Chamber and committees

As a Non-Departmental Public Body, ministers and government officials meet regularly with representatives of the Scottish Social Services Council to discuss their statutory functions and delivery of ministerial objectives.

The Annual Population Survey provides the preferred measure for detailed labour market information for subsets of the population in Scotland. The latest data covers the period from October 2012 to September 2013.

Female economic inactivity rate by qualification

Source: Annual Population Survey, October 2012 to September 2013, Office for National Statistics

Notes:

1. Rates based on female population aged 16-64

2. Rates are calculated on unrounded figures

3. Rates for all excludes those who didn’t know or didn’t answer

Governments of an independent Scotland will be able to use a full range of powers to deliver policies that help people into work and protect the vulnerable.

On independence, the entitlements to benefits, credits, vouchers and reliefs that apply in the UK will continue to apply in Scotland, with such benefits continuing to be paid in exactly the same way as they are now. However, future Scottish governments can choose to do things differently from the rest of the UK. For example, this government will stop the damaging changes to our welfare system being introduced by Westminster, including scrapping the “bedroom tax” and halting the roll out of universal credit.

The latest Gross Domestic Product statistics for Scotland, covering the period July 2013 to September 2013, show that total output in the economy grew by 0.7 per cent compared to previous quarter. The services sector, which accounts for nearly three quarters of the economy, grew by 0.7 per cent during the latest period. The production sector grew by 0.6 per cent, and construction grew by 0.7 per cent.

The latest labour market statistics, published by the Office for National Statistics, show that the employment rate in Scotland was 72.7% and increased by 2 percentage points over the year to the period September 2013 to November 2013. This increase was driven by an increase in the female employment rate of 3.3 percentage points, and an increase of 0.7 percentage points in the male rate over the same period.

An employment rate is calculated by dividing the number of people in employment by the total population (employed, unemployed and economically inactive). It is therefore not possible to calculate employment rates for industry sectors since those who are unemployed or economically inactive cannot be allocated to an industry sector.

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) publish bi-annual statistics on provisional awards for child tax credit, available at link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/child-and-working-tax-credits-statistics-provisional-awards-geographical-analyses-december-2013.

HMRC also publish information relating to the value of childcare vouchers through Employer Supported Childcare in the Tax Ready Reckoner and Tax Relief supplementary document:

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/statistics/expenditures/table1-5.pdf.

The Annual Population Survey provides the preferred measure for economic inactivity rates for small cohorts of the population in Scotland. The latest data covers the period from October 2012 to September 2013.

The rate of economically inactive mothers by number of children is shown in Table 1 and the rate of economically inactive mothers by age of youngest dependent child in Table 2.

Table 1: Economic inactivity rates¹ for mothers by number of dependent² children

Source: Annual Population Survey, October 2012-September 2013, Office for National Statistics.

Notes:

1. Rates based on population aged 16-64.

2. Dependent children are children aged under 16 and those aged 16 to 18 who have never-married.

Table 2: Economic inactivity rates¹ for mothers by age of youngest dependent² child

Source: Annual Population Survey, October 2012-September 2013, Office for National Statistics.

Notes:

1. Rates based on population aged 16-64.

2. Dependent children are children aged under 16 and those aged 16 to 18 who have never-married.

3. Analysis is based on age of youngest child to avoid double counting of mothers with multiple children.

We are in regular contact with stakeholders regarding our plans for childcare.

For example, as part of the Children and Young People (Scotland) Bill, the Scottish Government has worked with a range of stakeholders to assess the capacity of the childcare sector and its readiness to deliver proposals in the Bill around early learning and childcare, including the more recent offer to extend 600 hours to around 27% of two year olds by August 2015.

The Annual Population Survey provides the preferred measure for employment rates for small cohorts of the population in Scotland. The latest data covers the period from October 2012 to September 2013.

The employment rate of mothers by number of children is shown in Table 1 and the employment rate of mothers by age of youngest dependent child in Table 2.

Table 1: Employment rates¹ for mothers by number of dependent² children

Source: Annual Population Survey, October 2012-September 2013, Office for National Statistics.

Notes:

1. Rates based on population aged 16-64.

2. Dependent children are children aged under 16 and those aged 16 to 18 who have never-married.

Table 2: Employment rates¹ for mothers by age of youngest dependent² child:

Source: Annual Population Survey, October 2012-September 2013, Office for National Statistics.

Notes:

1. Rates based on population aged 16-64.

2. Dependent children are children aged under 16 and those aged 16 to 18 who have never-married.

3. Analysis based on age of youngest child to avoid double counting of mothers with multiple children.

The Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) provides information about the levels, distribution and make-up of earnings and hours worked for employees in all industries and occupations. The information requested is available from the ‘Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, 2013 Provisional Results’ Office for National Statistics’ publication:

http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/ashe/annual-survey-of-hours-and-earnings/2013-provisional-results/index.html

Estimates of median gross weekly earnings by gender, part-time status and region are available in the zip file ‘ASHE 2013 (provisional) Table 25-Region by Public and Private Sector’ at the following page:

http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/publications/re-reference-tables.html?edition=tcm%3A77-328216

Within this set of tables, Table 25.1a gives data on Weekly pay-Gross (£). For female part-time employee jobs: United Kingdom, 2013.

The Annual Population Survey provides the preferred measure for detailed labour market information for subsets of the population in Scotland. The latest data covers the period from October 2012 to September 2013.

The proportion of all women, aged 16+, employed on a permanent full-time, permanent part-time basis, non-permanent full-time and non-permanent part-time basis.

Proportion of all women by permanent/non-permanent and full-time/part-time status

Source: Annual Population Survey, October 2012 to September 2013, Office for National Statistics

Notes:

1. Proportions based on female population aged 16+, in employment

2. Rates are calculated on unrounded figures

3. Estimates exclude those who gave no response to the question

4. Non-permanent jobs cover those working for an employment agency, doing casual type of work, doing seasonal work or working under contact for a fixed period or fixed task.