 Rwy'n credu i'r next item of business, which is a statement by Jamie Hepburn on launching Scotland's new employment support service and welcoming the opportunity for better integration and alignment. The minister will take questions at the end of his statement. I would encourage all members who wish to ask a question of the minister to press their request-to-speak buttons now, and I call on Jamie Hepburn. Presiding Officer, we are now one week away from the commencement of Fair Start Scotland on 3 April. I firmly believe that Scotland shall have full powers over employment employability policy to deliver a more joined-up system for those in and out of work. For now, we are fully using the limited employment support powers that are devolved by the Scotland Act to deliver a programme for government commitment to provide tailored person-centred support to a minimum of 38,000 people who are furthest removed from the labour market. If Fair Start Scotland builds on the success of our transitional services, Workable Scotland and Work First Scotland, which we have been running over the past year and are on track to exceed the ambition that we had to support up to 4,800 people who have moved towards and into employment, a full assessment of that interim year will be available in due course. I have seen first hand how those transitional services are delivering tailored and personalised employment support that is capable of making a difference to people's lives, having a positive impact on people's confidence and self-esteem. And Fair Start Scotland will deliver that same approach by providing high-quality employment support to unemployed people, including those who are facing multiple barriers who want to work and need help to enter and remain in the labour market by putting people at the centre delivering flexible tailored support that meets their needs by embedding dignity and respect, fairness and equality in our approach to helping people find work. It will be delivered locally by a range of service providers and the delivery partners from the public, private and third sector. It will be delivered by providers who have committed to the principles of fair work, including paying the living wage and avoiding use of zero-hours contracts. I will ensure that people will be able to participate in Fair Start Scotland on a voluntary basis. I am determined that Fair Start Scotland will be about encouraging people to take the opportunity that our support offers and that it will not be about threatening benefit sanctions and anyone's financial well-being. Over the past three months, I have led local regional events across Scotland to ensure readiness for Fair Start Scotland delivery. The most striking feature to emerge from those discussions is that local government and all those who have been involved share a clear agenda to provide the best possible employment support for our people and to make sure that they have access to the best possible opportunities. During this period, we have worked closely with Fair Start Scotland providers to ensure that they are ready and have developed robust plans, processes and guidance to ensure that Fair Start Scotland delivers a high-quality service to its participants. During this period, we have also worked closely with the department for working pensions and their job centres across Scotland. As the main referral route into Fair Start Scotland, we have worked productively with the DWP to ensure that IT systems will support Fair Start Scotland referrals. Over the past few months, we have delivered awareness-raising sessions to around 1,500 Jobcentre Plus staff across Scotland who have demonstrated their willingness to work with us in Fair Start Scotland and to deliver the aim of helping people to find work. I am pleased that Jobcentre Plus has already begun referring to Fair Start Scotland for our providers to hit the ground running on 3 April. As Fair Start Scotland begins, we will do as we have done from the outset of this process. We will continue to listen to stakeholders in the third private and public sectors and, above all, from those who use our service to ensure that Fair Start Scotland is delivering for those who need it. However, while Fair Start Scotland is a significant development in the Scottish employability landscape, there is only a first step in a wider programme to deliver more effective and joined-up employment support for people and in our work to deliver more inclusive growth and opportunities for all. Last August, I announced that 13 projects would receive funding for our employability, innovation and integration fund. Those projects involve partners who are collaborating at a local level to deliver new innovative approaches to join up employability support with health and social care, justice and housing services. Earlier today, I visited capital city partnerships, joined up for jobs integration project, and I am bringing together existing housing, criminal justice and health and social care services to work collectively and bring about genuine and sustainable integration with employability provision. I was encouraged by the collaboration between health partners, including NHS link workers and public health practitioners, to explore how links between health and employability services can be strengthened and help to deliver better employment outcomes for people. That is exactly the type of joined-up, collaborative and better-aligned service delivery that we require. With the launch of Fair Start Scotland, the time is right to set out a plan to better integrate and align employability support with other support and services. I am therefore delighted to announce the publication today of No-one Left Behind, next steps for the integration and alignment of employability support in Scotland. No-one Left Behind sets out how we will start to join up wider employability support within Scotland as a specific focus on integrating employability support with health, justice and housing services areas that are critical to enable better support for people who are furthest removed from employment. No-one Left Behind sets out the actions that we will develop and implement collaboratively with our partners. The action to work with local government and improve alignment of employability provision at a local level. The action to focus on helping more people who are released from custody to find employment and preventing a return to criminal activity by working with the Scottish Prison Service and developing new routes into employment services that will help to support more people with a conviction to find and sustain work. The action to pilot a single health and work gateway in Fife and Dundee, providing a single point of contact for different services for those at risk of falling out of work or who have recently left work due to ill health. The pilot will achieve better integration of healthcare and employability support for people with disabilities or long-term health conditions, including mental health conditions, will benefit from a service that more closely matches their needs. I want to be clear, though. The measures that I have set out today are just the start of a wider programme of work to better integrate and align employability services. That includes engaging with people and organisations to discuss the future of the employability system in Scotland, to identify where we can make a real difference to the delivery of a more flexible, person-centred and joined-up system. Our review of what we have in place will focus on the resources that the Scottish Government invests in the employability system. I want to make sure that our investment best meets our shared ambitions and that it is responsive to a changing labour market. It will be driven by the views and experience of service users and those front-line teams that deliver services. I look forward to being involved in many of those conversations over the next few months. The work to deliver the actions that are laid out and no-one left behind will begin now. A delivery group will monitor the progress that is made and I will keep Parliament up-to-date on our initial activity by the end of this year and go forward by publishing an annual report showing progress against that plan. The launch of Fair Start Scotland is an important milestone in utilising the powers of the Scotland Act and delivering employability support. Our transitional services have been a success. With our planning and preparation for Fair Start Scotland, I am confident that it, too, will be a success and will deliver for the people of Scotland. The work that the Government will take forward through no-one left behind will begin the process of joining up employability support and delivering better employment outcomes for people across the country. Our opportunity to deliver a distinct and more aligned system of employment support in Scotland begins now. It is an opportunity that I am determined to make the most of. I thank the minister for advance copy of his statement. The devolution of employability support programmes to this Parliament through the Scotland Act and the Smith commission was actively supported by the Scottish Conservatives. The ability to shape and improve the Scottish labour market to best suit local priorities and the needs of individuals should be at the very heart of employment services going forward. I therefore ask the minister what his reaction is to the concerns raised by organisations such as the SCVO that the Scottish Government's approach is not, in its words, sufficiently flexible and responsive to individual needs or to their circumstances or geographical location. The minister will also be aware that the SCVO has raised concerns that third sector subcontractors have been walking away from the system due to what they call unrealistic costings. I note that the minister's statement today contains no mention of costs or budgets for those programmes. Given concerns expressed about unrealistic costings, will the minister today provide a guarantee to Parliament that the costings that he has previously provided for the implementation of the employability programmes are realistic? Will he also guarantee that we will not see significant cost overruns in the programme, as we have with countless other new systems introduced by his Government? Let me pick up on each of those points. In relation to the point that was raised about the notion that we have seen third sector subcontractors walk away from Fair Start Scotland, that is simply not the case. Of course, there has been some changes in specific contract areas. That is not unusual for the awarding of any public contract of this nature. However, each and every single third sector organisation that was signed up to Fair Start Scotland is still involved in various locations across the country. On the issue of the flexibility and the responsiveness of Fair Start Scotland, particularly in relation to its geographical breakdown, I believe that we have created a flexible system. That is, of course, new for us. We will seek to learn from what we put in place and, within the boundaries of being able to be flexible within the confines of having awarded contracts, we have imbued the ability to be flexible and responsive to what we learn. In relation to the suggestion that this is not going to be a programme that is going to be geographically responsive, I will take no lessons from the Conservative party on this matter. We have awarded contracts across nine local contract package areas. If we were still under the jurisdiction of the UK Government, we would clearly see Scotland now as one contract package area, as is happening across the rest of the United Kingdom with super contract package areas awarded with no chance for that local interaction. As for the issue about the costs of the budget for the programme, I will take no lessons from the Scottish Conservatives on this matter. What Dean Lockhart admitted to mention was the 85 per cent cut in funding that came to us when the matter was devolved to us, which meant that we had to find other resources, which we have done unwillingly to make sure that the programme will be a success. I have already set out that the budget for the three-year referral will be £96 million for the contracts that we have awarded, and that remains the case. I can give that commitment to the Parliament now. Iain Gray, to be followed by Clare Haughey. Thank you, Presiding Officer, and my thanks to the minister for early sight of his statement. The Government has made much of its entirely laudable aim to create an employment support service that is better than what was previously in place—fairer, more flexible and more person-centred. In truth, that has not gone entirely smoothly. Those responsibilities were devolved a year ago, but the Government rolled on contracts to deliver a transitional year. When the new contracts were awarded late last year, 85 per cent of the primary contractors turned out to be private sector providers once again. The minister says categorically that transition services have been a success, but he also said that we will have to wait for an assessment in due course. If he has the evidence of success to hand, can I ask why he has not simply published it today? With regard to the new programme, we have been told that the so-called customer welcome pack will require people to sign up nine separate times to various programme commitments at their first meeting. Will the minister agree with me that that would seem a far cry from the promise of a system based on fairness, dignity and respect? No, I would disagree with Mr Gray's assessment. I think that we have put in place a system that is fairer, not least and primarily amongst him, the commitment of this administration to do what has not been done south of the border and to ensure that people are not compelled to take part in our programme and to make sure that a programme is seen as an opportunity for it to take part. In terms of the array of providers that we have awarded contracts to, I was very clear throughout the entire process—couldn't it be clearer, Presiding Officer, that there would be a mixed economy, that various sectors would be delivering this programme? That is exactly what we have put in place. There is a significant role for the third sector in each of the contract package areas. That was the commitment that was made and that is the commitment that we have fulfilled. In relation to his point about the success of our interim approach, I can say that it is informed on two ways. One, I readily concede that it is anecdotal. What I have done is that I have gone out and actually spoken to people who have gone through that programme. They have spoken to me of the great benefit—don't worry, Mr Gray, we will come to the numbers in a minute. They have spoken to me about the great benefits that they have seen of the different approaches that we have taken. Those are people who have gone through predecessor programmes that were administered by the DWP, who have said that the programme that we are delivering feels different and is delivering differently for them. In relation to raw data, I am very happy to provide that. Mr Gray has clearly not been paying attention because we published the information on 28 February. I remind Mr Gray that our commitment was to support up to 4,800 people with disabilities and health conditions towards and into work this year. As of February, three quarters of the way through the year, we had 4,472 people join Work for Scotland and Workable Scotland up to 29 December. We are going to exceed the target that we set this year. Clare Haughey, to be filled by Jamie Halcro Johnston. Fair Start Scotland is different from previous DWP employment support programmes. I have already alluded to one of the fundamental differences in that our programme will be entirely voluntary. That is, for me, the correct approach that has been informed by my experience as a constituent representative, which I am sure will be common to all of us, of having had constituents in touch who have been through the benefits system, who have been sanctioned. I know that the duress puts them under. I think that we will get more out of people if they take part on a voluntary basis. We are also funding our programme appropriately. I made that point to Mr Lockhart. We have committed to £20 million additional each year of this parm over and above the significantly reduced funding that we received from the DWP. That is £96 million for a three-year referral period. In contrast to the UK Government approach, we have received a £600 million award for the entirety of England Wales for a five-year referral period. On a pro-rata basis, we are investing significantly more. I have already made the point about it being delivered more locally. We are also encouraging service providers to commit to the fair work workforce community benefits agenda. They are committed to paying at least the living wage to those who deliver the programme. Of course, we have an offer of supported employment and individual placement and support through our approach, which is somewhat different from the working health programme. The minister has spoken about greater integration with health, housing and justice services. Will the minister tell us what action is being taken to improve links with skills agencies and provide us to ensure that we have a service that provides people with the training and support that is needed to enter the workplace and build on their existing skills in a personalised way? That is an eminently reasonable question from Mr Johnston. The first point that I would make in relation to the transition year is that, for Workable Scotland, Skills Development Scotland themselves, who issued that contract, they have been a firm part of the agenda. One of the explicit commitments that is referred to and no one left behind is one of the actions to make sure that, where we take people through their journey into employment, at the other end of it, we are making sure that they are equipped with the skills for actual labour market requirements, we make the point that we must look at growth sectors such as early years, childcare for example. We will make sure that, as we take forward our employability programmes, they are part of the challenge. We are making sure that they are entirely aligned with every element of the system. Of course, our skills agencies are a critical part of that, too. Jackie Baillie to be followed by Angus MacDonald The minister is aware of the significant disappointment that so little of the programme delivery is being undertaken by the voluntary sector, a mere 15 per cent. Since then, and despite what the minister said earlier, at least three voluntary organisations who have subcontractors have withdrawn, and let me refresh his memory, the wise group from Tayside who is a subcontractor there. Sam H, the Scottish Association for Mental Health, and the Royal National Institute for the Blind both withdrawn from the west contract. I am sure that he will confirm that this is accurate, because I took it from his very own website. I ask for that confirmation, because they were on your website last week, but appear to have simply disappeared this week. I can say to the minister that we do pay attention to what he gets up to. Does he share my concern that the voluntary sector is voting with their feet, and what does the minister believe are the reasons for withdrawing from those areas? Let me say that the only sense of disappointment that I get is from the Labour Party, in that we are administering the programme in a very different way, and they cannot use it as a rod to batter us with. In terms of the three specific organisations that she has mentioned, the wise group, RNIB and Sam H, what I can do today is confirm that they are all still taking part in the delivery of Fair Start Scotland. They are still part of our programme. To her estimation that the voluntary sector is only delivering some 15 per cent of our programme, that is not correct. The voluntary sector, the third sector, is delivering a far wider basis. Our estimation is that it will be delivering something that is approaching 40 per cent of delivery, so she may be paying attention, but I think that she needs to pay a little more. The minister will know that Fair Start Scotland will be led in force valley by Falkirk Council, who has an employment and training unit that I and many others believe is second to none. Does the minister agree that the local authority-led bid provides an excellent opportunity to develop a collaborative approach to co-investing in employability at a local level and creates the potential to declutter the landscape and devolve more of this activity to local employability partnerships? Let me say to Mr McDonald that he is, of course, quite correct to bang the drum, to beat the drum for one of his local services delivering in his local area. I can say that I have been to see the employment and training unit in Falkirk, and I have been very impressed with the work that they do. Pamela Smith, who heads up that unit for Falkirk, who is also the head of the Scottish local authority economic development team, was a very important member of our advisory group, which was very informative in the design of the Fair Start Scotland programme. Falkirk has certainly played its part in relation to that. On the fundamental question now, the approach to contracting the approach to delivery of Fair Start Scotland is a pragmatic and realistic one that is designed to deliver the best possible service. I am very delighted that Falkirk Council is taking the lead there. I look forward to working with them to make sure that they deliver the services that they have set out that they will deliver, but, of course, that will be the same. That will be true of all providers in all parts of Scotland. Alison Johnstone will be followed by Willie Rennie. Can the minister confirm that fair start providers will be rewarded for helping people into work that pays the real living wage rather than the lower national living wage, which the Scottish Government has rightly recognised and acknowledged as not allowing people to meet a basic standard of living? Of course, Ms Johnstone will be well aware and she has alluded to herself. The Government's great commitment to the living wage is why we pay it. That is why we fund the poverty alliance to make sure that it is working with all sectors to encourage them to become accredited. Through that work, we have seen an uplift of some 25,000 more people being paid the living wage. We will continue that work to make sure that everyone in Scotland, including those who are going through Fair Start Scotland, gets the best possible chance to end up in fulfilment and, above all, well-remunerated employment. Willie Rennie, to be followed by Ruth Maguire. I was particularly disappointed that the minister did not answer Jackie Baillie's question about the withdrawal of three organisations from the new service, in particular Sam H, in the west contract. I hope that he addresses that particular point. I understand that they are still involved in other contracts, but why did they withdraw from that particular contract? Mental health has been a particular challenge for employment support services to get right, so we need Sam H and its expertise involved in the delivery of the service. Can he answer Jackie Baillie's question? My perspective, Mr Rennie, may not be surprised to learn, is that I answered Jackie Baillie's question. I would make the point that Sam H is still involved in the delivery of the service, with respect to the particular contract lot. It is, of course, not unusual that that type of relationship will develop, but Mr Rennie should rest at ease that, because Sam H is not the specific delivery partner in that contract package area, it does not mean that it is not incumbent on the service provider to ensure that where any person who requires specific support because of mental health challenges should get it. I have made the point a number of times now that, unlike any other employment programme in the islands, we have the individual placement support model, which is specifically designed to support people with mental health challenges. Our system is designed to support such individuals, and that is exactly what I expect it to do. Alexander Burnett, to be followed by Fulton MacGregor. Thank you, Presiding Officer. As I am sure that the minister is aware, employment rates for the disabled are significantly lower than the non-disabled population. In particular, I have had many autistic constituents contact me with their struggles for finding work, so can I ask the minister what specific measures will be put in place to ensure that the individual needs of a disabled are tailored to within the no-one-left-behind scheme? It is, again, a very reasonable question. I am not used to all those reasonable questions from the Conservative benches, Presiding Officer. I do not know if I will get used to it. It is a very reasonable question from Mr Burnett. He will be aware that we have a separate from no-one's left-behind, which is published at a fairer spot for disabled people, in which we have made a significant commitment to do more to ensure that we can have the disability employment gap. We will be holding a summit at the end of April. It was the First Minister, myself and the Minister for Social Security. We will all be in attendance to focus specifically on employment for disabled people. I recognise, though, that the group cannot be looked at in the round. There will be different groups and different cohorts within that group. Those with learning disability autism, we know that the employment rate is even lower, so we will have to consider very clearly working with the organisations that represent them, such as Enable, which we have already supported through our 14 to 19 fund to be engaged in the teres of employability projects. We will work with them to ensure that we can do rather better. Again, that will be a critical part of the work that we take forward through FairerScot for disabled people and no-one left behind. Can the minister provide detail on how fair start will be integrated with other services and support? That is one of the things that I have been very pleased with when I have gone around the country as part of the mobilisation activity to meet with service providers in each contract lot area. I have not been meeting them in isolation. I have been meeting them side by side. There has been the different local authorities. We have seen the DWP Job Centre Plus around the table. We have seen the Scottish Prison Service. We have seen the national health service. My clear expectation and is laid out in the contracts of the expectations is that those who we have awarded fair start in contracts 2 must be making a concerted effort to go out and find out what is happening in the area and make sure that they are working hand-in-hand with those pre-existing services. Of course, that is also part of our wider challenge that we have laid out and no-one left behind. The work to ensure that we have a better understanding of the full picture of services across the country begins, and so, too, will the work to make sure that what we offer can complement better what is offered by local authorities and interact better with other statutory services, such as the health service, the Scottish Prison Service, social work and so on. Fulton MacGregor, to be followed by Mark Griffin. Fulton MacGregor. Thank you, Presiding Officer. To ask the minister how the Scottish Government will evaluate the success of fair start Scotland. Minister. Will there be a number of requirements for us to do so laid out in the terms of fair start Scotland? We will be rigorously managing the performance of fair start Scotland to provide us to ensure that there is a quality service and consistent provision across the whole of Scotland. We are already taking the opportunity to learn lessons from the delivery of this year's transitional services, Work for Scotland and Workable Scotland. It will be developing an evaluation approach that will focus on both management information and data, which Mr Gray will be delighted to learn. We will be publishing and making available for all to see. That is the most fundamentally important thing for us to do. I have made the point that I have been outdoing it already. Speaking to people who are using our services, we will only truly understand the difference that our services are making when we speak to and engage with the people who are using them. That will be a critical part of the evaluation work that we take forward. Mark Griffin, to be followed by Stuart McMillan. Can the minister confirm that when people enroll in fair start Scotland, they will remain eligible to access their own individual training allowances and if participants can take part in other community programmes that are currently matched with funding from the European social fund? That is a question that has been raised when we have been speaking to organisations around the country. I have put to one side the great uncertainty that exists around the European social fund generally, which we are having to explore. I do not think that what we have cut and dried is saying that a person will be able to will or will not be able to access European social fund funded projects. We clearly do not set out the rules for ESF. There is an element of which that cannot be about the replication of existing services, but there will be the other projects that they can benefit by. That is something that we are looking at just now. I would be very happy to ensure that Mr Griffin is kept informed of the further information that we can develop that we are rolling out to all of our providers across the country. Notwithstanding the previous answer from the minister, can the minister confirm that those who use fair start will continue to receive support once they have found employment and that businesses will also be able to access advice and information on how to support employees with additional needs? Yes, I can give that confirmation. We know that ensuring that a person gets the pre-work support is only half of the battle. It is essential that we provide that in-work support as well for both the person who will then become an employee and for the employer, because they will need to on occasion access that information and advice. We have put in place a system that will offer 12 months high-quality pre-work support rising to 18 months for those with the highest support needs. If needed, we will also offer 12 months in-work assistance to individuals. That means that, through fair start Scotland, people can rely on up to 24 to 30 months support, including more support once people and work to keep them there. That compares to a maximum of 21 months support through the working health programme. Thank you very much to the minister and to members. That concludes our statement on fair start Scotland. We will move on to the next item of business, which is a debate on motion 11230 in the name of Bob Doris on city regions deal or no deal. I will take a few moments for members and ministers to change seats.