Chamber and committees

Have you seen a reduction in the number of projects as a result? The public sector, for example, will have only so much to spend. Are fewer schools being built at the moment?

I want to turn to the issue of your workforce. You all represent sectors that are very labour intensive, and the staff of the members that you represent will be feeling real pressure at the moment, in the same way that your businesses are feeling the pressure. What impact is that having on businesses? What level of wage demands are you getting at the moment? To what extent are your sectors able to meet those demands? Can you say anything about the ways in which your businesses are supporting the workers in your sectors?

That is a very good point.

David Thomson, do you have anything to add about the impact of the situation and how your members are supporting your workforces?

Good afternoon. I will pick up the point about labour and skill shortages. For some time now, everywhere I go to speak to businesses I am told that they cannot recruit and that there is a huge labour and skills shortage. Today we are being told that businesses are cutting staff and cutting and restricting hours. There is almost a contradiction in that; the situation is clearly more complex than there just being a labour and skills shortage. Is it just that everybody is cutting back?

Can Leon Thompson and Marc Crothall say more about the types of business, the sectors and the geography of the businesses that are laying off staff and cutting hours? What businesses are struggling and are in most need of that support? Some are still saying that they cannot recruit at the moment but want to expand, while clearly others are really struggling.

Does Marc Crothall want to add anything to that?

That is very interesting and really helpful in trying to break down the challenge in labour and supply chains. It is clearly very complex, because, as you mentioned, a lot of businesses are on the brink—especially in hospitality, and even the licensed trade is really struggling. That is having a big impact on your members, who are seeing their hours cut.

You also mentioned that some businesses, particularly large businesses, are very much profiteering from Covid and the cost of living crisis. I know that Unite has done quite a lot of work on that. It has been highlighting that there seems to be price gouging by big businesses whereby they are driving up prices above the supply cost, and that, in turn, is spiralling inflation. Can you say a little bit about the work that you have done on that and about the impact that that is having on the cost of living?

I return to an issue that you have both mentioned quite a few times, so it is clearly important, and that is data. Ana Stewart has said that she is committed to focusing on “robust and resilient” data that can be used to benchmark in the coming years as part of the women in enterprise review. You have touched on a number of gaps in the data. What are the reasons why we do not gather the data? Is it just that we have never gathered it or are there particular difficulties in gathering the data that you want to see? Are there any other gaps you have not mentioned yet?

Where are the gaps? You mentioned a couple in reply to Jamie Halcro Johnston, but where do you see the gaps in the data?

That will be a smaller number of people. You were clear from the start that there will be a reduction; your starting assumption is that you will need fewer people.