Chamber and committees

The applications for additional financial assistance under the Bellwin Scheme that have been turned down since 2007 are as follows:

2008-09 - Scottish Borders Council - 3 separate incidents of flooding and winter weather - the claim was £250,000 above their threshold - the Council received their share of £5 million (£239,000) provided across all 32 councils following the severe winter weather in place of any specific support being provided through the Bellwin scheme.

2012-13 - Perth and Kinross Council - severe flood damage - the claim was £369,555 above their threshold - the claim was rejected as the majority of the claim consisted of capital expenditure which is ineligible under the Bellwin Scheme.

2012-13 - Dumfries and Galloway Council - winter weather - the claim was £1,079,196 above their threshold - the claim was rejected as the majority of the claim consisted of expenditure to put right the ill effects of the storm which the Bellwin Scheme guidance states is ineligible. The Council were however awarded additional capital funding of £500,000 towards the repair of the river banks, the sea walls and the coastal paths.

The Scottish Government is committed to the development of an inclusive labour market and the principles behind the Working Forward campaign.

Following the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) pregnancy and maternity report in 2016, a Ministerial working group, which I chair and whose membership includes the EHRC and representation from the private sector, was established in December 2016 to challenge pregnancy and maternity discrimination in the workplace. Papers from this Group can be found at http://www.employabilityinscotland.com/key-clients/women-and-work/pregnancy-and-maternity-discrimination-working-group/ .

The Scottish Business Pledge promotes a range of fair work business practices including supportive pregnancy and maternity policies. Pregnancy and maternity advice is available on the Scottish Business Pledge website. In response to the EHRC campaign the Scottish Government has included the Working Forward Pledge information within the Pledge guidance.

The Scottish Government, its agencies and partners including members of the working group continue to signpost and promote inclusive workplace guidance to businesses.

We have also recently launched the £500,000 Workplace Equality Fund which will deliver employer led innovative solutions to overcome workforce inequality, including those faced by faced by women.

Lord Bracadale's independent review into hate crime legislation is expected to make recommendations to Ministers in the spring. Amongst other things, Lord Bracadale is considering whether new categories of hate crime should be created for characteristics such as age and gender, which are not currently covered. The Scottish Government will consider the recommendations that Lord Bracadale makes carefully. In November 2017 we published a delivery plan for Equally Safe, our strategy to tackle violence against women and girls; this contains 118 actions across 4 priorities to support our ambitions in this area.

The Scottish Government and Skills Development Scotland are committed to equality of opportunity within Modern Apprenticeships. The Equalities Action Plan for Modern Apprenticeships: Year 1 update published in July 2017 outlines Skills Development Scotland’s work with partners and employers on a national and regional basis. The focus is to deliver interventions that will result in increased numbers of minority ethnic, disabled and care experienced young people in apprenticeships as well as addressing the gender imbalance in apprenticeship frameworks where it exists.

Skills Development Scotland published the 2016-17 Modern Apprenticeship Quarter 4 statistics in June 2017. This showed that 1.7% of Modern Apprenticeship starts self – identified as being from a minority ethnic group, which was slightly higher than reported in 2015-16.

The most recent 2017-18 Modern Apprentice quarterly statistics (Q3) published on 13 February 2018 show as at 29 December 2017, a total of 354 Modern Apprenticeship starts self-identified as being from a Mixed or Multiple; Asian; African; Caribbean or Black; or Other ethnic group. This represents 2% of all Modern Apprenticeship starts where ethnicity is known.

Going forwards a particular area of focus is on addressing employability skills issues for some groups. The BEMIS “MAs for All” project is an example of one of our national projects to raise awareness of apprenticeship opportunities and career pathways in ethnic minority communities. Now in its first year, it aims to leave a legacy of connections between community groups and contracted providers.

Regarding disability the 2016-17 Modern Apprenticeship Quarter 4 statistics reported that 8.6% of all Modern Apprenticeship starts self - identified having an impairment, health condition or learning difficulty. This was 4.7 % higher than those who self - identified as disabled in 2015-16.

The most recent 2017-18 Modern Apprentice quarterly statistics (Q3) published on 13 February 2018 show as at 29 December 2017, there were 1,946 Modern Apprenticeship starts who self-identified as having an impairment, health condition or learning difficulty which equated to 10.9% of all known Modern Apprenticeship starts.

Significant improvements have been made in relation to disability representation. This relates to both improvements in reporting, due to the support that Skills Development Scotland has given to providers, as well as the implementation of the actions outlined in the Modern Apprenticeship Equalities Action Plan.

Additionally in April 2017 we introduced enhanced contribution rates providing young disabled people and those with experience of care with the highest level of Modern Apprenticeship funding for their chosen Frameworks up to the age of 29.

Skills Development Scotland published the Modern Apprenticeship 2016-17 quarter 4 statistics in June 2017 which included reported Equality performance including Ethnicity.

The following table provides an ethnicity breakdown of modern apprenticeship uptake by framework groupings for 2016-17:

MA Starts by Ethnicity and Framework Grouping 2016-17 Quarter 4

* Asterisks have been used where the numbers are so small they could lead to the identification of individuals.

The most recent Modern Apprenticeship quarterly statistics (Q3) for 2017-18 published 13 February 2018 show that, as at 29 December 2017, there were 354 Modern Apprenticeship starts who self-identified as being from a Mixed or Multiple; Asian; African; Caribbean or Black; and Other ethnic group. This represents 2% of all starts where ethnicity is known. The following table provides an ethnicity breakdown of modern apprenticeship uptake by framework groupings.

MA Starts by Ethnicity and Framework Grouping 2017-18 Quarter 3

Regarding the take-up of modern apprenticeships by LGBTI people. In 2016-17 Skills Development Scotland collected information through its self-declared equality monitoring processes for Modern Apprenticeships in relation to whether individuals identified themselves as transgender and also in relation to their sexual orientation. This information is not currently published and SDS is currently consulting with Scottish Government and legal advisors regarding the future publication of this sensitive information.

The Scottish Government remains committed to tackling pregnancy and maternity discrimination in the workplace. A Ministerial working group, which I chair and whose membership includes the EHRC and representation from the private sector, has already been established to deliver a cross government approach to challenge pregnancy and maternity discrimination in the workplace.

The Working Group is considering the findings of the EHRC research as they develop their working plan for the year ahead.

The Scottish Government continues to promote the advice, prepared by organisations represented on the Working Group, to employers to ensure best practice on the recruitment, retention, and support of pregnant employees and working mothers.