Chamber and committees

Item 2 is an evidence session on a Scottish statutory instrument. I welcome Ivan McKee, the Minister for Public Finance, who is joined by Ross Grimley, a solicitor, and Iain Moore, the head of procurement policy, from the Scottish Government. I invite the minister to make a short opening statement.

Excuse me—can we have some order in the committee, please? Only one person should speak at a time. Carry on, Mr Fraser.

Thank you. Before I bring in Willie Coffey, I note that the witnesses will know that the committee is working on its pre-budget letter to the Scottish Government. We have in recent years seen cuts to the employability budget. We are in difficult financial times, but would you like the Government to consider reversing some of the cuts that have been made there? You talk about active labour market policies, in which employability support seems to be a key feature. If we are to make changes to labour market policies, employability support will be a big part of that.

You mentioned the public sector when Gordon MacDonald asked about permanent employment rates. In Scotland, quite a high percentage of the labour market is employed in the public sector. I do not know whether it is the same in comparator countries. Does having quite a high percentage of people working in the public sector influence—for good or not so good—the indicators?

Our next item is an evidence session with members of the Fair Work Convention. Last year, the convention published a research report that benchmarked Scotland’s progress, based on a series of fair work indicators, against that of similar countries. The purpose of this session is to provide the committee with an opportunity to discuss the report and its implications.

First, I will make a declaration of interests. I am a member of Unite, the union.

I will close with a couple of questions. We have some 18 months left of this session of Parliament. Are there areas that you think the committee should focus on in that time? Are there areas in your own work that we can work together on or that we can anticipate you publishing more reports on?

Brian Whittle has a supplementary question, and then I will bring in Kevin Stewart. I thank Kevin for his patience.

That brings us to the end of the public part of today’s meeting. Thank you both for giving evidence this morning. We now move into private session.

I welcome Professor Patricia Findlay, who is co-chair of the Fair Work Convention, and Helen Martin, who is head of the convention’s secretariat. Thank you for joining us.

Last year, the convention published a benchmarking report that compares the work in Scotland with that in comparable countries. Will you summarise the report’s key findings and reflect on the progress that has been made in Scotland? Other questions will provide opportunities to discuss the report in more depth, but will you summarise the report’s headlines and what it has told us about progress in Scotland?

Brian Whittle has a supplementary question, and then I will bring in Michelle Thomson.