Chamber and committees

The Making Justice Work Programme will be looking at various aspects of advice provision, as part of its Access to Justice project. The programme is managed by the Justice Directorate of the Scottish Government, and falls within my justice portfiolio. The programme runs until 2015. The Access to Justice project is currently being developed. Stakeholders, including advice providers, have already been involved in a series of workshops to help define the Access to Justice project, and a reference group has been established which includes a range of advice agencies.

The Scottish Government invests £1.5 billion a year in post-16 education and training, to help all young people get the learning and skills they need to get a job addressing short, medium and long-term youth unemployment.

This is supplemented by £30 million of additional Scottish Government funding announced in December 2011 and by funding committed by local authorities and Community Planning Partners to deliver an all Scotland approach to providing opportunities for all Scotland’s young people.

Opportunities for All will ensure that all 16 to 19 year olds in Scotland not already in work, education or training will be offered a learning or training opportunity. Within this commitment, we will target support to re-engage long term unemployed young people.

For those aged over 18, we will continue to work closely with DWP Jobcentre Plus to make sure the Youth Contract successfully supports long term unemployed young people in Scotland.

The Labour Force Survey (LFS), conducted by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), provides the official measures of employment and unemployment.

The LFS is a survey of the employment situation of the UK population and is the largest household survey in the UK. The survey collects data from a sample of people of all ages from across the UK. As such, the Scottish Government has access to similar data regarding employment status for all age groups.

The ONS publishes estimates for the following age groups on a monthly basis: 16-17, 18-24, 25-34, 35-49, 50-64 and 65+. Estimates for other age sub-groups are available from the underlying LFS data every quarter.

Unemployment levels for 25 to 34 year olds in Scotland are published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on a monthly basis, covering rolling quarters. The latest monthly figures, published on 20 June, cover the period February to April 2012.

Estimates for 25 to 29 year olds (i.e. those aged between 24 and 30) are only available from the disaggregated Labour Force Survey (LFS) datasets which cover calendar quarters (January to March, April to June etc.).

Based on the latest available calendar quarter LFS data covering January to March 2012, it is estimated that 24,000 people aged 25 to 29 were unemployed in Scotland. The table contains data covering the comparable period in each of the last three years.

Unemployment Level, 25 to 29 Year Olds in Scotland, January to March 2010 to January to March 2012

Source: Labour Force Survey, ONS.

Notes:

1. Estimates are rounded to the nearest thousand.

2. The survey sample sizes for estimates of this nature are relatively small; hence the estimates are subject to a high degree of sampling error.

The Scottish Government currently has no plans to conduct a longitudinal survey of youth transitions in Scotland.

The Electoral Commission and the Electoral Management Board are due to submit reports in the autumn on the running of the local government elections held in May 2012. The Scottish Government will consider these reports and any other representations made about issues arising from the elections before deciding whether any changes should be made to the arrangements for future local government elections.

Supporting Young Scots Into Work – Scotland’s Youth Employment Strategy was published on 29 June. This covers short, medium and long-term youth unemployment.

The strategy is available at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2012/06/9210.

Depending on age and length of time unemployed, a range of skills training is available through UK, Scottish and locally funded routes.

Those claiming Jobseekers Allowance will be mandated to the DWP Work Programme at the nine months unemployed stage for those aged 18 to 24 and at the 12 months stage for those aged 25 or over. Skills provision within the Work Programme is a matter for the contract providers and should be tailored to the needs of the individual.

Prior to entering the Work Programme, those aged 18 or over and who are suitable and eligible can access Training for Work, the Scottish Government vocational skills programme for the unemployed. The Department for Work and Pensions offers a range of pre-Work Programme support. This is further supplemented by a range of locally funded skills provision for the unemployed, supported by the European Social Fund which varies across each Community Planning Partnership area.

As part of the Programme for Government, the Scottish Government committed, through Opportunities for All, to an offer of a place in education or training for every 16 to 19 year old in Scotland who is currently not in work, a Modern Apprenticeship or education. From April this year it ensures targeted support for those at risk of long-term unemployment and gives greater focus within the post-16 education system to meeting the needs of those young people.

The report highlights statistical data of which the Scottish Government is aware. It highlights that while unemployment rates for people aged 25 to 29 are rising, the rates for those aged 16 to 24 are considerably higher.

When considered alongside the long-term scarring effects we know that unemployment can have on young people, we believe that the current focus on those aged 16 to 24 should be maintained.

Those aged 25 to 29 will continue to have access to a range of local and national employment support through European Social Fund and Training for Work, the vocational skills programme for unemployed people aged 18 and over. Those reaching 12 months unemployed will access the Department for Work and Pensions’ Work Programme.

The Scottish Government wrote to the UK Government Employment Minister in April and made clear that while we support efforts to streamline processes for employees and employers we remain to be convinced of the merits of encroaching on the existing rights of employees, particularly at this time. The Scottish Government is also not aware of any evidence that any of the recommendations in the Beecroft report would result in an increase in economic activity.