Chamber and committees

The area of consumer credit, including pay day lending is currently a reserved matter; therefore the Scottish Government does not have the powers to collect this information from pay day loan companies.

We currently rely on published data by the UK Government and its associated departments to assess the extent of and trends in payday loan debt. I acknowledge that the rise of payday lending is fairly recent and the actual amounts being loaned by the high-interest sector is difficult to gauge.

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) estimates the market for payday loans to have been worth £2-2.2 billion, in 2011-2012 based on the information provided by payday lending companies in 2012.

We will continue to monitor the prevalence and issues relating to payday loans through external research and continued engagement with stakeholders.

The Scottish Government does not directly fund money advice services. We provide third tier funding to the Money Advice, Training, Resources, Information and Consultancy Services (MATRICS) project. The purpose of MATRICS is to ensure that there is a skilled money advice workforce which embeds the Scottish National Standards for Information and Advice Providers across the sector.

In accordance with the grant offer, MATRICS are required to submit a quarterly report summarising their performance against outcomes in the provision of training and support to enable money advisers to deliver a quality service.

Grant funding is also provided to the Money Advice Trust (MAT) to support the National Debtline. MAT provide all funders including the Scottish Government with a quarterly report which includes data relating to number of calls answered, emails and most reported debt types.

The Scottish Government does not collate any statistical information from money advice agencies where funding has been provided indirectly.

The reason the Scottish Government decided not to fund Community Jobs Scotland for a three year period is because we are currently commissioning an evaluation of the current phase of the programme and will use the results of this to help form a view to extending the programme in future years.

The additional investment of £6.3 million for Community Jobs Scotland comes from the Opportunities for All budget.

The Scottish Government did refer directly to the statement signed by the Scottish Government, COSLA, SOLACE (Scotland) and the SCVO, known as the Joint Statement on the Relationship at Local level between Government and the Third Sector.

The Scottish Government has decided to fund Community Jobs Scotland for one year only because we are currently commissioning an evaluation of the current phase of the programme and will use the results of this to help form a view to extending the programme in future years.

This decision has been made clear to key Community Jobs Scotland stakeholders including the third sector and local government who are represented on the Community Jobs Scotland Advisory Group which meets regularly to discuss all matters relating to Community Jobs Scotland.

The level 4 budgets for 2012-13 were tabled at the Education Committee and published by SPICE on the Scottish Parliament website and describes the budget allocated to each programme.

Actual programme spend and actual outturn at budget level 3 is published, with narrative on any variances, in the Scottish Government consolidated annual accounts. Further audited detail on employment programmes delivered by the Skills Development Scotland is published in its annual accounts at:

http://www.skillsdevelopmentscotland.co.uk/media/1141877/sds%20group%20accounts%20year%20ended%2031%20march%202012%20_final_.pdf.

The Annual Population Survey (APS) is the official source for detailed analysis of unemployment by age. The latest data covers October 2011 to September 2012.

Unemployment amongst 16-24 year olds, by duration of unemployment and highest qualification, Scotland

Source: Annual Population Survey, Oct’11 – Sep’12, Office for National Statistics.

Notes:

1. Levels are rounded to the nearest thousand.

2. Excludes those where highest qualification was unknown therefore, rows may not sum to “all 16-24” totals.

3. ‘No or low’ includes those with qualifications at SVQ level 1 or below.

4. Other includes foreign qualifications.

Financial education is part of a wider focus on numeracy within Curriculum for Excellence. The expectation is that all teachers seek to develop young people’s numeracy skills in all areas and at all levels.

Support for financial education is provided by Education Scotland through a range of on-line teaching resources, professional development opportunities for teachers and through the Scottish Financial Education Forum.

Flood protection schemes are primarily a matter for local authorities, however the Scottish Government is committed to supporting work that helps protect the people of Scotland from the effects of flooding.

That is why we introduced the Flood Risk Management (Scotland) Act 2009 which sets out a more sustainable and modern approach to managing flood risk from all sources, including pluvial flood risk.

The first ever National Flood Risk Assessment for Scotland was published in December 2011 and is the first step in this new risk-based approach to managing the impacts of floods, where the focus of plans and actions to manage flooding are targeted on where the need and benefits are greatest. The next step is for SEPA to publish new flood risk and flood hazard maps in December 2013.

I would recommend anyone affected by flooding to contact the Scottish Flood Forum. The Forum, which receives funding from the Scottish Government, provides an invaluable source of advice and support. I also encourage any residents affected by flooding to apply for crisis loans through the Department for Work and Pensions.

I am also in discussions with the Association of British Insurers about industry proposals for continuation of flood insurance for the most vulnerable properties once the Statement of Principles ceases this summer.

This is an operational matter for Skills Development Scotland. I will ask the chief executive to write to you with the information you have requested.