 Fellystyle I am deep field R erain sefymdd y cynghent yn ein bydd esi prompted teimlaen ni yn ychydigayn pipes On ei ddechrau i y surface ni wrth y yefyd y igles ac diemlaen nhw i popeth arnyn am yr arpeitgoisau y bydd gyf holding popular Nghaeth o gwbl ffaith y Deby peròr Caerdydd yn Niach fel y tuhr Aberddes i我覺得 i nifer atatoch ddiddoriaeth Haemmych daeth armer guardio fan- I am unrhyw o'r sefymdd i tyfrydd I must advise at the outset that the speeches are likely now to be of five minutes duration. I call on Roseanna Cunningham to speak to and move the motion. Cabinet Secretary, maximum 13 minutes please. Thank you, Presiding Officer. Today is an opportunity to set out the Government's new youth employment strategy and full response to the report from the Commission for Developing Scotland's Young Workforce. Members will remember that in June, Sir Ian Wooden, his commission presented a coherent, practical and powerful set of ideas about what more needs to be done to align our education system firmly and more fully with the needs of the economy. The then Cabinet Secretary Angela Constance presented our initial response to Parliament in June. We said then that we shared without exception its ambitions for young people, employment and prosperity in Scotland. On its publication, Sir Ian and his commission were clear about their recommendations. Yet they were equally certain that we already had many of the building blocks in place, the strong regional college system, the undeniable success of Scotland's modern apprenticeship programme and with curriculum for excellence a long-term national plan for success in our schools. As Sir Ian recognised, we are already going in the right direction. Against the background of recession and continued Westminster austerity, our strategy for developing Scotland's Young Workforce is delivering. Recent employment statistics for Scotland have been encouraging, and we have record numbers of people in work. Youth unemployment in Scotland is at a five-year low and Scotland is outperforming the UK on the youth employment and youth inactivity rates. Indeed, yesterday's figures from SDS confirmed that there are now record numbers of Scottish school leavers entering positive destinations. We start from an already strong foundation, but we know we have to do more. We want to tackle long-term issues in the labour market and barriers to young women and men getting into jobs. Earlier this year we said that we would be able to increase the annual number of new modern apprenticeship starts taking this to 30,000 a year by 2020. The First Minister has already said that within our schools it is also our priority to raise attainment for all, and in the weeks and months ahead the education secretary will take forward a programme to do just that. The equation is simple. If we drive up attainment for all in our schools, then we will improve the prospects of all our young people as they enter the workplace. We have set ambitious targets for our Young Workforce. Our long-term youth employment strategy is designed to ultimately reduce youth unemployment by 40 per cent by 2021. In each of the next seven years we will provide a report on progress toward that target. By any measure it represents a radical reduction on the current position. It will put us where we belong among the best performing countries in Europe. We know that this is within our grasp. We need to focus as never before in aligning our education system more firmly and for the longer term with the needs of the economy. We need a renewed focus on employability within education. Indeed, Sir Ian's report demanded no less than a culture change from all parts of the education system, from employers and from young people themselves, as well as from those who influence them. Above all, our seven-year programme is a collaborative effort. Government cannot do this on its own. That is why our programme has been developed in conjunction with our partners in local government, with Scotland's employers and trade unions, as well as with our schools and colleges. Tavish Scott. I very much agree with the sentiments of her remarks. When she gets on to how the allocation of monies will be provided across the different agencies that she has just mentioned, will she take into account the rural issues and island issues where the unit numbers are smaller, in other words, pupil numbers are smaller, and therefore the costs can therefore be greater of delivering the very recommendations that I'm sure she's going to come on to describe. I thank Tavish Scott for his intervention. I'm of course conscious of the fact that we are now well into the financial year 2014-15. However, it's worth highlighting again that local government have been full partners in developing the plans. They're now at a very well-developed stage and therefore should be making clear that they require the additional investment. That's something that he may wish to consider. My officials are currently working with their counterparts in COSLA to establish the allocation of the local government funding. They are taking into account factors such as deprivation, rurality and appropriate adjustments for the islands, because that's a very key issue. If Mr Scott is happy with that at this stage, I will be happy to speak to him again about this detail as the situation develops and perhaps as he becomes more aware of more detailed information himself. That is a good point at which to move on to the issue of resources in general, because in June we did say that we would be providing the resources to kickstart the whole programme. We made an initial £12 million available for the implementation of the programme in this financial year 2014-15 and have committed a further £16.6 million in the 2015-16 draft budget. Clearly, we also need to think about funding across the education and training system over this period. In the commission's report, there was a call for greater collaboration in the use of resources. That is why we will continue to look to all our partners to test new approaches and work together to build capacity across the system and improve outcomes for Scotland's young people. That, again, is what Sir Ian's report recommended. Today, I am pleased to set out not only our strategy, but how local government intends to use the funds that we are allocating to them. We have agreed with local government a package of £6.5 million in 2014-15 to support their contribution to implementation. Since local authorities are at different stages of developing their specific proposals, the deployment of funding from this package will necessarily vary from area to area. That is a point that Tavish Scott has in a sense already made. Broadly speaking, the funding will support the development of vocational and career pathways for young people, the enhancement of STEM opportunities and training, support for schools as they engage with parents and carers about the new opportunities on offer, a review of work experience to make it relevant to the needs of young people and local labour markets, the further development of modern apprenticeships and tackling inequality by ensuring that opportunities are open to all and that vulnerable groups are supported into positive destinations. That is an issue that many wish to comment on. I am greatly encouraged by the cabinet secretary and what she is saying. When it comes to STEM subjects, has the Government given any thought to having discussions with local authority about hitting the call for dedicated science teachers in primary schools? That is something I rather expect my colleague in the education portfolio will want to take forward. As it happens both that my colleague Annabelle Ewing and myself have already been speaking to a number of people about what happens particularly, and I think that these things need to be very carefully looked at to ensure that schools are making sure that all of the opportunities are available to the maximum number of people right from the start and that young people don't have opportunities closed off to them for lack of awareness as much as anything else. If I can move on perhaps more specifically to schools, Sir Ian and his commission noted the progress we are making with curriculum for excellence in our schools and that is now firmly embedded as the way we do education in Scotland. It moves away from a narrow focus and is about preparing young people to be adaptable, flexible and resilient lifelong learners. As Sir Ian noted, it provides us with the best possible foundation from which to close the attainment gap and better prepare our young people for the world of work and I know that that's an issue that Elizabeth Smith and our colleagues are concerned about. If I can move to colleges along with our schools Scotland's college sector is already responding positively to Sir Ian's recommendations. The Scottish funding council is already supporting seven college regions together with local authorities, schools and others to develop senior phase vocational pathways so that young people in the senior phase of school are better supported into the world of work. Of course colleges and schools have been working collaboratively for several years and these pilots are building on the success of what's gone before. The pilots are now in place in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire, Dumfries and Galloway, Edinburgh, Fife, Central, Glasgow and West Lothian and they're reaching out to more young people and are helping them to make positive choices about their careers. The pilots are strengthening links between school, college, university and employment for 15 to 18 year old secondary school students and those links are going to be absolutely vital. Crucially from the academic year 1516 all college regional outcome agreements will contain clear statements outlining the college's contribution to senior phase vocational pathways in their region. Of course employers are vital too. I warmly welcome the support we've had from the business community for Syrian's recommendations about how we can improve employer engagement because Scotland's businesses have already come forward. We've been able to establish the national invest in young people group. This is chaired by Rob Woodward, chief executive of STV and initial funding has also been made available to see the regional groups established. Those regional groups will be important in delivering fair access and engaging people at local level in the future. Work is also under way on the development of a new standard for work experience. So Ian's report identified this as an early area for improvement and young people themselves have identified it as a priority. Developing young people's understanding of the world of work is also central to foundation apprenticeships. In 50 pupils from five secondary schools are already working towards an engineering foundation apprenticeship and a similar pathfinder scheme is already in place in West Lothian. Drawing lessons from those we aim to roll out such apprenticeships and drive a change in provision across Scotland. The commission's report also set out a challenge to us about the scale of inequality. We want to see more jobs and better jobs for our young people but because of the discriminatory regulations of the UK Government some of our young workers could receive less than £3 an hour. No one, no matter their age, should be working for less than £3 an hour. That is why I am calling upon Westminster to align the rates for apprentices with the other higher bands of the national minimum wage. We would of course like to go further with the living wage but as a bare minimum we must end a shockingly low minimum wage apprentices can currently face. We will also tackle all barriers our young people face in getting a fair deal in the workplace. Occupational segregation must be a priority. We cannot see it as acceptable that so many young women choose not to follow up the study of math, science, technology or engineering simply because they consider it training for a boy's job. The proportion of women who have benefited from the AMA programme may have increased from 27 to 41 per cent but we are still falling short. There are cultural factors that we will need to address and the talents of all our young people regardless of their background. That is why our implementation plans contain specific measures to address these and to reduce workforce inequalities among all of our young people. I take the point that Jane Baxter made in the chamber last week about the very particular difficulties facing the young disabled people who can face. Whatever difficulties or barriers are standing in front of our young people we have a duty to ensure that there is no way ahead and that they are all able to benefit from these opportunities. That is why we are funding a number of local pilot projects in this area across Scotland. Where there is evidence of good work locally we will expect that to inspire and inform practice across Scotland. In concluding last month when she set out this Government's programme the First Minister said that we will focus on working in the interests of all those that we serve. Above all it will be our mission to create a fairer and more prosperous nation and under this Government wealth and inclusion must always go hand to hand. With our implementation plans and refreshed strategy we will support our young people better for employment. Each of us in this chamber in common with our constituents and citizens all over Scotland has a stake in supporting our young people into the workforce. Our approach is one of engaging as many partners as we can. I take great pride in leading this agenda on behalf of the Scottish Government and, Presiding Officer, I move the motion. Many thanks. I now call Neil Findlay to speak to and move amendment 11901.3, maximum nine minutes please. Thank you Deputy Presiding Officer and I'll move the amendment in my name at the beginning. 67,000 young people are unemployed young people full of potential full of ambition, full of expectation but lacking an opportunity. Young people who could be the engineers the welders, the nurses, the carers and doctors of tomorrow a tragic waste of our young talent their plight has to be one of the top priorities of this or any Government because if we want to create the successful and fairer Scotland that the Cabinet Secretary has just spoken about then we have to change direction we will never ever create a fair society and economy based on a low skills, low pay zero hours culture so I welcome Serene Wood's report it's an extensive and it's a thorough piece of work with 39 recommendations and in the short time that I have today I would like to pick up on a few issues raised in the report and the Government's response to it as a former teacher and college lecturer I fully agree that we need to prepare young people for work at an earlier stage but I believe that introducing children to different jobs and learning about careers should begin much earlier I think it should actually begin in primary school visits to local factories and shops and care homes and hospitals restaurants and engineering plants help young people understand what goes on in each workplace and what people actually do when they go out to work school visits by nurses or vets or police officers and chefs give a practical insight into the real lives and careers of people and work in my time in school some of the most influential people who made a real impression on the pupils were those who came into school to share their life experiences but all of this has to be real young people can spot tokenism a mile away they hate being patronised and they can see through flannel in two seconds so I hope we can avoid such an approach I also share Serene's desire to see vocational education and academic training being put on the same footing I think we desperately need more engineers and construction workers, technicians and IT specialists our schools and colleges have to be aligned seamlessly to provide qualifications and experience to pupils and students so that they can build such careers and of course we need better links between our colleges and schools but these links again have to be meaningful leading to qualifications and local economy but also the interests of our young people there are many good examples of this happening across Scotland but as the report says we need to develop these links much further if we look at other areas of the report there's a lot to be commended with good intention set out on quality assurance regional outcome agreements partnership working and some excellent sentiment on equalities but there are a number of issues about two I know that the report says that there is a need for meaningful and effective careers guidance and a more comprehensive standard is required around two years ago I raised concerns about the direction of the careers service in this chamber and these concerns have not gone away and I think Serene's report reflects that similarly on modern apprenticeships we previously raised the issues about the short time scales of some some being completed in three or six months and we raised concerns about some of the sectors that were being offered for modern apprenticeships and the level of qualification achieved as I recall the Government had increased the number of modern apprenticeships at level two and decreased the number at level three thus inflating the numbers being provided and I think Serene's report says now is the time to actively target modern apprenticeships towards supporting economic growth and areas where long term prospects of young apprentices are greatest and he calls for more apprenticeships at level three or above he calls for a rethink on the status and value of apprenticeships for more roots for progression and he echoes the criticism that I have consistently made that modern apprenticeship is a title and there is a case to be made to introduce branding to help differentiate levels I agree with that just because something is called an apprenticeship does not necessarily reflect the public's perception or the perception of a young person of what it actually entails we need to ascertain whether the modern apprenticeships are creating secure employment and whether our young people are staying on after completion it's my belief that we need a far more thorough evaluation to make sure that modern apprenticeships are fair non exploitative value for money but most importantly on completion provide good secure employment the truth is at the moment we simply don't know how good modern apprenticeships are Audit Scotland said in the recent report how and I quote the Scottish Government has set various priorities for modern apprenticeships but existing performance measures do not focus on long term outcomes such as sustainable employment that means that it is difficult to measure their long term contribution to national outcomes more specific long term aims and objectives along with information on their benefits and appropriate outcome measures would make it easier to assess the extent to which modern apprenticeships provide value for money it would also help direct funding in ways that offer the best value to individuals employers and the economy can I therefore ask the cabinet secretary to confirm whether the Scottish Government intends to act on the advice of Audit Scotland are they going to include sustainable employment as a performance measure of the success of the modern apprenticeship programme because I didn't see that in the Government's response and I'm happy to give way or allow the minister to respond at the end we'll let the minister respond maybe such a long term evaluation going beyond what has been done up until now will help inform whether modern apprenticeships tackle youth unemployment in a sustainable long term way on colleges report sets out a range of very sensible proposals that we can support but of course all of this is set against the backdrop of the Government's policy agenda that has had such a devastating impact on the further education sector in Scotland budgets cut by 67 million in real terms between 2011 and 16 140,000 student places lost affecting adult learners students with learning disabilities and one in most part-time courses, often the very courses that build confidence amongst people and get them back into education they have been cut to the bone even in the very group that the Scottish Government has targeted the under 25s numbers are falling too there are now nearly 60,000 fewer under 25s at college than there were in 2007-08 that is not a good record thousands of lecturers and support jobs have gone and only last week we saw that colleges needed 14.7 million to meet the level of bursary students needed yet only 3.5 million has been awarded over 11 million short so much for supporting students through their education that is Mike Russell's further education legacy and I hope the new cabinet secretary will immediately change course if she does, she will have our support if not then this strategy starts I'm in my last minute, I'm sorry I'll take you if the Presiding Officer will allow me Yes, just briefly on that very point in terms of student support is it not the case that student support currently at 104 million is much in excess of what it was that SNP took office from Labour in 2006-07? The last 50 seconds please I think you should look at what was requested by the colleges and what has been awarded and how much the shortfall is 11 million under your watch if not then this strategy starts with one hand tied behind its back and finally we have the Government's overall objective to by 2021 have reduced youth unemployment by 40% that would mean God forbid, after 14 years of an SNP Government 60% of today's young unemployed Scots would still be on the dole 60% left abandoned without hope the First Minister often says our greatest asset is our people, well why does that not appear to apply to all our people what a poverty of ambition that is what a lack of determination and vision is let me say very clearly on our young people I hope the Government will reflect on that very tight now call Mary Scanlon, six minutes please thank you Presiding Officer and can I welcome Neil Finlay to his new post which I understand is spokesman for fair work, skills and training and if I may say so I think he's very well suited to the post I move the amendment in my name and in the final Parliament week of this year like no other I'm very pleased to bring some consensus today given that all of us agree with and support the wood commission proposals on vocational education we also support the Government's motion today and indeed we tried our hardest but we couldn't disagree with the content of the Labour amendment and we hope that both parties will also support our amendment which focuses on employability skills as stated in the wood report addressing the deterioration in literacy as well as numeracy where 35% of S2 pupils were not working at their expected level compared to 2% of P7 pupils as stated in the audit Scotland report of June this year our amendment also includes more focus on STEM subjects and indeed utilising the training experience and expertise in our further education colleges where there are excellent examples of partnership with industry but I want to address something that I feel very passionate about and it's technically known as the parity of esteem personally I've got just as much respect for skills and qualifications of an electrician, a plumber and a joiner as I do for an accountant, a lawyer a nurse who are professionals I would also add that I think we need to stop this snobbery where somehow an apprentice and a trade is somehow less worthy than a degree and I know that many people working in the oil industries and other industries in Scotland and abroad earn far more than many people that have been to university and we class as professionals so now that we have a new cabinet secretary a new team there, can we perhaps all agree that we equally value the skills of every person whether they're builders, gardeners, bricklayers and not assume that a degree is the only way forward so that got that off my chest now yes certainly Neil Findlay she speaks highly of bricklayers she would always have my support for that I can assure you that bricklayers I thought you might like that one we also need to be asking why so many people stay on until 60 years at school I have to say I visited a school in Inverness last week 200 pupils in fourth year and I said how many left out of 207 I said so what did they do for the final two years did they all leave with qualifications not really so I also noticed that our own information centre confirmed that in 2007 76% of pupils stayed on to S5 and 44 to S6 in 2013 that had risen to 86 and 60% respectively and of course this is fine it's fine provided the extra years are used to gain qualifications, training work experience, the essence of the wood report to ensure that this time in school or colleges is productive and it enhances work prospects Neil Findlay mentioned careers advice, I'm concerned about that as well Skills Development Scotland is very prominent in our schools and I think we need to question whether pupils are given all the options and all the opportunities and also their parents at the end of third year to prepare for the world of work this week all MSPs received the SDS update for the winter for each council in Scotland and I noticed for the first six months of this year in Highlands three constituencies SDS provided skills advice to 56 companies an average of 18 in Orkney that provided skills advice to seven companies five in the western Isles and in booming Shetland with all the opportunities there they managed to provide advice to three companies so there are certainly questions to be asked about the partnership approach there and last month's employment figures for 16 to 24 year olds now sits at 79,000 this is down from last year but it's still hugely concerning but whilst we're talking about employment and unemployment can we please not forget those 16 to 19 year olds not in education employment or training because there are 29,000 of them 29,000 this year that's bad enough but there were 29,000 in 2007 so please don't forget them either colleges the volume of college activity in school college activity was 45,500 in 2010-11 in two years fell by 20,000 I just moved to my final points and I think that's females there is a reduction in female apprenticeships the higher the level goes and I would like to know how much money goes to local authority how much will our heavy colleges be getting in order to utilise this tremendous expertise that they've got that would enable so many pupils and young people across Scotland to fulfil their potential many many thanks up to five minutes please Gordon MacDonald to be followed by Hanzala Malik I welcome the Government's refreshed youth employment strategy that has the ambitious target of reducing 2014 levels of youth unemployment by 40 per cent by 2021 today's labour market stats highlights that youth unemployment has fallen by 26 per cent in the last 12 months a further 40 per cent cut on youth unemployment over the lifetime of this strategy will produce lower levels of youth unemployment three recession average between 2004 and 2007 of 13 per cent the Government developing the young workforce report that was published on Monday highlights the need for greater partnership working if we are to achieve this reduction a partnership between the Government and local authorities with the responsibility for schools and local economic development is a key part of achieving a reduction in youth unemployment the Edinburgh guarantee introduced by the City of Edinburgh Council and employers in the city encourages all sectors to work together to ensure that every school leaver in Edinburgh will leave school with the choice of a job, training or further education opportunity available to them this has resulted in an increase in the number of Edinburgh school leavers moving on to positive destinations climbing over the last three years from 82 per cent to 91 per cent since the guarantee was introduced 1,370 jobs apprenticeships or training opportunities have been generated by 250 employers across Edinburgh large employers in the city have signed up to this guarantee the standard life and turn programme has helped school leavers experience an invaluable first taste of the workplace last months, a development programme and are paid the living wage BT Scotland offers apprenticeships to young people helps school students develop employability skills through their work inspiration programme and works with into work where people with disabilities get ICT skills training and support to prepare them for employment Sainsbury's works with schools offering work experience a mentoring scheme and interview skills to prepare students for employment those that gain employment with the company are helped to progress by developing skills and job related qualifications such as apprenticeships and first rate practical training at one of their food colleges however, this cannot just be about large employers if we are to achieve our aim of substantially reducing youth unemployment the federation of small businesses briefing for this debate highlighted that almost half of all jobs in the private sector are in small businesses yet only 8 per cent of small firms employ an apprentice the FSB found in a survey of employers that more than half of small employers have had a no engagement with the education systems those that had provided a range of support to school leavers from work experience class talks and workplace visits the top reason for 42 per cent of small employers not engaging was that that hasn't been considered yet there are good reasons why small employers should engage in the process helping to mentor young people and hopefully by employing a young person they are quick to learn and keen to gain valued skills in order to build a career they are enthusiastic and loyal because they have been given the opportunity and there is support to reduce training and recruitment costs as Gary Clark head of policy for Scottish chambers of commerce stated at the EET committee on 8 October Wood has set out a challenge for businesses to get involved in schools at an early stage and at a consistent level across the country and we would certainly encourage our members to take advantage of that we want Wood to be central to what the Scottish Government is going to do on skills both this year and into the future and it is important for businesses to take advantage of responsibility in that regard other sectors mainly hospitality and retail have long recognised the benefits of employing young people with a third of retail employees being under the age of 24 retailers according to the British Retail Consortium on average invest 1,440 pounds in training per employee the need to retain young staff has resulted in over 50% of 16 and 17 year olds in retail and over 85% of 18 to 20 year olds being paid at least the adult national minimum wage even though there are lower rates for under 21s you must draw to a close please if we are to have a world leading vocational education system and to tackle youth unemployment sorry excuse me we must need the needs of industry and therefore require employers that system many thanks and now Colin Hansala mallet to be followed by Joe McAlpine thank you and good afternoon I welcome the opportunity to speak on development Scotland's youth workforce the commission is looking at ways to improve the translate version from education to employment and quite rightly so the last time I spoke about this issue I said that the Scottish Government was guilty of undervaluing vocational education and I still have serious concerns about how recommendations of the commission can be implemented given the savage cuts to colleges funding let's face facts over 140,000 places have been lost because of the government whilst I have consistently reminded the government about waiting lists for college places there seems to be no rush to resolve this issue instead we are making even greater demands of our colleges which is quite frankly very unreasonable however credit must be given where credit is due the value of the modern apprentice MA programs and other such schemes are being introduced by colleges and are being recognized and I thank the colleges and their staff for the efforts they are making despite the government's cuts targets for greater access to modern apprenticeships from disabled people ethnic minorities and women need to be clearly and closely monitored by the Scottish Government and its agencies in terms of ethnicity Scotland appears to have less than 2% of its apprentices drawn from the minority community groups and only 0.3% from all the apprentices in Scotland from disabled people this is a horrific figure and I am sure the cabinet secretary will want to address that in our closing remarks the commission economic development welcomes a new youth employment strategy but the Scottish Government must make more ambitious and radicalization in the program youth unemployment reduced by 40% it is it is a good start unemployment reducing it by 40% it is a good start but only when it is in line with general employment rates will our future economic be in the healthier position as I have said before college places are limited and since 2007 and 2008 there has been a 40% decrease in numbers of women in colleges and 33% decrease in numbers of men in colleges and most importantly any quality still exists among our Scottish minorities whilst I commend the small improvements in most of the recommendations made by the commission and that more is needed to be done but with the Government keeping cutting college funds underfunding local governments and generally putting a squeeze on education budgets I am struggling to see how the future changes can be made appropriately it would I would like to highlight a good example in improving young employability in my constituency move on is a charity that runs fair share that they get they got a lot of the fund to run the fair share volunteering employment project which helps invaluable young people in Glasgow to make the transition from a care system to homeless or unstable backgrounds giving adult life an aim to run projects and the project is running for five years helping some 200 young people this learning skills building confidence and training and gaining work experience for CVs etc is a very good opportunity and I hope the Government will continue to support such organisations as this is well over and above addressing the shortfall in college funding. I think one of the most important things that I wouldn't want to say today is I have consistently and repeatedly reminded the Government of its responsibilities in funding particularly college fundings I know that historically the First Minister and then Alex Salmond and then the Cabinet Secretary Michael Russell both had said to me there was no cuts to colleges then they both had to apologise that the war fund cuts but despite those apologies they never actually fulfilled the shortfall I'm still looking for that shortfall to be fulfilled we cannot expect our colleges and our staff to train young people to have real jobs and meaningful employment if we do not continue to support them. Thank you very much and I now call on Joan McAlpine to be followed by Liam McArthur Thank you, Presiding Officer. I welcome the Government's recognition and well that we can go further in our efforts to tackle youth unemployment. I represent the south of Scotland, it's a vast region made up of rural communities and while young people in the region face many of the same problems associated with unemployment as their urban peers my constituents face an additional set of barriers because of their geographical isolation and poor infrastructure the region does have many economic strengths for example tourism, hospitality agriculture related business and energy. The latter has been seized upon by Dumfries and Galloway college who now offer excellent courses in this field in particular winter bind technician courses and training in the maintenance and replacement of the cables used for the distribution and transmission of electricity. There remains considerable potential in both these areas as the electricity distribution system is upgraded and I therefore welcome the new emphasis put on STEM opportunities and training announced by the cabinet secretary this week as part of the six and a half million extra funding. These energy engineering sectors provide invaluable opportunities for young people to grow, develop and build a worthwhile career offering the chance to do so without being forced to leave the communities that they have grown up in Dumfries and Galloway college has been particularly effective on focusing on employment related outcomes regarding its courses and on that note can I welcome the wood reports endorsement of the government's direction of travel in college reform as Sir Ian says in his introduction quote, colleges have come on immensely since the commission's work started in February 2013. They are energised, re-energised and they have some good new leadership and are clearly recognising their opportunity to migrate up the technology skills ladder and to enhance the focus and employability of the students. Dumfries and Galloway college also has yes, I will. How is college for the 140,000 students who can't get a place? As the member knows the number of full-time equivalent students at our colleges is over 116,000. Mr Finlay, that's enough. The figures that he quotes just aren't true. In addition, for the last two years we have spent £522 million in college which is more than Labour Government's ever spent on colleges so I won't take any of that from him. Dumfries and Galloway college also has the advantage of sharing a campus with the University of West of Scotland and Glasgow University on the Cretan campus and these three institutions are breaking down barriers between further and higher education and pioneering some excellent examples of a articulation between the institutions and of course parity system. Working in hospitality, one of the key employment sectors in the region can involve irregular hours meaning that young people who often depend on public transport face difficulties travelling to and from work in college and that's something that I would therefore welcome the cabinet secretary's response to Mr Scott's question earlier about additional support for rural businesses in young people. In preparation for this debate I contacted local employers for their feedback on the barriers to employing young people and I'm particularly grateful to Dumfries and Galloway Chamber of Commerce and their Chief Executive Gordon Mann and Tricia Hunter of the training agency Minerva People who gave me some very useful pointers. In Dumfries and Galloway around 6,500 registered businesses operate with fewer than 10 employees that's a higher proportion of SMEs and micro-businesses than in the rest of Scotland. Some of these businesses tell me that the time required to mentor, train and develop a young person is substantial and employers in smaller organisations do not have much spare capacity with regards to staffing. Dedicating an experienced member of staff to mentor a new recruit can have a significant knock-on effect financially and of course these small businesses don't have HR teams to direct this kind of work and this is one of the main reasons that I'm told that employers in SMEs and micro-businesses don't offer opportunities to young people. However, my contacts also identified similar prejudices against young people as the Wood report does and as the minister has alluded to but this is all the more reason to challenge attitudes and I particularly welcome the Scottish Government's Investors in Young People award which sends a very strong message about the positive benefits of employing young people. That's also why I welcome recommendation 20 of the commission which states quote a small business modern apprenticeship recruitment incentive package should be developed to equip and support smaller or micro-businesses to recruit and train more young people. That's extremely good news for rural areas such as Dumfries and Galloway if even a small portion of the 7,000 business that's there take on a young person in youth employment and I would welcome that wholeheartedly. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. I welcome to this debate on developing Scotland's young workforce. I congratulate, albeit absentia, Roseanna Cunningham on her promotion as I do Annabelle Ewing to whom I also offer an apology for earlier and temperate remarks. As others have observed the Wood commission's report contained a comprehensive series of recommendations but in publishing that back in June Sir Ian also set out in very stark terms the challenges we face. Thousands of our young people are not in work, not in education wondering if their community has any need for them that less than 30% of Scottish businesses have any contact with education offering work experience opportunities or recruiting directly from education but only 13% of employers have modern apprentices. Very deliberately Sir Ian was setting down a challenge not just to the public and voluntary sector but very much to the private sector as well, to up their game. There are of course examples of companies who are doing precisely that. I'm not sure whether standard life are yet back on the Government's Christmas card list but the Cabinet Secretary may wish to find out more about that company's investment 2020 programme where 12-month traineeships for successful applicants can boast 100% positive destinations most of them within standard life and where business unit directors are now queuing up to take on trainees and it's also I think helping to address an age profile within the company that was a source of real concern over the medium to longer term. Standard life is a good illustration of how transition from education into training and work can be made smoother, better vocational skills and education and opportunity up skill even after leaving education are all obviously part of the picture which means that schools, colleges, employers public sector agencies, Government all need to be involved. I don't think that there's any lack of shared ambition ambition that Scotland's young people have the opportunity of sustainable employment and the skills they need to succeed in it now and into the future. But this is an ambition that must be translated more effectively and patchily into practical reality. On the plus side I very much welcome the fact that not only have we been achieving 25,000 modern apprenticeships but the ambition is to go to 30,000 but I think as the ministers themselves would accept it isn't just a numbers game the range of companies and sectors covered by modern apprenticeships does need to be expanded the quality of those apprenticeships needs to be safeguarded and in many cases improved appoint Syrian Wood the NUS have picked up and perhaps the involvement of former modern apprentices themselves may be a way to help make that happen. I think in terms of a quality of opportunity I very much agreed with the comments that Rosanna Cunningham made in her opening statement and I think we are seeing the addressing of a problem there which is to be welcome the point that Mary Scanlon made in her speech in relation to STEM I think also needs picking up the comments from the campaign for racial equality who said that the strategy's key message with regard to black and ethnic minority young people is that they embark on a narrow range of pathways than young people from the population as a whole are more likely to experience unemployment and represent less than 2% of all modern apprenticeship entrants despite making up 6% of Scotland's young population so I think more to be done there Ecology Scotland suggests that despite delivering over 20% of current modern apprenticeships there is a lack of recognition of the role that colleges do and might play in the future in the delivery here. Collegies I think, as Neil Findlay and others observed, are where the Government I think is conspicuously failing to walk the talk. We've heard about the cuts faced by the sector in US Scotland's campaign Stop Student Poverty. It's calling on the Scottish Government to put in place better measures to fund students throughout their education The action comes in the week following figures published by the founding council showing an £11.2 million shortfall in college student support funds. I think you made your point earlier. It was in these last minute. The SNP's raid on college budgets is having a direct impact on young people's pockets Students need this bursary funding to help them manage the cost of living while studying Either they take on more debt and drop out and it's starting to cut into efforts to broaden access. Access to where we're seeing additional support needs struggling to be met by colleges Scotland saying the consequent reductions from mergers in staffing levels that made the provision of good quality support much harder to achieve. There is a real need to focus on using the powers we have as well as those that come to the Smith commission to build a stronger economy, a fairer society and crucially opportunity for all our young people. Thank you very much indeed. I now call on Chick Brody to be followed by Dr Lane Money. I welcome the debate today and I'm sure that there's not one among us who would demand from the intent and the motivation and we wish to amend it but not disagree with its intent. We've mentioned the key source of the young is critical in terms of the context of supporting our national economic strategy and vision and while I want to focus on the issue of modern apprenticeships and associated training provision I'd like also to comment on one that is briefly mentioned in the commission's final report. The initial paragraph in the report refers to making recommendations towards Scotland producing better qualified, work ready and motivated young people both as employees and here's the focal point as entrepreneurs of the future. An entrepreneurial education not widely mentioned in the report is as important for young people as any other so we can reach their manifest creativity. Secondly, and I agree with Mary Scanlon that if this is to be successful we have to issue the notion and I believe the report does this partially that there is some form of hierarchy of contribution and that somehow we were seduced into the Blair Act belief that everyone should aim for a university degree. Imagine a world full of academics lawyers, business experts but too few others to remain in support their infrastructure. Thirdly, is to ensure that young trainees in whatever form embrace the fact that we face huge international competition. The success of our economic strategy depends on the alignment of the training and skills development of our young people, their creativity and their work ethic to meet that national strategy and to meet the international challenges. The key component underpinning that is the foundation of modern apprenticeships. The keystone to our economic success is, for example, if we take the energy sector alone a keystone expansion of opportunity and reach for that sector but yet here we have a need because of demographics and growth opportunities and we will return to growth for 30,000 engineers over the next 78 years to exclude half of our young people. We exclude young women from being attracted to the sector primarily because of culture because of parental and because of teacher perceptions and the report rightly calls for SDS a recommendation 30 to develop an action plan whatever the sector to address gender inequalities and disparities within modern apprenticeships and so we should. Read the success of modern apprenticeship programmes. While there is an emphasis on increased college participation it is important that we also acknowledge the role of an increasing an increasing role of quality training by training providers and that we simplify and accelerate the processes between SDS and these providers and so progress modern apprenticeships intake and development. The recommendation 10 report addresses the need for greater employment engagement and the need to offer significantly more high quality apprenticeships and so expand the number of modern apprenticeship starts and the current secretary alluded to the target of 30,000 modern apprenticeships by 2020. That can be done not necessarily with much greater funding but a more ready and faster cycle funding by both employers and the government skills agency. We have to beget a critical progression to a need, as Neil Findlay said, for higher levels of training. Those higher skills are as important in construction, food and drink as they are for engineering and others and the bar for these workplace higher level skills has to be raised so that progress through the ranks from a trades apprenticeship to a professional engineer, chef etc is suitably determined. The report's view that an increased focus be shed upon modern apprenticeships at level 3 and above as we seek to meet a market pool for a higher skilled, higher wage and revenue generating economy. Finally, there always has been a continuum at the heart of the apprenticeship systems as skills are handed from one generation to another. That together with a clear development and a simplified training and funding structure with greater employment engagement I believe that we can meet the skills challenge thus making Scotland a true global player. Thank you, Presiding Officer. In taking part in today's debate I want to focus on two educational matters which relate to the recommendations in the wood report. One is a novel approach which is taking place in Dumfries and Galloway to provide a specialisation on academic education. The second really refers to the wood commission's recommendation to which Shirley Smith has already referred that STEM subjects be placed at the heart of development of Scotland's young workforce. Because of the time constraints I won't go into the history of the development of the Dumfries Learning Town project but it does in my view sit well with the recommendations of the wood report that will involve a programme of refurbishment and rebuilding of all four schools in Dumfries in a rolling programme the alignment of primary and secondary education to create integrated schooling across the town and the creation of a Dumfries Learning Hub which will complement and extend the opportunities offered by both local schools and by Dumfries and Galloway College. The learning hub will offer specialist learning opportunities including vocational opportunities and skills development for work for academic learning and for life it will offer professional development for teachers and careers guidance for students Importantly it will also offer learning opportunities for adults who may have missed out when they were at school themselves Learning will of course be provided by teachers with specialist expertise but it won't just be provided by then it is envisaged that to college and university lecturers members of the business community members of the sports community the arts and culture community and beyond can also contribute to a wider definition of education than is normally understood The input of these people will also give young people a better insight into the world of work and how they can prepare for that and in doing that it charms with many of the recommendations of the wood report the delivery of recognised vocational qualifications alongside academic qualifications appropriate resources for preparing young people for employment the need to involve employers and the role in economic development and the need to provide good work experience and careers guidance The council has identified a preferred site which is accessible from all schools for the hub and it is also close to the parts of the town where there is a higher incidence of educational disadvantage and that has a potential to help to address educational inequalities for school pupils but also for other members of the surrounding community The second part of my contribution relates to recommendation 12 that a focus on science, technology, education and maths should sit at the heart of the development of Scotland's young workforce I know that this is generally about an earlier part of the education system but if you don't get the foundations correct on the embedding of STEM it won't actually happen we have to get the right things that have to happen in schools The Royal Society of Chemistry published eight recommendations to coincide with this year's science and the Parliament event in November and in their briefing for that event the RSE noted that Scotland's overall rating for science and education lags behind many of our international competitors and indeed slightly behind England as well and they suggest that there is a need to provide inspiring science teaching from a very early age and with that in mind the RSE recommends that every primary school should have or have access to, in the case of small schools, a science subject leader who is a science specialist who can provide leadership on science teaching and support for colleagues A spine specialist could be someone who has at least one higher or equivalent in a science subject so it doesn't need to be somebody with a degree in science it is worth reflecting on the fact that the current minimum entry qualifications for primary teachers requires English at SCQF level 6 which would be a higher standard of grade and no requirement for any science qualification at all and it is worrying that if somebody has had a very poor experience of learning science themselves perhaps gave it up at an early age they are not really going to feel all that confident about teaching it to primary pupils the RSE was also concerned about the quality of practical work and that is followed by a survey by the Learning Society's group on Scottish science education of Scottish schools in November which highlighted the satisfaction at both primary and secondary level with the funding for scientific equipment and consumables and also identified a lack of teacher confidence in primary schools and a lack of technician support The sciences are often considered to be academic disciplines but they are also very vocational as well because I think it is the practical experimental nature of science the knowing by doing which engages younger pupils which inspires that desire for greater and deeper understanding it is in my view insufficient opportunities that we enjoy practical work and if we agree that STEM subjects should be at the heart of developing the young workforce we need to stimulate interest in those subjects from an early age with teachers and opportunities to capture and stimulate children's innate curiosity about the world about them this is a portfolio issue and if we do need to focus on how we we improve both engagement and achievement in STEM subjects from the earliest part of school education in universities Many thanks I now call on Cristio Alart to be followed by Alison Johnson Thank you, Presiding Officer I'm delighted to join our members today who have congratulated the Government on its ambition for our young people The Government strategy is built on a very strong base to develop a new approach to vocational education and training and to youth employment making us one of the best performing countries in Europe I congratulate this cabinet secretary for addressing and sharing the ambition set out in the commission for developing Scotland's young workforce report I welcome the Government's implementation plan a plan developing partnership with local government and many other partners a plan for reducing youth unemployment a plan for a fellow Scotland for our young people a plan for all Sir Ian Wood will commit in June this year he said the reforms which have already taken place in schools and colleges as well as the growth in number of modern apprenticeships provide a strong platform for change As line MacArthur added to the Wood report has also sent a strong message to all businesses of every sector he said it is time for businesses to get involved and to participate in the formation and education of our young people The response has been very good so far I can testify but many businesses have decided to get involved why is it important for our entrepreneurs to have a voice in Scotland's youth employment strategy it is because they know what are the skills needed for today and tomorrow's economy but it is not enough to recognise and facilitate the input so the employment strategy has to be regionalised and relevant to every sector to support the North-East and Scotland's energy sector Energy Skills Scotland has brought together employers and education in collaboration to meet the skills demand of the industry and to enhance the skills and prospects of energy workers in Scotland This is a Scottish Government and Industry initiative working together in partnership with the world of education and local authorities I saw it working in the classroom and I can report that investing in this school an energy course is available now for all children that headteacher would like to take on I would invite the Cabinet Secretary to come to the North-East and maybe to experience some of his energy courses He's embedded in the curriculum for excellence I recommend to this chamber the work of your future in the energy supported by the Scottish Government ESS the Society of Petroleum Engineers and many headteachers in the North-East a programme of study and courses to help our young people develop the skills they require to consider a career in the energy sector Our own Chamber of Commerce the Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce are recently undertaken valued and significant amount of work on this Let me thank Rachel Elliott for a comprehensive briefing we received prior to this debate and again it's good to see that we have different organisations working in the North-East and addressing that problem and of course again would coming from the from the North-East help generate that kind of energy This Government's plan is building on again wood recommendations and colleges supporting more employers to recruit more young people for young people living in most deprived and rural areas having equal access to employment opportunities is very important however acquiring particular skills only makes sense if there is employment locally for young people to use their skills and particularly encouraged with the strategy of this Government and advancing inequalities within education and youth employment recognising that diversity in the workplace is key to address the wider inequalities issues in Scotland today It makes sense and I would like to say that to evaluate the success on the number of people gaining employment it's very very important it's a lot more important to evaluate the number of young people acquiring skills that we will never use Presiding Officer I will take page 14 of the development for young force Scotland's youth employment strategy under measures I quote, key performance indicator 10 increase the employment rate for young disabled people to the population average by 2021 but I think fantastic ambition what I would like to say in concluding Presiding Officer this Government has a plan and vision and our best to respond to economic and labour market need and I share its ambition for our young people today there are record numbers of young people going into education work or training is content under this Government vocational education is giving the same prominence and stature as academic education let's work together to support and empower our young people to make positive choices Presiding Officer Many thanks and I now call on Alison Johnston to be followed by Stuart Maxwell Thank you Presiding Officer I think it's important to say at the start that education should never be entirely about getting people ready for work education should expand horizons and help children become well rounded resilient individuals who can make the most of life and these attributes will also help young people in their working life A desire for meaningful work is central to most people's lives which is why tackling unemployment and underemployment is vital unemployed young people can feel alienated and purposeless the impact as we know can be life long education should equip people to enter meaningful jobs that they can enjoy and take pride in but that also requires an economy built not on low wage, low skill jobs but well paid meaningful employment During the programme for government the debate last month I spoke about the challenge of fuel poverty and the need to retrofit thousands of our houses with insulation, double glazing and other low carbon improvements I said that the cabinet secretary had an important role to play in creating a workforce with skills in sustainable construction and retrofitting and I'd like to expand on this today John Swinney was clear to me in the economy, energy and tourism committees budget scrutiny I thought the retrofitting of energy efficiency measures should be a national infrastructure priority not only because it will tackle fuel poverty and cut emissions but importantly because it would create new jobs in the construction industry new opportunities for young people through the modern apprenticeship scheme WWF estimates 3,500 jobs in the short term and some 9,000 by 2027 I had a look at some of the construction skills surveys to get a feeling for how confident employers are that they have the people with the right skills to deliver an increase in energy efficiency In 2011 construction skills surveyed 1,200 companies and sole traders 30 per cent thought environmental regulations in eco design would prompt the need for new skills or knowledge The UK Commission for Employment and Skills in their construction sector skills assessment in 2012 said retrofitting of existing building stock which poses the greatest challenge to the industry in terms of skills but there's an opportunity there too The Chartered Institute of Building in their 2013 skills survey of 1,300 construction professionals found that 44 per cent of respondents don't believe that the construction workforce will have the required skills for the green deal A quarter of people marked the need for energy efficiency training as very urgent The CIOB also talked about the need to develop a new green focused workforce that moves away from generic construction skills Clearly, there's already a demand for new energy efficiency and retrofitting skills We need a programme of high quality well paid apprenticeships On top of the existing market the plans for regulation of energy efficiency in private sector homes will boost demand There are jobs too in repairing our current homes our existing homes will discuss that An incredible 57 per cent of Scottish homes have disrepair to critical elements Wind and water type buildings are basic prerequisites to a comfortable home that's affordable to heat There's a backlog that could keep many people in important work for a long time and a reduction on that in repairs could result in a huge jobs boost and it's important that this Parliament continues to call upon Westminster I know Skills Development Scotland administered a low carbon skills fund of £100,000 in 2014-15 for SMEs This is very welcome of course but it's important that low carbon skills are included in as many apprenticeships and in as much training as possible I asked written questions recently on how energy efficiency skills are included in the training for modern apprenticesies in the construction industry but there are no specific retrofitting courses or apprenticeships which is something I hope we can change and I'd welcome any update from SDS or the Cabinet Secretary Building diversity into the modern apprenticeship scheme is highly important It's fair to say that the STEM apprentices I've met are largely, though not all, young men and I know that colleagues have raised the issue of gender segregation and that the Cabinet Secretary and the Government is aware of the challenges in attracting young women into these valuable careers Young people with disabilities who are leaving care and those from ethnic minority backgrounds have also been identified by the Wood report to be in need of extra support when entering and participating in vocational training This is welcome because there's likely to be an extra financial pressure on disabled young people and there may be opportunities to look at more flexible age requirements and working for people with some types of disability and those leaving care Enclosing, Presiding Officer Investing in young people makes sense. Vocational education can help to ensure all our young people have the training best suited to them but it's also vital that the jobs and industries we help to create are skilled, well-paid and make a positive contribution to society Many thanks No comments to your remarks We'll have to move to closing speeches Thank you, Presiding Officer Filling to invest in our youth is a false economy Investments in young people will pay great dividends in a better future for all These are the words of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon when he spoke during the launch of the 2011 International Year of the Youth in New York The International Year of Youth was established by the UN in 1985 with the aim of increasing the quality and quantity of opportunities available to young people for full, effective and constructive participation in society We know that during periods of economic recession it is often young people who are disadvantaged the most so the investment by the Scottish Government over the past few years in initiatives for all and the Youth Employment Scotland fund have been important in improving the employability of our young people during these difficult economic times This has resulted in record numbers of young Scots going into education work and training with the latest figures from Skills Development Scotland showing that across Scotland over 92% of school leavers entered a positive destination in 2013-14 Nonetheless every young scot who goes through school only to become an unemployment statistic is a tragedy and it's clear that there's still a lot of work to do to address the challenges of youth unemployment in Scotland Over 77,000 modern apprenticeship places have been created over the past three years and I very much welcome the commitment from the Scottish Government to increase the number of places available each year from 25,000 to 30,000 by 2020 A further survey by Skills Development Scotland in 2014 of modern apprentices showed that MAs are highly regarded with four out of five participants completing an MA in order to gain a qualification and improve future job prospects In fact, 92% of those who complete their modern apprenticeship go on to be in employment six months later It's clear to me that the continued growth of modern apprenticeship places will be crucial to improving vocational education and employment opportunities for many young Scots In East Renfrewshire for example I'd like to highlight the work being carried out by Young Enterprise Scotland a training centre based at Rooking Glen Park in Gifnock The Yes Academy as it's known recently celebrated its first anniversary It is run by Young Enterprise Scotland and it would support from East Renfrewshire Council and other partners Its main aim is to create opportunities for young people to obtain the skills and confidence they need to gain access to secure employment The academy works with a range of local schools, colleges and employers to give youngsters the chance to gain qualifications and new skills in areas such as construction horticulture and hair and beauty This not only helps young people to become more employable but it also benefits local businesses who gain from having access to a more skilled and confident workforce The local community in East Renfrewshire also benefits from the work the academy does on local projects Back in March I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to host an event here in Parliament which highlighted the excellent work being undertaken by the Princess Trust Scotland The Princess Trust Scotland helps around 9,000 young people in Scotland each year, many of them from disadvantaged backgrounds Three and four of the young people they support go into education and training jobs or to start their own business During that event we heard from a number of inspiring young adults who spoke about how with support from the Princess Trust they were able to overcome adversity and make better lives for themselves It was encouraging to hear from so many young people who had struggled with educational attainment and still managed to better themselves and become successful Though it was troubling to reflect on what might have happened to those young Scots had they not had the support they got from the dedicated staff and volunteers at the Princess Trust Much of the work of the Parliament's Education and Culture Committee has focused on improving the light outcomes of looked after children and we intend to look at how to address the attainment gap in education for other disadvantaged groups of children and young people Therefore I'd like to ask what the Scottish Government's plans are in this area and in particular what action it is taking to raise attainment for Scotland's most disadvantaged young people Presiding Officer the launch of the Scottish Government's new youth employment strategy is to be welcomed and I support its plans to deliver an improved work relevant educational experience for Scotland's young people I'd also be grateful for comments about what the Scottish Government can do to ensure that our young people are not just better equipped of work, but also better equipped for becoming entrepreneurs and job creators themselves Scotland's past is filled with examples of successful entrepreneurs and innovators from Andrew Carnegie to John Logie Baird I believe that encouraging a similar spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship amongst young people today will be just as beneficial for Scotland's future Excellent many thanks we're back on time I would just remind all members in the chamber for their closing speeches to which we now come Colin Liz Smith an exact six minutes please Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer and can I begin by congratulating both the Cabinet Secretary and the Minister on their new positions I think that this is largely being a very thoughtful debate and can I reiterate the Conservatives' support for the Government motion and also for the Labour amendment because I don't think we can really disagree with the tone of either for exactly the reasons that Chip Brody mentioned in his contribution I think that there is a universal acceptance on all sides of the political divide that the economic problems of recent years both the domestic ones and the international ones have had a profound effect on the whole economy but perhaps the greatest impact has been on many of our young people and whilst the unemployment rate for young people in Scotland has perhaps not reached the exceptionally high level seen in other parts of Europe there are still significant problems and that's notwithstanding what our very encouraging statistics which the Cabinet Secretary and Gordon MacDonald mentioned that there's definitely an improvement but we have to accept that the level among young people aged 16 to 25 is still twice as high compared to the unemployment level for the rest of the working population and that's exactly the focus that Ian Wood made when he set out on his report If we are to ensure that the Scottish economy is stronger in the future it's on all of us to help boost the jobs market and the Cabinet Secretary was right when she talked about the quality of those jobs rather than just the number of them because that is a crucial point and I just reiterate the point that my colleague Mary Scanlan made about the 29,000 youngsters who are not in any form of training or employment at all or even in education that is crucial because I think that if we are ignoring those aspects then obviously I think that the Government's own statistics that was made correctly said that it could cost the economy up to £2 billion and that is something that should be a strong message to all of us I think that if there's one key issue in the Scottish Government's motion it's about the changing nature of economic circumstances I think that that's a very important point to make but I think that that motion remains just a little too narrow when it comes to tackling some of the actual complexities about whatsoever about the very real issues which confront youngsters when it comes to literacy numeracy levels and that's not just amongst those who are perhaps the most far removed from the labour market but it's actually something that's widely recognised and those that do actually have qualifications and I think that Alison Johnson made a very good point in her contribution about the wider perspective of what education has to try to do but we can't do that unless we do have significant improvements across the board and the ability of youngsters to use that when they come into work because if the CBI and the chambers of commerce or anything to go by they are still pointing to the fact that they are having to carry out quite a lot of remedial work with new employees and that's a worry I think I think that we also need to be very clear that young people have to be extremely versatile these days, much more versatile than perhaps their generations before them and to do that they have to obviously work well in their working practices and therefore they have to learn not just a bank of knowledge but they have to learn more about how things happen and why they happen across on an interdisciplinary mechanism and I am a great supporter of the curriculum for excellence in its basic philosophy but I don't think it's actually working in the way that perhaps we have to ensure that that cross party sorry the cross interdisciplinary approach really has to work which brings me very much to colleges and I agree wholeheartedly with the comments that have been made about the need to redress some of the college cuts because Joan McAlpine, I don't think it's right to say that it is just about full time equivalents which undoubtedly have remained the same and I think that's progress but that's not where the problem actually lies it lies rather in helping those who previously would never have aspired to a college education the point was made by Neil Findlay and Hans Alamalloch it's about young if I may just finish on the point because I think it's about addressing part-time students, those who have disabilities it's about those who have come from ethnic minorities who perhaps find it very difficult to engage in that and they have very specialist needs and it's that aspect of the college cuts that I think we should be focusing on Gail McAlpine Gail McAlpine, on the point that was made in the introduction of Serene Wood's reports praising the reorganisation of colleges and particularly the focus on employment outcomes as a result of that reorganisation what I will acknowledge is the fact that Ian Wood is concentrating very much on the ability of colleges to deliver what are the local circumstances but that again needs to take account of a lot of the college cuts that have severely affected those who find it difficult and who actually want to work in their local community that's the problem that I think the Government has to address when it comes to universities I think there's a very strong message from the universities at the moment about the approach that they have got with colleges and schools but again just to pick up the point and I thought Elaine Murray made it a very interesting speech, very thoughtful speech about the STEM subjects and indeed I think we have to add to that modern languages because the evidence that's been presented to the European Committee in this Parliament shows that we still need to do a great deal to ensure that the work of one strategy is properly working and the Scottish Baccalaureate was something that was supposed to address that but at the moment that does not seem to have caught the imagination of schools or pupils and indeed the imagination of colleges and universities so I think this has been a very healthy debate I think it's been free, relatively free of the party political ranker that sometimes we have I think there's a lot of thoughtful suggestions here and I look forward to the minister's response Many thanks and we now call up to seven minutes Presiding Officer, like others I welcome the new youth employment strategy and the partnership approach that it embodies although I think our amendment emphasises that that should include trade unions and universities as well as the other partners who've been talked about more extensively this afternoon. We're also pleased obviously about the 6.5 million for local authorities announced this week but there are funding issues to do with other parts of the education system and indeed the training system which I hope to come on to in a moment. There's also of course the overriding target and while welcoming a target we do think that 40 per cent by 2021 is a good start and we do think that it could be more ambitious in terms of its early years strategy the Scottish Government is talking about stretch targets so perhaps we need a bit more of a stretch target in this particular area I agreed very much with what Mary Scanlon said about equally valuing skills of every person but I think there is a point also to emphasise here because there is a danger of course that we go back to the old two streams of people in schools and page 36 of the original would report did say that the commission does not favour separate academic and vocational streams I'm quoting here young people should be able to participate in both in line with their career aspirations and I think it's important to hold on to that particular fact. Now central of course to all of this agenda is more opportunities for young people to undertake learning which connects more directly with employment and there's lots of proposals in the original port and the government's response that embodies that. For example we welcome new standards for work experience and earlier careers guidance although Neil Findlay noted concerns he'd expressed about that some time ago and I think it is a fact that Skills Development Scotland has been cutting back face to face guidance in recent years so there are some of the recommendations that actually swim against the tide of what has been happening we could also say this in terms of the emphasis on more school-college partnerships that's absolutely central to the objective of increasing uptake of work-related learning and qualifications in the senior phase of school yet we received a briefing this week from Colleges Scotland which said that because of funding policy changes four years ago there has actually been a reduction in school-college activity from 45,500 it says in 2010-11 to 26,332 years later and there's recommending a national funding framework for school-college partnership provisions so given that's so central to the strategy that is important I won't repeat the issues about further education college funding although I think we can't just dismiss some of the figures that have been quoted in the way that Joan McAlpine did I think that Liz Smith was right to say that the colleges have helped many many people who wouldn't have aspired for a college education before and we have to be concerned about 140,000 places being cut and a real-terms reduction in the budget of 67 million over the current five-year period I want to move on to apprenticeships because this is central as well and recommended in the wood report was new quality assurance processes and new incentives to encourage small to take on more apprentices we welcome of course in principle the government's target of 30,000 apprentices by 2020 but there is of course an issue about the quality of those apprenticeships and the recommendation from wood for more apprenticeships at level 3 and above I think does echo something that Labour Neil Findlay and both Kezia Dugdale were saying some time ago one surprising feature is that there is very little in either the wood report or the government's response on contribution rates and again we received a very interesting briefing I think today from the Scottish Training Federation which pointed out that they training organisations delivered over 75% of completions for the modern apprenticeship programme and they do seem to have been rather forgotten in these debates they point out that the level of funding has stayed static for over 10 years and they say that it will be difficult to deliver 5,000 additional modern apprenticeships on the back of significant reductions in the contribution rate so it would be interesting to hear from the minister on that subject in the wind up now recommendation 12 of wood has been referred to a great deal this afternoon quite rightly and I quote again a focus on STEM should sit at the heart of the development of Scotland's young workforce and I think everyone agrees with that I did think there wasn't a great deal on the government's response on STEM I was glad to hear the cabinet secretary say that some of the money being announced this week would go towards enhancing STEM opportunities but clearly there's a big issue here science in primary schools has been rightly emphasised by both the Conservative amendment and by Elaine Murray who referred of course to the work of the Royal Society of Edinburgh on this and I certainly agree with the need for a science subject leader in primary schools but of course gender segregation was also highlighted very much by the STEM subjects and the whole issue of occupational segregation was rightly emphasised by the cabinet secretary and I think some of the most interesting recommendations are coming in that area for example we're told the Scottish funding council is publishing a plan to reduce gender imbalance on courses in joint action with skills development Scotland and other partners so I'm sure we'll all watch developments on that front with great interest a matter of great concern and Alison Johnson of course expressed concerns about that as well last but not least of course is the active partnership with employers which is recommended I'm glad that the national regional invest in young people group has been established and again there are interesting recommendations in the original report which would be interesting good to hear more about for example recommendation 22 talked about procurement and supply chain policies both the public and private sectors should be applied to encourage more employers to support the development of Scotland's young workforce so that's an area we haven't heard much about but it potentially could be quite fruitful and also recommendation 25 in the wood report talked about financial recruitment incentives it's never easy to talk about money we've talked about money for colleges and training providers so I'll understand if the government reminds us that money is not exactly plentiful supplies at the moment but finally I would point out the great success of the Edinburgh guarantee here and part of that has been an Edinburgh jobs fund that offers a wage incentive to businesses with fewer than 400 employees for hiring a 16 to 29 year old in fact into a newer additional position within the company this fund offers a wage subsidy of 50% of national minimum wage for a maximum of 6 months so some local authorities are already taking effective action and I hope some of the money that's been announced will also result in similar action throughout Scotland many many thanks, now call on Annabelle Ewing Annabelle Ewing, you have until 5 o'clock please minister I'm pleased that we have been able to set out our implementation plans and refreshed strategy that will support our young people better for employment and as we have heard during the debate we have indeed a positive vision for Scotland's young people and for our schools and for our colleges and for our employers as well as teachers and all others in Scotland's young people every day this is a seven year national programme and we will report on our progress annually so that we can all keep track of how the Scottish Government is doing against its ambitions and our commitment in that respect, Presiding Officer, young people is clear. We have heard in the debate today the important issue of closing the narrowing the attainment gap in schools and whilst of course that is a matter in the first place for the education secretary, I do note that the First Minister has taken a keen interest in the subject and regards this as a priority for the Scottish Government and that indeed certain initiatives are already under way and others are planned including the appointment of an attainment advisor for each local authority and also the Read, Write and Count Literacy and Numeracy campaign aimed at primaries 1 to 3. Also we have heard about what I would think is a very ambitious target to reduce youth unemployment by 40 per cent by 2021 and Mr Findlay accused the Government of not being ambitious enough in its targets but in fact and he will know this from having read closely the Wood commission recommendations we have taken our lead from Sir Ian and his commission on this and our target will put us in the top five nations in Europe and by any measure suggests that we do not like for ambition for our young people far to the contrary. On the issue of our ambitious target for modern apprenticeships to increase this to 30,000 by 2020 I would say again that the target in terms of where we currently are shows that the review shows that the majority of modern apprenticeships some 65 per cent are indeed at level 3 above at the present time and also the SDS survey showed that 92 per cent of modern apprenticeship completers are in work for six months or more as I think Stuart Maxill referred to in his comments and 79 per cent are in full time work we are indeed working with Skills Development Scotland to develop long term measures as identified in the Audit Scotland report and I would hope that Mr Findlay would recognise that that work is being undertaken on Mr Cheson's point about contribution rates that of course is an operational matter for Skills Development Scotland but I do understand from the Scottish Trading Federation in their briefing to MSPs for the debate today that they are currently engaging as they describe it robustly with SDS on the matter and we look forward to hearing further on these discussions as the cabinet secretary said today in her opening remarks we have the ability to build on the important initiatives taken in the sector the strong regional college system the undeniable success of Scotland's modern apprenticeship programme and of course curriculum for excellence and these do provide us with a long term plan certainly I thank the minister for taking the intervention you are absolutely right but when it comes to providing for local needs would the minister accept that there is a real pressure to ensure that the college places which allow for that part-time and more flexible work are there in the economy and not on the cut-back list I would suggest to Elizabeth Smith that that is not in fact the case curriculum for excellence indeed gives us the flexibility that we need and that schools need and that schools have been asking for as far as I'm aware and it is all surely about equipping young people with the skills that they need for learning for life and for work and that is why we have a good commission report we now have indeed a blueprint from which to progress the commission as we know was made up of very talented, very passionate people and their continued involvement through a range of groups and networks will I believe be a real asset to everybody involved in implementation and that's why the cabinet secretary and I are pleased to announce that Sir Ian has indeed agreed to join the national advisory group to make sure that we do indeed continue on the right track to lose any momentum and we will use the breadth of expertise on our programme board and on our national advisory group as well as the national investing young people group to drive progress and shape implementation over the coming years but the government, as has been said, cannot do this on its own and that's why we will look to the talents of people across Scotland and across this chamber to support our endeavour and in that respect I am very appreciative of the broadly supportive comments from members in the debate today from the Front Bench, the Conservative Front Bench from Lee McArthur, from Alpenchess and from others and I think it is important that we all work together to secure the objective set on the important issue of advancing inequalities that was raised by a number of members today and it is quite right to say that we are absolutely determined to ensure that our plans encompass all young people and we will work with all partners and stakeholders to ensure that the focus now moves to what someone can do and not what they can't do and in that respect in terms of care leavers I think it might interest Mr Maxwell to know that there is indeed a pilot project looking to get more care leavers One moment minister there is far too much noise from people who are just arriving in the chamber you've not been part of the debate allow those who have to hear the minister summing up minister there is a pilot project designed to try to get more care leavers into modern apprenticeships and that project is in conjunction with Who Care Scotland Action for Children, Scotland, Bernardals and Couriers there is also a particular role for public bodies here and indeed Sir Ian's report recognised the potential for public bodies to be exemplars in supporting the education and training system in general and in recruiting young people in that regard the cabinet secretary has written to the chief executives of all public bodies encouraging them to develop an invest in youth plan setting out what they will do to support the development of our young workforce and of course we will monitor the performance of those public bodies through their corporate plans and by assessing the number that achieves this important accreditation in the investors for young people accolade. Local government of course is a key stakeholder with COSLA at every stage of this programme and I look forward to continuing this partnership approach COSLA is represented on the programme board and jointly chairs our national advisory group. I thank COSLA for all their hard work to date in securing the formulation of the implementation of the wood commission report schools also very important we've had an interesting discussion about the role of schools and in particular the fact that the implementation strategy must involve children at a younger age including in primary school and I do support the comments that have been made by members in that regard schools working closely with colleges is axiomatic but it is essential to the success of the youth employment strategy I'm afraid I really don't have time as I am running out of time and I have taken an intervention so it is important that schools and colleges work closely together to deliver vocational education for our young people on the important issue of parity of esteem I would simply say that of course there is parity of esteem and the vocational opportunities are designed to give our young people an additional opportunity at school and it's not to be at the expense of any other opportunities in terms of academic opportunities colleges of course we work closely together with colleges we've heard the usual claims from the Labour front bench on the college numbers of course we have retained student places at 116,000 full-time equivalent and I do think that it would be useful to compare apples with apples just on the odd occasion and I say that gently to Mr Finlay it does our young people no service it does our young people no service the ministers in their last 15 seconds complain about misleading to make misleading comparisons in conclusion, Presiding Officer there has been a very consensual debate and I couldn't possibly repeat what the cabinet secretary just said and I do look forward very much to working across the chamber with everybody who I know in their heart supports the opportunity for our young people to have a chance in life and that is what they want and that is what we have as parliamentarians a duty to deliver it thank you Presiding Officer on the debate on Development Scotland's Young Workforce the next item of business is consideration of business motion 11908 in the name of Joe Fitzpatrick on behalf of the parliamentary bureau setting out a business programme any member who wishes to speak against motion should press a request speak but now and I call Joe Fitzpatrick to move motion number 11908 moved thank you no members ask to speak against most left for I now put the question to the chamber is that motion number 11908 in the name of Joe Fitzpatrick be agreed to are we all agreed the motion is therefore agreed to the next item of business is consideration of three business motions can I ask Joe Fitzpatrick on behalf of the parliamentary bureau to move motion number 11909 11912 and 11914 setting out stage 1 and stage 2 timetables for various bills on block moved on block I propose to ask a single question on motion numbers 11909 11912 and 11914 if any member objects to a single question being put please say so now no members ask to speak nobody has objected I'm now putting a single question the question is that motion number 11909 11912 and 11914 in the name of Joe Fitzpatrick be agreed to are we all agreed the motion is therefore agreed to we now come to decision time there are three questions to be put as a result of today's business the first question is at amendment number 11901.3 in the name of Neil Findlay which seeks to amend motion number 11901 in the name of Rosanna Cunningham on developing Scotland's young workforce be agreed to are we all agreed the Parliament's not agreed Mr Cassie votes now the result of the vote on amendment number 11901.1.3 sorry 11901.3 in the name of Neil Findlay as his follows yes 54 no 63 there were no abstentions the amendment is therefore not agreed to the next question is amendment number 11901.1 in the name of Mary Scanlon which seeks to amend motion number 11901 in the name of Rosanna Cunningham on developing Scotland's young workforce be agreed to are we all agreed the Parliament's not agreed we move to vote, members should Cassie votes now the result of the vote on amendment number 11901.1 in the name of Mary Scanlon as his follows yes 54 no 63 there were no abstentions the amendment is therefore not agreed to the next question is the motion number 11901 in the name of Rosanna Cunningham on developing Scotland's young workforce be agreed to are we all agreed the motion is therefore agreed to that concludes decision time we now move to members' business members should leave and chamber should do so quickly and quietly