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Official Report: search what was said in Parliament

The Official Report is a written record of public meetings of the Parliament and committees.  

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Dates of parliamentary sessions
  1. Session 1: 12 May 1999 to 31 March 2003
  2. Session 2: 7 May 2003 to 2 April 2007
  3. Session 3: 9 May 2007 to 22 March 2011
  4. Session 4: 11 May 2011 to 23 March 2016
  5. Session 5: 12 May 2016 to 5 May 2021
  6. Current session: 12 May 2021 to 26 April 2025
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Displaying 740 contributions

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Economy and Fair Work Committee

Disability Employment Gap

Meeting date: 8 May 2024

Murdo Fraser

Thank you very much. That is really helpful.

Economy and Fair Work Committee

Disability Employment Gap

Meeting date: 8 May 2024

Murdo Fraser

Thank you very much, Angela. It was very helpful to have that spelled out in detail, because the committee is looking for solutions that we can recommend.

I will go to Vikki Manson next. We have heard a lot about reasonable adjustments, about what might be done and what the barriers are. I am interested in hearing the FSB’s perspective on that.

Economy and Fair Work Committee

Disability Employment Gap

Meeting date: 8 May 2024

Murdo Fraser

Does Heather Fisken want to comment on those issues?

Economy and Fair Work Committee

Disability Employment Gap

Meeting date: 1 May 2024

Murdo Fraser

Thank you.

Economy and Fair Work Committee

Disability Employment Gap

Meeting date: 1 May 2024

Murdo Fraser

I want to follow up on the question of funding and ask you the same question that I put to the earlier panel, on funding for employability programmes, which is something that came up on Monday in the committee’s visit to two social enterprises in Perth that work with young people with autism and with learning difficulties. The issue that came up was the lack of certainty over funding, as they were not getting their award letters until well into the financial year. If you heard the evidence from the previous witnesses, you will know that they confirmed that that was a pattern that they were very familiar with. According to the SPICe briefing for today’s meeting, the Scottish Government’s budget for the current year for employability is down 24 per cent in real terms compared to last year. What impact is that having on your ability to deliver services and how does the issue of year-to-year funding and short-termism impact on your ability to deliver?

Economy and Fair Work Committee

Disability Employment Gap

Meeting date: 1 May 2024

Murdo Fraser

Good morning. I will start by following up on Maggie Chapman’s question about funding. On Monday, the committee was in Perth, where we visited two excellent social enterprise projects that help young people with autism and learning difficulties to get into the workplace. It was very positive to see the outcomes from those projects. However, the people involved raised the issue of certainty of funding and—as Alasdair Scott touched on earlier—the difficulties that can be caused by the lack of such certainty year to year. Even worse than that, some weeks into the current financial year, some projects had still not received an award letter, which made it almost impossible to do any sensible forward planning.

The committee’s briefing from the Scottish Parliament information centre says that, in the Scottish Government’s budget for the current year, employability funding has been cut by 24 per cent in real terms, which is a very substantial cut. There is perhaps an expectation that local authorities will pick up the slack.

I am interested in your perspective on two issues. The first is about the impact that that cut will have on the overall quantum of employability funding, and the second is about future planning and certainty.

Economy and Fair Work Committee

Disability Employment Gap

Meeting date: 1 May 2024

Murdo Fraser

It seems extraordinary to me that, one month into the financial year, you still do not know what your funding settlement will be. I cannot imagine how impossible it is to plan ahead.

Philip Ritchie, you were nodding throughout that answer. Do you want to add anything?

Economy and Fair Work Committee

Disability Employment Gap

Meeting date: 1 May 2024

Murdo Fraser

Presumably, you benefit from being part of a large national organisation that has reserves, so you are not necessarily reliant on that very short-term funding, because you have something that you can fall back on.

Economy and Fair Work Committee

Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 (Post-legislative Scrutiny)

Meeting date: 17 April 2024

Murdo Fraser

I have a slightly different question, which is about the provision of feedback to unsuccessful bidders. We were told that small businesses can find it discouraging when they put a lot of work into submitting a bid, the bid is unsuccessful and they get very little feedback on how that bid might be improved for future bids. Do you have any thoughts on how that process could be improved?

Economy and Fair Work Committee

Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 (Post-legislative Scrutiny)

Meeting date: 17 April 2024

Murdo Fraser

That is helpful.