Meeting of the Parliament 09 November 2023
Levels of economic inactivity are too high in Scotland, as they are across the whole of the UK, so we need to look at what can be done to address that. This week, I met Michael Matheson, the Cabinet Secretary for NHS Recovery, Health and Social Care, to discuss what more can be done to ensure that we use the health service and all the levers that we have at our disposal to support people with long-term health conditions or disabilities to go to work, if they can, and to continue to support the work of voluntary employability services. We are investing £108 million in those services to support just that.
A fair work approach has been proved to boost recruitment, retention and performance and to generate benefits for individuals, organisations and wider society. That evidence is mounting. Fair work balances the rights and responsibilities of workers and employers. The Scottish Government’s deliberate and sustained approach to promoting fair work across Scotland’s labour market is making a difference in increasing pay, supporting diverse workplaces, supporting our devolved employability offer, applying fair work principles and conditionality to public sector spend and exploring fair work agreements.
Let me share some of the successes to date. The Government recently welcomed the new real living wage rate of £12 an hour, and we have resolutely supported the real living wage movement in Scotland since becoming, in 2015, the first Government in the UK to be accredited as a living wage employer. Some 64,000 workers in Scotland have had a pay rise as a result of the Government’s accreditation as a living wage employer, and the movement is making a real difference for people in areas with the lowest pay.
Earlier this week, the Scottish Government announced its living hours accreditation, making it the first national Administration in the UK to be accredited as a living hours employer. That accreditation recognises the importance of workers having sufficient and reliable working hours to achieve financial security. This week, I have been able to hear about the success that that has brought to employers in both the private and third sectors during my 21 ministerial engagements for living wage week.
I understand that, in a UK cost crisis, making the choice to invest in a business’s greatest asset—its people—is harder, but, in such a difficult trading environment, that is even more of an imperative. Indeed, I am looking forward to celebrating the achievements of accredited employers across Scotland later this evening at the annual Living Wage Scotland award ceremony in Dundee.