Seòmar agus comataidhean

I am sure that we will come back to that issue next week. I thank the witnesses for their contributions this morning; it has been very valuable to hear their views on the skills and employability agenda.

The paper from Skills Development Scotland set out a number of strategies and action plans. Can I have confidence that those will make the changes that are required? There has been a steady decline over a period. How can that decline be reversed? For example, are there enough incentives for businesses and employers, and is there enough infrastructure to support them in retraining, reskilling and offering their workforce those opportunities?

Good morning and welcome to the third meeting in 2021 of the Economy and Fair Work Committee.

I welcome again Maggie Chapman. Although she is not a member of the committee, she is attending for the evidence session.

Our first item of business is a decision on whether to take items 3 and 4 in private. Do members agree to take those items in private?

Members indicated agreement.

I am afraid that we have lost Chris’s connection.

We will have witnesses from the agencies in front of us next week but, if Nora Senior wants to comment on that, she is welcome to come in.

I propose that we move to Jamie Halcro Johnston, if that is okay, as his questions link to the discussion with Mairi Spowage.

We are losing the connection to Chris Brodie. I will bring in Nora Senior to comment on that point.

Does Nora Senior want to come in? Jamie Halcro Johnston suggested that you might want to comment.

I go back to Chris Brodie. I recently had a conversation with the Open University, which said that uptake of their courses had increased—it said that it had been quite encouraged by individuals looking to retrain and reskill. We are talking about a reluctance to invest, or a lack of recognition of the importance of investing, among businesses. I asked whether the infrastructure around this area is enough to support businesses, but is there also a cultural issue in Scotland around devaluing adult and lifelong learning? Have we lost that? From memory, that was a driving force when the Scottish Parliament was first established, but that seems to have slipped over the lifetime of the Parliament.

Our second item of business is an evidence session on employment and skills for recovery. I thank all the witnesses for joining us. I welcome Chris Brodie, director of regional skills planning and sector development, and Lisa Pattoni, service development manager, both from Skills Development Scotland; Nora Senior, chair of the Enterprise and Skills Strategic Board; and Mairi Spowage, director of the Fraser of Allander Institute.

Today’s evidence session will enable the committee to consider issues to do with business recovery, with a focus on employment and skills. The evidence will inform the committee’s input to the Scottish Government’s budget for 2022-23.

I will start the questioning. The paper from Skills Development Scotland says that

“job-related training in Scotland has steadily declined over the last 15 years”.

“Scotland’s Future Skills Action Plan” also makes that comment. I ask the witnesses from Skills Development Scotland to talk about the reasons why that has happened and where the responsibility for that decline lies.