Chamber and committees

Sales data for the Help to Buy (Scotland) schemes is published on the Scottish Government website quarterly in arrears. From the launch of Help to Buy (Scotland) in September 2013 to the end of December 2015 7,720 homes had been purchased using the scheme.

Further update to the published data is expected shortly.

Funding for the Help to Buy (Scotland) Affordable New Build and Smaller Developers schemes has been committed to 2018-19, bringing total support through our Help to Buy (Scotland) schemes to £0.5 Billion over 6 years.

Funding breakdown

The possible need for further regulation on commercial and non-commercial dog breeding will be considered as part of an ongoing review of pet welfare. The Scottish Government has already held a number of meetings with stakeholders around that ongoing review; and will invite further participation from them.

Scottish Ministers are currently considering all the evidence, including responses to the consultation on electronic training devices which closed earlier this year, and hope to announce a decision on the future of such devices in Scotland before the end of 2016.

Discussions between European Investment Bank and Scottish Government officials took place immediately after the EU referendum to underline the government's commitment to continue working with the Bank whilst its longer-term relationship with the wider UK is clarified.

The Scottish Government is keen to encourage alternative finance provision, with a range of models designed to suit the circumstances of individuals as part of our wider approach to tackling financial exclusion and creating a fairer Scotland.

We welcome the work of others in this area, including the Carnegie UK Trust which published ‘Gateway to Affordable Credit – The Report of the Affordable Credit Action Group’ earlier in 2016. The report examined the challenges faced by Scotland’s credit unions and Community Development Finance Institutions (CDFIs) and set out recommendations to help grow not-for-profit alternative finance providers.

We have also supported credit unions in recognition of their role in tackling financial exclusion; and in providing financial services and products to a wide range of customers. The report of the Credit Union Working Group “Scotland’s Credit Unions: Investing in Our Future” was published on 10 February 2016 (http://www.gov.scot/Resource/0049/00493888.pdf). One of the recommendations related to increasing the number of sustainable, junior savers schemes in partnership with schools across Scotland. I recently announced how a £300,000 fund to support Junior Savers Schemes will be disbursed in 2016-17.

There are already three CDFIs in Scotland: DSL Finance; Social Investment Scotland; and Scotcash, and discussions have taken place with the Community Development Finance Association to consider how the CDFI model might be developed here.

Lastly, Accountant in Bankruptcy operates a Scottish Financial Health Service website (https://www.scotlandsfinancialhealthservice.gov.uk/). This contains links to a range of organisations who offer information and advice on debt, managing money, housing, homelessness and ethical lending.

The poverty premium was raised as an issue of particular concern by many people during our Fairer Scotland discussions last year. We will shortly be publishing our Fairer Scotland Action Plan which will respond to this and other key issues that were raised during that discussion.

Under the Scotland Act 2016, the Scottish Government has taken on responsibility for consumer advocacy and advice. It is working with a wide range of stakeholders to ensure that consumer advocacy and advice improves outcomes for consumers in Scotland, including those where the poverty premium applies, such as energy, where vulnerable consumers are supported by the Extra Help Unit. The Scottish Government will also be undertaking a survey to establish the extent of switching and the barriers that consumers face, and use the results to identify the characteristics of different types of switchers, such as those on low incomes, with the aim of developing targeted policy interventions.

We are determined to tackle fuel poverty. An independently chaired Fuel Poverty Strategic Working Group is currently considering a range of issues such as how we ensure those who most need help get it. In the meantime, of our £113 million fuel poverty budget allocation for 2016-17, around 70% is targeted via grants at the poorest households in Scotland to make their homes warmer and cheaper to heat. The remaining 30% is allocated to advice and support for all consumers and loans to help those able to pay to improve the energy efficiency of their homes. We are satisfied that the majority of our HEEPS programme is aimed at those who are subject to the poverty premium.

Creating a fairer workplace is essential to a sustained, long-term prosperous economy. Scotland’s labour market strategy launched on 26 August 2016, sets out a vision for a strong labour market where fair work drives inclusive, sustainable economic growth and is central to improving the lives of individuals and their families.

This government is driving forward a range of activity to tackle gender inequality in the workplace including:

We appointed an independent Fair Work Convention which published its Fair Work Framework 2016 on 21 March 2016. The framework recognises Fair Work as work which offers: Security, Opportunity, Fulfilment, Respect and Effective Voice. The programme for government reinforces our commitment of up to £500,000 to support the Fair Work Convention to embed their framework in workplaces across Scotland.

Ensuring greater pay transparency by lowering the threshold for listed public authorities to publish their gender pay gap and equal pay statements, from those with more than 150 employees to those with more than 20.

Promoting the 'Partnership for Change' initiative, a key Scottish Government policy aimed at improving the percentage of women and other under-represented groups in the boardroom in Scotland.

Encouraging employers to support payment of the real Living Wage by signing up to the Scottish Business Pledge or achieving Living Wage accreditation.

As part of our 2016-17 budget we are investing a further £250 million per year through health and social care partnerships, to protect and grow social care services. It will allow councils to commission care from the independent and voluntary sectors on the basis that people are being paid £8.25 an hour – giving up to 40,000 care workers, mainly women, doing some of the most valuable work in Scotland a pay rise.

We are working with the Equality and Human Rights Commission to tackle pregnancy and maternity discrimination in the workplace and the Minister for Employability and Training will chair a working group whose remit will include creating guidelines for employers to ensure best practice, as well as improving access to guidance for pregnant women and new mothers.

We have committed to abolishing fees for employment tribunals to improve women's access to justice, when we are clear on how the transfer of powers and responsibilities will work.

We will develop a Workplace Equality Fund to support equality groups including women, where the labour market does not provide good outcomes.

We are providing £205,000 to 'Close the Gap' in 2016-17, a partnership initiative working across Scotland with employers and employees, to encourage and enable action to address the gender pay gap. It works strategically with employers, employees and policymakers to encourage and enable action to narrow the gender pay gap by reducing horizontal and vertical occupational segregation, reducing discrimination embedded within pay systems and increasing flexible working opportunities.

We do not recognise the figures quoted. The long-term trends in relation to the gender pay gap in Scotland are positive. The official source of UK earnings estimates is the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE), 2015. ASHE provides evidence to support policy making in a variety of areas including: low pay; the gender pay gap, and regional economic analysis. ASHE data is published annually and is based on a 1% sample of the Pay As You Earn (PAYE) system. The most recent estimates of gender pay gap sourced from the ASHE data (based on median hourly earnings excluding overtime) show that both the full time pay gap and overall pay gap (full and part-time) have narrowed considerably in Scotland since 1999 - the full-time pay gap from 16.7% in 1999 to 7.3% in 2015 and the overall pay gap from 24.6% in 1999 to 16.8% in 2015. However, there is clearly still more to do, and we are working hard to address the complex drivers and causes of the pay gap. We are providing £205,000 in funding to the 'Close the Gap' partnership in 2016-17, to encourage and work with employers to enable actions to address the gender pay gap. Under the programme for government we have committed to almost double the level of free childcare for three and four year olds by 2020; we actively promote the living wage because we know that women are disproportionately likely to be in low paid jobs, we have brought more transparency to pay issues by lowering the threshold for public authorities in Scotland to publish their pay gap. We also support fair work practices, including flexible working, which can be crucial in helping women and men combine career development with family responsibilities.