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Transport Scotland is responsible for preventing snow and ice endangering the safe passage of pedestrians and vehicles on trunk roads in Aberdeenshire. Significant planning is undertaken in advance of winter to ensure that the trunk road operating companies are prepared and to share lessons learned from previous years. BEAR Scotland, the Operating Company for the Aberdeenshire area, has an annual Winter Service Plan, which is available online at:

http://www.transport.gov.scot/system/files/documents/tsc-basic-pages/Road/North-East-Unit-Winter-Service-Plan-2016-17.pdf

The delivery and resilience of current winter communication procedures across the north of Scotland were tested during a one-day event on Thursday 20 October 2016, the principle being to share best practice. This involved representatives from our Operating Company (BEAR Scotland) that covers the north-units, Transport Scotland, Traffic Scotland, Police Scotland, Aberdeen Roads Limited (Design, Build, Finance and Operate (DBFO), Contract Provider, for the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route), Aberdeen City Council and Transport Scotland’s Performance Audit Group (PAG). Aberdeenshire Council did not take up the invitation to attend.

Winter service on local roads in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire is a matter for the local authorities.

The Tier four pilot scheme falls far short of our calls for a post study work visa and I am deeply troubled that this was introduced without any consultation with the Scottish Government or Scottish institutions. And I know that Scotland’s institutions share my concern about the precedent this sets for future changes.

Universities Scotland has estimated that Scotland has lost out on at least £254 million of revenue since 2012 as a direct result of the closure of the Tier one post-study work visa. I welcome former First Minister Jack McConnell’s recent comments on this issue and share his concern that Scotland is losing out on the talents of graduates who could make a real contribution to our economic and social well-being.

The Scottish Government wants Scotland to be a more successful and fairer country, with opportunities for all to flourish. To do this we need a strong economy, underpinned by a vibrant labour market. We will today (26 August 2016) publish Scotland’s Labour Market Strategy, to sit alongside our Economic Strategy. This strategy sets out our vision for a strong labour market that drives inclusive, sustainable economic growth, characterised by growing, competitive businesses, high employment, a skilled population capable of meeting the needs of employers, and where fair work is central to improving the lives of individuals and their families.Government, employers, employees and trade unions must work together to ensure that the labour market remains healthy, strong and resilient now and in the future.To ensure our approach remains dynamic and can evolve over time, we will establish a Strategic Labour Market Group, which will work alongside the Fair Work Convention, to review, mitigate and flex our approach.We will also work with partners to improve the range and quality of labour market data and develop new indicators which will set out a more comprehensive view of how we are able to assess progress.This will ensure our strategy remains current, adaptable to change and delivers a fair, inclusive and successful labour market in Scotland.The strategy can be found at: www.gov.scot/labourmarketstats.

In February to April 2016 the number of females in employment in Scotland was 1,264,000, this compares to 14,728,000 females in employment in the UK.

Source: Labour Force Survey, Seasonally adjusted, Office for National Statistics (Published 15 June 2016)

The Scottish Government is committed to supporting the growth of the modern apprenticeship (MA) programme across the Scottish economy and has maintained had a strong focus in supporting increased numbers of MAs across the energy sector, including oil and gas.

In delivering our target for 26,000 MA opportunities this year, we have directed Skills Development Scotland to prioritise starts in key and enabling sectors, including the oil and gas sectors, within the annual MA target, which in 2016 has increased to 26,000 starts as a step towards of our commitment to deliver 30,000 starts by 2020.

The Scottish Government is using all of the levers under our control to support the oil and gas industry. There is an extensive network of support for the oil and gas industry delivered through Scottish Enterprise, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Scottish Development International, Skills Development Scotland and the Scottish Funding Council.

Our focus with our industrial and training partners has been to protect and sustain as many of the current apprenticeships as possible and to incentivise the re-employment of those that have unfortunately been displaced though redundancies. This has been supported through the provision of additional resources to create the enhanced Adopt an Apprentice initiative, which provides a £5,000 recruitment incentive for companies to hire a displaced apprentice and enable them to complete their work based qualifications.

More widely we have also established the Energy Jobs Taskforce which has published its action plan setting out some of the key measures they are taking forward with the backing and support of key industry leaders. The task force will look to safeguard the decades of skill and experience built up in Scotland’s oil and gas industry, and is focusing on encouraging and influencing flexible approaches to employment that limit job losses and help avoid losing skills and talent vital in the medium and long-term.

Under this government the number of staff working in Scotland’s NHS has risen to a record high.

As at March 2016, 12,021.2 whole time equivalent staff were employed in NHS Grampian – an increase of 7.3 per cent since September 2006.*

*Source: Information Services Division Scotland (September 2006 to March 2016)

In 2014-15, 12,269,889 learning hours were provided to students with a recorded disability. This is 22% higher than the equivalent figure in 2006-07.

Source: Scottish Funding Council

In its guidance to colleges, the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) has made clear that improving access for disabled people is a priority. To that end, SFC is investing a record £100 million across the sector to ensure colleges are resourced to meet the needs of disabled students.

The SFC continues to work closely with the equality challenge unit, enable Scotland, colleges development network and other partners to improve outcomes and support for this group of learners.

The Scottish Government will explore the establishment of a green energy bond with key stakeholders, including the finance community, local energy groups and developers. This will be taken forward as part of the new energy strategy which will be implemented over this Parliament and beyond.

Through the implementation of the Scottish Government’s Youth Employment Strategy – Developing the Young Workforce (DYW) - this government has invested in a wide range of employment initiatives including modern apprenticeships, Community Jobs Scotland and Scotland’s Employer Recruitment Incentive. These individual programmes underpin our opportunities for all offer of a place in education or training for all 16-19 year olds and are directly helping to create sustainable employment opportunities for young people in Scotland, including Aberdeenshire East.

In Aberdeenshire:

At end December 2015 there were 2,340 modern apprentices in training in Aberdeenshire; including 867 new modern apprenticeship starts.

In total there have been 108 Community Jobs Scotland places delivered since 2011, with a further 22 opportunities allocated for 2016/17; of the 30 young people moving on from their activity agreement in 2015/16, 21 progressed on to further learning, training and employment; and young people are supported by two Skills Development Scotland Centres in Aberdeenshire; Peterhead and Inverurie.

In addition, SDS has regular outreach services in Fraserburgh and Banff with provision for customers to be seen in partner premises in other areas.

The North East Regional DYW Group which was established in February 2015, and hosted in the Chamber of Commerce is adding industry leadership aimed at bringing about a permanent change among employers in how they engage with education and recruit more work ready young people.