Meeting of the Parliament 12 March 2019
I refer members to my entry in the register of members’ interests as a business owner and employer.
I have no doubt that everyone who is participating in the debate accepts that fair work helps to deliver sustainable and inclusive growth. As an employer, I commend absolutely some of the proposals in the action plan.
Businesses could, however, be forgiven for disengaging when they listen to this kind of debate. It is not about whether a business has a sign on the door that accredits the firm in some scheme: it is about how firms treat their employees and operate their businesses and, in doing so, how they improve their position in their marketplaces. We need to be careful to remember that it is businesses themselves that drive what they do, not the labels that the Government puts on them. We have already heard contributions to that effect, so I will try not to repeat what we have already heard.
I want to explore a couple of areas that have come up for me in recent weeks. I start by saying that I welcome the plan. There is a lot in there—although a lot of it is words that need to be padded out with actions. I want to hear the minister’s thoughts on a couple of things that I will mention now.
First, we learned at the start of this month that the Scottish Government’s flagship work programme—fair start Scotland—is failing to meet the Scottish Government’s targets. The work programme was devolved to the Scottish Parliament in 2016. That was a chance to create a bold new tailored programme that was optimised for Scotland. I hope, therefore, that the minister will share my concern that almost half of referred job seekers are not accessing fair start Scotland. Although I accept that those individuals are often people who struggle to engage with the world of work and to take steps to enter the workforce, that compares poorly with the current reserved UK programme, in which 75 per cent of individuals who have been referred have started the scheme.
The Government has set a target of 38,000 people passing through fair start Scotland in three years. If numbers continue on the current trajectory, the Government will fall short of the target by 10,000 participants. Clearly, to develop a fair work economy, there needs to be active engagement among employers and employees with Government policy. I will look forward to a retort on that point.