to rise.