Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government uses a range of approaches to assess the needs of non-working parents.

We develop our own evidence in this area. A key example is an evidence paper which was produced to inform the 2012 Women's Employment Summit. The paper focuses on women's labour market experience but covers issues which are of importance to non-working parents generally. The paper provides a comprehensive overview of the evidence on key issues related to women's employment and highlights that accessible, affordable and flexible childcare is fundamental to participation in work and training. The paper is available at:

http://www.employabilityinscotland.com/media/294295/8_-__women_s_employment_summit_evidence_paper.pdf

Evidence is also drawn from Scottish Government survey data. For example, in the Sweep 1 Growing Up In Scotland survey over half of unemployed respondents indicated they would prefer to work or study if they could afford good quality, reliable and convenient childcare.

In addition, the Scottish Government makes use of analysis of the Annual Population Survey and Labour Force Survey, published by the Office for National Statistics, when considering issues related to employability.

There are a number of ways in which the Bill is expected to benefit women. Amongst other things, the Bill will require public bodies to consider how their procurement activity can improve the economic, social and environmental wellbeing of the authority’s area. It will require bodies to consider including community benefit clauses in all new major public sector contracts. These enable public bodies to maximise social benefits from public spending and are increasingly used in public contracts to advance equality of opportunity and deliver thousands of targeted training and recruitment opportunities. The Scottish Government has commissioned further research into community benefit clauses with a particular focus on using them to promote equality.

The Bill will allow ministers to issue statutory guidance on workforce related matters, such as a company’s approach to recruitment and terms of engagement, including flexible working which should be considered when assessing the suitability of a company to bid for public contracts. The guidance will require purchasers to consider, where relevant to performance of the contract, whether matters such as inappropriate use of zero hours contracts or levels of remuneration may affect the bidder’s ability to provide the required quality of service.

The Scottish Government is committed to fully funding local authorities to deliver high quality childcare provision, drawing on a range of high quality service models including public provision, child minders, innovative third sector organisations and social enterprises.

In September 2013, the Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Employment and Sustainable Growth announced in the Draft Budget £190 million of investment over the next two years to implement the commitments set out in the Children and Young People (Scotland) Bill.

On 7 January 2014, the First Minister announced an additional investment of £59 million over 2014-15 and 2015-16 to extend provision of childcare to 15% of two year olds in 2014-15 and then to 27% of two year olds in 2015-16.

In addition, on 8 January 2014 the Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Employment and Sustainable Growth announced £3.5 million of additional support which will be provided in 2014-15 to meet extra demand for childcare places. This funding will be invested in training and development.

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 October 2012 to September 2013.

Female employment rate by qualification:

Source: Annual Population Survey, October 2012 to September 2013, Office for National Statistics

Notes:

1. Rates based on female population aged 16-64

2. Rates are calculated on unrounded figures

3. Rates for all excludes those who didn’t know or didn’t answer

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 October 2012 to September 2013.

The proportion of all women, aged 16+, employed on a permanent full-time, permanent part-time basis, non-permanent full-time and non-permanent part-time basis.

Proportion of all women by permanent/non-permanent and full-time/part-time status

Source: Annual Population Survey, October 2012 to September 2013, Office for National Statistics

Notes:

1. Proportions based on female population aged 16+, in employment

2. Rates are calculated on unrounded figures

3. Estimates exclude those who gave no response to the question

4. Non-permanent jobs cover those working for an employment agency, doing casual type of work, doing seasonal work or working under contact for a fixed period or fixed task.

We are in regular contact with stakeholders regarding our plans for childcare.

For example, as part of the Children and Young People (Scotland) Bill, the Scottish Government has worked with a range of stakeholders to assess the capacity of the childcare sector and its readiness to deliver proposals in the Bill around early learning and childcare, including the more recent offer to extend 600 hours to around 27% of two year olds by August 2015.

The Scottish Government does not hold information on the number of unpaid child-minders in Scotland, however findings from the Growing Up in Scotland study confirm that families rely on a mix of formal and informal care arrangements, including unpaid child-minders.

The Scottish Government is currently engaged with, and will continue to engage with, the Scottish Childminding Association to ensure that the views of childminders are reflected in the development of policy.

An evidence paper was produced in-house to inform the 2012 Women's Employment Summit. The paper provides a comprehensive overview of the evidence on key issues related to women's employment. It highlights that accessible, affordable and flexible childcare is fundamental to women’s participation in work and training. The paper is available at:

http://www.employabilityinscotland.com/media/294295/8_-__women_s_employment_summit_evidence_paper.pdf

The Council of Economic Advisers considered the economic and social importance of improving childcare provision in Scotland at their meeting on 30 August 2013. The council’s discussion was informed by a presentation by Professor Ailsa McKay on the economic and social importance of access to childcare. The minutes of this discussion are available at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Economy/Council-Economic-Advisers/Meetings/30-08-2013

The analysis informing the council’s deliberations will be reflected in the annual Chair’s Report of the Council of Economic Advisers. It is anticipated that the chair’s report will be published in Spring 2014.

As a Non-Departmental Public Body, ministers and government officials meet regularly with representatives of the Scottish Social Services Council to discuss their statutory functions and delivery of ministerial objectives.

Governments of an independent Scotland will be able to use a full range of powers to deliver policies that help people into work and protect the vulnerable.

On independence, the entitlements to benefits, credits, vouchers and reliefs that apply in the UK will continue to apply in Scotland, with such benefits continuing to be paid in exactly the same way as they are now. However, future Scottish governments can choose to do things differently from the rest of the UK. For example, this government will stop the damaging changes to our welfare system being introduced by Westminster, including scrapping the “bedroom tax” and halting the roll out of universal credit.