Chamber and committees

We know that older people in Scotland have been at an increased risk of social isolation and loneliness because of the necessary restrictions that were put in place to control transmission of the virus and save lives.

In our initial response to the pandemic, our £350 million Supporting Communities Fund directly assisted organisations providing immediate support to people and communities. This funding supported many organisations to increase the capacity of helplines, many of which offer friendship as well as advice. This included investment in Age Scotland who received over £870,000, as well as Hourglass and Befriending Networks Scotland.

Furthermore, the initial £5 million ‘Connecting Scotland’ project has enabled 9,000 people, including people clinically at risk or on low incomes, to get online with dedicated training and support. This is supporting people who are digitally excluded to connect with friends and family.

The Scottish Government continues to meet with both the Social Isolation and Loneliness National Implementation Group and the Older People’s Strategic Action Forum and members of these groups have fed into our overall response, as well as supporting the work of the newly established Social Renewal Advisory Board which is informing the Government’s response to ‘building back’ stronger and fairer. Older people have been highlighted as a priority group to ensure their needs and experiences inform this work.

We know that older people have been adversely affected by restrictions put in place to combat the spread of the coronavirus and have put in place a range of support for them.

Through our Immediate Priorities Fund, we have provided over £870,000 to Age Scotland to increase the Helpline capacity to support older people with a range of issues, advice and friendship. This funding means that additional capacity for this vital lifeline will remain in place until October. Total funding for members of the Older People’s Strategic Action Forum is now over £1.16 million.

We have published guidance on the support available to help people overcome the challenges in accessing and affording food and other essentials during this crisis. We have also provided information on other sources of support available to protect the wellbeing of people affected by virus.

For individuals who are unable to access or afford food and who cannot get the help they need from family, friends or neighbours, they are encouraged to call the national assistance helpline. The free helpline number is 0800 111 4000, or via a textphone on 0800 111 4114. The helpline is open Monday to Friday, from 9am to 5pm.

As part of our £350 million Communities Fund, £30 million from the Food Fund was provided to local authorities for the period April to end June to lead a locally coordinated response to support those at risk, drawing on third sector and volunteer resources. Of this, £15 million was notionally allocated for the Non-Shielded at Risk group, which included people over 70.

In addition, we are also investing £10 million from the Food Fund in critical third sector and community responses and have more than doubled our investment in the Scottish Welfare Fund to £77.5m, which can provide crisis grants to those facing a disaster or emergency situation.

On the 16 June, the First Minister announced additional funding of £27.6 million to local authorities to continue support offered to help people to access food during the Coronavirus crisis. This includes £15 million for continued support for groups at risk until the end of September.

Best Start Foods and Best Start Grant are two separate devolved benefit payments to support eligible families with young children.

Best Start Foods supports eligible families with children under the age of three to purchase healthy foods.

The Best Start Grant (BSG) Early Learning Payment provides eligible families with £250 to support child development covering the common ages when a child might start nursery (the application window is for 2 to 3½ year olds). However, there is no requirement to take up an ELC to claim this payment.

The Scottish Fiscal Commission forecasts, published on 6 February 2020, estimates that 20,000 payments will be made for BSG Early Learning Payment in 2020/21.

From 1 April 2017 Scotland exercised newly devolved powers on employment support through 12 month transitional arrangements (Work First Scotland and Work Able Scotland) before Fair Start Scotland was launched in April 2018. Prior to April 2017, the UK Government’s Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) was responsible for providing employability services in Scotland. The Scottish Government does not hold data for services provided by the DWP.

Between April 2018 to June 2020 Fair Start Scotland has helped 7,050 people into employment, of which 4,193 sustained employment for at least three months. It is important to note that not everyone supported by Fair Start Scotland has had enough time to start a job or sustain it for 3 months.

Work First Scotland and Work Able Scotland operated between April 2017 to September 2019, and helped 1,194 people into employment, of which 1,134 sustained employment for at least three months.

In 2018, the Scottish Government published A Fairer Scotland for Disabled People: Employment Action Plan . As part of this we committed to reduce the disability employment gap by at least half (from the 2016 baseline of 37.4 percentage points), by 2038. Our plan, alongside our first year update, may be found on the Scottish Government’s website: www.gov.scot

Due to significant changes in the survey questions relating to disability and long-term limiting health conditions in Apr-Jun 2013, it is not possible to directly compare the latest disability employment gap estimate (for April 2019 – March 2020) with the gap 14 years ago.

In the most recent period for which comparisons over time can be made, there has been progress and Scotland’s disability employment gap has narrowed. Between April 2013 – March 2014 and April 2019 – March 2020, Scotland’s disability employment gap fell by 5.7 percentage points (p.p.) from 38.7 p.p. to 33.0 p.p.

Fair Start Scotland (FSS) is Scotland’s flagship employability programme, designed to support those who face the greatest challenge to moving towards and into work. Participation in the programme is entirely voluntary, and it offers up to 18 months of tailored, person-centred, pre-employment support and up to 12 months of further in-work support.

The service launched successfully on 3 April 2018, and is delivering the employability powers of the 2016 Scotland Act, specifically to provide intensive bespoke support for unemployed disabled people and those with long-term health conditions. While unemployed people with a range of other barriers to work can also access the service, 65% of those receiving support through the programme report having a long-term health condition, and 47% of participants also identify as disabled people.

In addition, our A Fairer Scotland for Disabled People: Employment Action Plan, published in December 2018 and available online at www.gov.scot , outlines the actions we will take to tackle the barriers that disabled people, and those with a long-term health condition, face when entering or attempting to progress within the labour market.

People have a right to feel and to be safe at work, and on their return to work. On 19 July the Cabinet Secretary for Economy issued a fresh joint statement with the STUC, CoSLA, SCVO, the IoD and SCDI outlining the shared commitment to fair work practices in Scotland across the public, private and third sectors. The statement urges employers to support workers to follow the guidance available. No-one should feel under pressure to breach that advice and workers should not be put at unnecessary risk, nor should they put others at risk of infection.

We have also published sectoral guidance for employers on returning to work safely during the coronavirus pandemic. This guidance is available at: https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-
returning-to-work/pages/employers/

We have set up the Connecting Scotland programme ( https://connecting.scot/ ) which provides those that are digitally excluded and on a low income with a device, an internet connection and training and support.

£5 million was invested in phase one of the programme to support 9000 individuals on a low income and clinically at risk from COVID-19. This included older people in the shielding category.

The Programme for Government 2020-2021, published 1 September 2020, sets out how we are now committing an additional £23 million to help even more digitally excluded people and households with a digital and data safety net, providing them with a device and extending our previous offer of unlimited data and support and training from one year to two for everyone the programme has helped.

We have invested £1.5 million in the Digital Participation Charter. The Charter Fund provides small grants (typically up to £10,000) to help a range of organisations tackle poverty, social isolation and other forms of inequality in society through embedding basic digital skills development work in day-to-day activity with their service users. There have been seven rounds since 2014 which have supported 189 local projects and will reach over 22,000 people to gain or improve their essential digital skills. The focus of the last 3 rounds has been older people and isolation.

In partnership with the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations we have established a network of digital champions to provide peer learning and support for residents in housing associations and sheltered accommodation complexes offering tailored support by trusted volunteers.

This Government has a strong track record of assisting young people into employment through our internationally recognised Youth Employment Strategy – Developing the Young Workforce.

There is a broad range of support available to school leavers including a careers service provided by Skills Development Scotland (SDS) which offers free and impartial expert advice to all those who need this support. SDS also works closely with schools to identify those leavers who are less likely to engage with mainstream opportunities as well as working with local partners who offer targeted transitional support to this vulnerable group.

Together with Local Authorities, the Scottish Government rolled out the first phase of No One Left Behind (NOLB) in April 2019-20. This flexible, person-centred approach to providing employability support is aimed at those who need extra help and training to transition into employment or further learning. In its first year NOLB, supported by more than £7 million of investment, helped almost 3,500 participants, 79% of whom were 16-19 year olds. We are continuing to work closely with our Local Authority and third sector partners to develop and deliver the next phase of NOLB.

We are also continuing to fund the delivery of a number of well- established employability programmes, including: Community Jobs Scotland, the Employability Fund, Discovering Your Potential and Our Future Now - all of which are aimed at helping young people to transition into further learning or employment. In these especially challenging times, all of our delivery partners are working hard to engage with young people, adapting their services to ensure they are able to support as many young people as possible in the way that best suits their individual needs.

We have appointed Sandy Begbie to advise on the implementation of a Youth Guarantee, which will promote the importance of giving young people the opportunity to access employment, education and training. The Scottish Government has now published the Youth Guarantee- No One Left Behind- Preliminary report and this can be accessed via the following link: https://www.gov.scot/publications/addressing-labour-market-emergency
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-sub-group-measures-mitigate-labour-market-impacts-covid-19/

We have committed to investing £60 million, this financial year, in a Youth Guarantee as part of the £100 million investment for employment and skills we announced last month. The Guarantee is one of the first actions to be taken forward from the Advisory Group on Economic Recovery Report and sets out our employer led plan to give all young people access to work, training or education.