 The first item of business this afternoon is portfolio questions. As ever, in order to get as many people in as possible, short answer sink questions and answers would be appreciated. The first questions are on commonwealth games, sport, equalities and pensioners rights and I call question number one, John Finnie. To ask the Scottish Government how it encourages co-operation across local authorities on equality issues. Local authorities are directly responsible for equality issues within their remit, including compliance with legal requirements. Therefore, for authorities themselves to identify and develop any suitable opportunities for co-operation in relation to equalities, Scottish ministers aim to create conditions for better collaborative working and co-operation across sectors, including local authorities, to improve performance against the public sector equality duty. Cabinet Secretary, I recently met a senior local authority official about gypsy travellers. The individual commended to me the fact that they were doing a needs assessment for the local authority area. I asked what collaboration there was with adjoining authorities, because clearly, by the very nature of that community, they are not resident in one place. I was surprised to know that there was at that stage, I think, since rectified no co-operation. What are you doing to ensure that that does not happen, both in respect of local authority issues but also health issues? Cabinet Secretary, if the member wants to write to me with more information concerning the local authorities involved, I will certainly look into that matter. It obviously makes sense for local authorities to work together across those issues. There is an opportunity with the work that is under way to develop the new strategy and action plan for gypsy travellers to make sure that those issues are addressed. However, as I said at the beginning of the member wants to write to me with more detail, we can make sure that those issues are picked up with the local authorities, but also that we pick that issue up as taking forward the strategy as we are over the next few months. To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to stem the report deadline of a number of female students. I am sorry, Mr Malik. I think that you may be ahead of yourself. That might be the next question. I thought that you were asking a supplementary question. Question 2. Annabelle Goldie has not been lodged and an understandable explanation has been provided. To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding the level of single-tier pension. The Scottish Government has not yet had any formal discussions regarding the level of the single-tier pension. However, recent announcements at the Conservative Party conference suggest that the UK Government will set the level of single-tier pension lower than our expectations. Therefore, I have written to the Minister of State for Pensions seeking urgent clarification on that. To thank the minister for that answer. I, too, was very concerned to hear the £142 figure quoted by UK ministers recently, which, of course, is far below the £160-a-week offer contained in the white paper, which would have ensured better pensions in an independent Scotland. Does the minister agree with me that the offer needs up by the UK Government indeed the best way forward before pensions to be devolved to this Parliament? Cabinet Secretary. Yes, I would agree with that. The level is significantly lower than the Scottish Government's expectations. However, that may be a reference to the indicative starting rates that were set out previously by the UK Government rather than a final determination of the level of the new pension. That is why I have written to the UK Government seeking urgent clarification on that. We argued in the referendum campaign that the starting rate of £160 per week for those with full entitlement would be fair and sustainable, helping those reaching state pension age to have a decent retirement. As the member has said, we have expressed in our submission to the Smith commission, we maintain the view that decisions on welfare, including pensions, are best made by the Scottish Parliament in line with the needs of Scottish pensioners. Clare Baker To ask the Scottish Government how it ensures the fair treatment of disabled people. The Scottish Government is actively engaged in a programme of work to improve outcomes for disabled people across all areas of daily and public life, using domestic legislation and international treaties to leave our change and to measure improvement. We are committed to working in co-production with disabled people and have provided funding of almost £2.4 million over the period 2012-15 to build the capacity of disabled people's organisations in Scotland. Clare Baker The cabinet secretary will be aware of the blue badge scheme for drivers or passengers with mobility problems. While there was support for the tightening of the regulations to address what was the occasional and appropriate use of the badges, I am continuing to be contacted by constituents who are raising concerns that they have mobility problems but have been refused the badge and refused again when the appeal comes around. That is particularly happening at the point of renewal for the badge. Has the cabinet secretary had any discussions with the transport or the local government minister about concerns in this area and the impact that it is having on people with disabilities? Clare Baker What I would be happy to have those discussions with colleagues, I am aware of some issues myself arising from application for a blue badge. I think that there have been some significant improvements made, particularly around the abuse of the system that are to be welcomed. If the member perhaps wants to write to me with a little bit more detail around the issues that she raises, I am happy to speak to colleagues who have more direct responsibility for the blue badge scheme. I will do that after this session. David Stewart To ask the Scottish Government how it will improve the uptake of the pension credit scheme. As the member will be aware, pension policy is currently reserved to the UK Government. Nonetheless, the Scottish ministers are committed to ensuring that all Scottish pensioners receive the support that they are entitled to. The Scottish Government has already provided support funding to Age Scotland's helpline, which ensures that older people have access to quality, assured information and assistance across a range of topics such as money and benefits. We have also agreed an additional funding grant for 2013-2015 to support Age Scotland and its partnership with Silverline and to extend the scope of the current helpline service. I met Age Scotland earlier this morning, and I am encouraged by its commitment to it. I will continue to work with it and other stakeholders to consider how we improve uptake. David Stewart Does the cabinet secretary support the work of Rights Advice Scotland in developing a benefit calculator for older people to encourage the uptake of the pension credit scheme, which only one out of three eligible pensioners claim, yet across Scotland, as we enter the winter months, thousands of pensioners will be facing a bleak hard choice between having enough to eat and keeping warm. What action plan does the cabinet secretary have to increase the uptake of pension credit? Jeane Freeman Cabinet Secretary, I certainly do support the work of Rights Advice Scotland. In addition to Age Scotland's assistance advice, all of whom provide hugely important information to pensioners. Of course, as I set out in my original answer, we support Age Scotland in particular and its helpline, which has received a huge number of calls from people to be able to provide that information and, of course, encourage people who are absolutely entitled to apply for pension credit to do so and will continue to do so to make that happen. We also have set out in our submission to the Smith commission that we will continue to argue the case that decisions on pensions are best made here in the Scottish Parliament in line with the needs of Scottish pensioners. I am sure that if we can get control over pensions through the Smith commission, we can do more for our pensioners, including those on pension credit. Liz Smith To ask the Scottish Government whether it will investigate tax breaks for sports clubs. The Scottish Government through Sports Scotland, our national agency for sport, has invested significantly in Scotland's sports clubs and investment, which is central to the development of a world-class system for sport in Scotland. In addition to the direct financial support, we would encourage all eligible sports clubs to make full use of the range of tax breaks and other options available, including business rates relief. In Scotland mandatory business rates relief of 80 per cent is granted to registered charitable sports clubs and registered community amateur sports clubs. In addition, councils have discretionary powers to grant further relief up to 100 per cent. Further investigating tax breaks would only be a real option, with full fiscal levers being devolved to Scotland. Liz Smith Cabinet Secretary, you know that from this Parliament we have had several debates about the legacy, particularly of Commonwealth Games and the Rider Cup. Some of those debates are focused on the point about the legacy that can be left for financial benefits to some of those, particularly our smaller sports clubs that often find it very difficult to survive. I note what you say about some of the advantages that can be spelled out. What facilities does the Scottish Government have to allow these sports clubs to actually know which benefits they can take advantage of? I think that Liz Smith makes a reasonable point, and it is knowing perhaps about the tax relief that is available. Sport Scotland has a huge amount of information on their website. I will do that to make sure that they are proactively informing those clubs that they can apply for that relief. There are some other important developments on the horizon that are important to those clubs. For example, the changes to water and sewerage charges that are happening, where exemption is going to be awarded subject to certain conditions to all charities with incomes of less than £200,000 from April next year. That could make a big difference to some of the overheads that some of those clubs have. Obviously, with the debate around tax powers and the Smith commission, there may well be additional tax powers that are worth debating in this place once we know what those are. In the meantime, it is important that Sport Scotland inform those clubs about the rate relief, and I will make sure that that happens. To ask the Scottish Government what the legacy of the commonwealth gains will be for disadvantaged young people. Legacy 2014 has young people at its heart. There are many examples of Scottish Government programmes that use the games as a catalyst to support disadvantaged young people in overcoming barriers and achieving their full potential. Sport Relief in Unicef is using the power and inspiration of sport to improve the wellbeing of vulnerable young people, both at home and in the wider commonwealth, empowering them to make positive changes to their lives. Programms such as Scotland's best are providing those young people further to be removed from the labour market with new development opportunities, which will support them into employment, further education and training. I encourage Jane Baxter and other members to visit the legacy 2014 website for more information on all those legacy programmes. I welcome efforts that were made to provide free tickets for disadvantaged young people to be able to access events at the games. However, it will not help to create the kind of long-term change that is needed. I appreciate the comments that the cabinet secretary has made about the efforts that are in place, but if an independent assessment will be made of the effectiveness of the legacy actions that she has outlined. I can confirm that. A comprehensive analysis of all the impacts of the games—the economic impact and the legacy impact—will happen. There will be a very comprehensive post-games legacy report in the summer of next year. I am very happy to keep Parliament updated about that. To ask the Scottish Government what the priorities are for the sport and legacy budget in the next financial year. I am delighted to say that the Scottish Government will continue to make significant investment in 2015-16 to build on the fantastic successes of this year, including £2 million of funding specifically for legacy to ensure that we capitalise on the inspiration generated by the Commonwealth Games, as well as investing £24 million in the national performance centre for sport. £6 million will be invested in a new national para-sport centre that recognises the importance of equality of opportunity and the success of Scotland's para-athletes in the games. Over £4 million for Scotland's Institute of Sport to continue to develop Scotland's world-class system for sport, and £14 million of investment in more than 50 Scottish Government bodies of sport to the benefit of clubs and athletes in communities across Scotland. I am grateful for that answer. How does the elite athletes programme in 2015-16 compare to the current year in terms of resource spending? Sport Scotland's budget has remained at a fixed level, at a frozen level, but it is the same as it was for the previous year. Sport Scotland's elite athlete programme is also supported by lottery funds, of which Sport Scotland receives a substantial amount. We are still in discussions with Sport Scotland about the elite athlete programme, and Commonwealth Games Scotland is also part of those discussions to ensure that Team Scotland receives the support that it requires when it competes in the Gold Coast in 2018. Those discussions are still under way, but elite athletes can be assured that they will receive the support that they require to perform at the very best. Question 9, Christian Allard. To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with the European Commission regarding equalities issues. Cabinet Secretary for Training, Youth and Women's Employment met the director-general for justice of the European Commission, Ms Francoire Le Bail. On 19 May 2014, Ms Le Bail leads on equality issues for the commission. The focus of the discussion was the commission's most recent report on equality between men and women, published in April 2014. Christian Allard. Thank you, cabinet secretary, for the answer. Cabinet secretary agreed that it is important that all EU workers have equal rights. It is a surprise to those like me who come from Europe to fill the skill gaps in our buoyant economies and all things, particularly as much as to our young people deciding to work abroad in Europe. Cabinet secretary, I very much agree with the member. There are 160,000 people from other EU states who have chosen to live and work in Scotland. They make a massive contribution to Scotland's economy and to our culture. The Scottish Government greatly values both the contribution that EU migrants bring to our economy and society and the benefits of freedom of movement enjoyed by our own citizens to live, study and work in all EU countries. EU migrants who move to Scotland exercise a right to free movement within the terms of European law have a legitimate reason to be here and will always be welcome not only for their contribution to our economy but also for the vibrancy and diversity that they bring to our nation. I very much agree with the member. I think that that is a sentiment that we would want to send out from this Parliament. To ask the Scottish Government whether we will provide an update on its equality campaign 1 Scotland. Cabinet secretary. The 1 Scotland equality campaign was initially launched on 28 July to enable the Scottish Government to communicate about equality issues with a single voice and purpose. That was supported by the launch of the new 1 Scotland website, www.1scotland.org. Following the forced marriage phase of the equality campaign launched on 30 September, the next phase will focus on race and LGBTI equality and will be launched on 6 November. James Dornan. I thank the cabinet secretary for that update. One of the key partners to the campaign is Bemis. In their submission to the Smith commission they have suggested that if equality's legislation was devolved to the Scottish Parliament then it would make sense to also devolve fully powers over welfare and employment. Will the cabinet secretary reiterate her support for this analysis and outline what benefits that would bring? Cabinet secretary. I am very pleased that Bemis and others have submitted to the Smith commission. Argyn for this, it is very important that equality legislation is devolved to this place alongside welfare policy and employment policy. By doing so we can not just do more around some of the work that we are already doing, but it takes our ability to do even more to ensure that the 1 Scotland campaign and the sentiments behind that are felt by everyone in practice and by having powers over those matters we can take much further action to make sure that people have absolutely equality of opportunity living here in Scotland. I welcome the cabinet secretary's remarks on the devolution of equalities. Does she support the devolution or the ability to legislate for gender quotas? If she does, would she use it? Cabinet secretary. We have made our position pretty clear on that. In the Smith commission submission we have been very clear that we want the equality legislation here in Scotland for a purpose. That is to make sure that we build on the very good work and some of the progress that has already been made in women in public life and being visible of it. As I have always said, you cannot be what you cannot see. That is very important. Of course, we would be able to use that equality legislation to transform not just public life but to lead by example in other sectors in Scotland and Scottish society as well. Many thanks. We now turn to questions on training, youth and women's employment to question 1. Alison McInnes. To ask the Scottish Government what impact the reported 11 per cent fall in employment of people of working age and undy between 2011, 12 and 2013, 14 has had on women and young people. Cabinet secretary, Angela Constance. The latest data from the annual population survey, July 2013 to June 2014, shows a drop of 5.6 per cent in the employment levels between 2011 and 2012 and 2013, 14. The employment level for women in Dundee City decreased by 2.5 per cent over the same period, while the youth employment level increased by 5.9 per cent. The latest data from the Labour Force survey shows a clear and sustained strengthening in the Scottish economy with the number of women in employment at the highest level since records began and youth unemployment at a six-year low. Alison McInnes. Thank you very much for that answer. Unemployment is falling and the Scotland's economy is growing thanks to the hard work of both of Scotland's Governments, but does the cabinet secretary agree with me that there is still a lot of hard work to do to ensure that all our local economies benefit from the progress? Can she tell me in the light of the statistics what steps the Scottish Government will take to support Dundee in meeting its target of more and better employment opportunities for young people and 68,000 people of working age and employment by 2017? Yes, indeed. While the national indicators for women and young people across the country are moving in the right direction and, indeed, in Scotland, we are outperforming the rest of the UK, if I can be absolutely clear that, as the economy strengthens and improves, we need to ensure that nobody is left behind. The member may be interested to know that, in terms of modern apprenticeship starts in Dundee from 08 to 09, that has increased from 238 to 714 last year. Community Jobs Scotland, Youth Employment Scotland fund and the Employability Fund are all well utilised in Dundee, and she may also be interested to know about a vocational English as a second language course in Dundee targeted at women that is focusing on various sectors such as tourism, hospitality, bioscience, finance and customer service, as well as the early years in education. The cabinet secretary has stated that we have the highest number of women in employment since records began. With youth unemployment at a six-year load, does the cabinet secretary agree with me that, even with the limited powers over the economy at our disposal, Scotland's economic health is improving? The figures do speak for themselves. The economy has grown for two years, and output is now past pre-recession levels. However, I am acutely conscious that, while youth unemployment is indeed at a six-year load, it still remains too high at 16.7 per cent. Indeed, when you look at youth unemployment pre-recession in Scotland, it was at 13.2 per cent. Our ambitions have to be far, far greater than returning to pre-recession levels of economic performance and youth unemployment in particular. However, I agree with the member's point that full fiscal responsibility for the Scottish Government would enable us to do more. Jenny Marra. Given the rates of youth unemployment in Dundee and the effect on women, can the minister tell me—the cabinet secretary—what she is doing to turn around the situation where nearly 6,000 students were unable to get a place at Dundee and Angus College to train for the skills that they need this autumn? What is she doing to address that? I want to point out to Ms Marra that the youth employment situation in Dundee is improving. Last year, the youth employment rate for Dundee was 47.8 per cent. It is now 51.1 per cent. That is an important move in the right direction. Of course, there is far more to do, not just in Dundee but the length and breadth of the country. I would be happy to look at any specific information that she has about further education in Dundee and to share that with the cabinet secretary for education. However, there is no doubt about it that the college sector is indeed delivering for more young people who are studying more on full-time courses that lead to recognised qualifications that improve the overall employability and work prospects. At this stage, I know that there is a lot of interest in the topic, so can I make a plea for short and succinct questions and answers to match, please? To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to stem the reported decline in the number of female students studying part-time vocational courses. Women form the majority of college students. Students can benefit from record levels of financial support over £104 million this academic year in bursaries, childcare and discretionary funds. That includes an entitlement payment of up to £1,215 per year to help lone parents with childcare costs. Additionally, we have invested £6.6 million in 2013-14 and are doing so again in 2014-15 for additional part-time opportunities. The substantial drop in women taking up part-time places across the board has mirrored in vocational courses. I have a constituent come to my office struggling to find a suitable training opportunity to fit her caring responsibilities. Can the minister assure me that action will be taken to increase the economic involvement by providing females the means of obtaining education while balancing a family and or part-time work in the future? Yes, Presiding Officer. As I indicated in my original answer to Mr Malik, we are continuing to invest in part-time places, an additional £6.6 million this year and next year. If I could remind Mr Malik that there is an all-age career service available to everyone, irrespective of gender or age, veer skills development in Scotland. I do not know the particular details of his constituent, but I am happy to receive information regarding the lady that he seeks to represent. Does the cabinet secretary agree that through the wood commission recommendations we can develop a world-classification education system that matches the best-performing economies in the EU? Yes, the recommendations from the Young Workforce Commission are indeed very important. They will help us to build on the great progress that we have made in schools, in the college sector and in our career sector to reach world-class vocational education. The important aspect of vocational education is that it is very closely linked with low levels of youth unemployment. It is also crucial, with the right approach to vocational education, that we can address the needs of all young people and young women in particular and address the barriers that women face in the workplace and such issues as occupational segregation. Question 3, Dennis Robertson, has not been lodged for understandable reasons. I therefore call question number 4, Elaine Murray. To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to address youth unemployment in Dumfries and Galloway. Cabinet Secretary. The Government has invested in a wide range of employment initiatives that are directly helping to create sustainable employment opportunities for young people in Dumfries and Galloway. Those include, for example, over 2,500 modern apprenticeship starts in the last three years, 145 young people supported through Community Jobs Scotland in the last three years, the creation of 341 new jobs for young people through Youth Employment Scotland fund and almost 1,000 starts on the employability fund between this year and last. In June 2012, the cabinet secretary convened a youth action summit in Dumfries, and I wonder if Ms Constance can advise what region-specific actions she subsequently took or indeed intends to take as a result of that summit with regard to addressing unemployment and indeed under-employment of young people in the region, as both youth unemployment and under-employment remain higher than the Scottish average? Cabinet Secretary. I appreciate that the climate count certainly is marginally higher in Dumfries and Galloway than it is for the rest of the country. Although I have to say that the youth employment rate in Dumfries and Galloway has increased substantially over the year, it is now at 63 per cent, and that is above the national average. Nonetheless, the member is absolutely right that under-employment is indeed an issue for young people, particularly in rural areas. That was one of the reasons that we went, the length and breadth of the country, holding discussions in many parts of Scotland, because there are very unique challenges in rural parts of Scotland. That has certainly helped to inform our views about how we progress with vocational education and training and the particular needs of rural areas. The needs of rural areas has particularly informed the work that we are doing in the strategic group of women in work. We also need to bear in mind the added flexibility that some young people in rural areas could apply to young people with disabilities so that their transitions can be disrupted. Where we can, we have extended the offer of national schemes from 16 to 24 and increased that up to 16 to 29, for example, with the Youth Employment Scotland Fund. Grafwyd, please. John McAlpine. Thank you. South West Scotland is to benefit from EU funding through the Youth Employment Initiative. Could the cabinet secretary outline any responses received from the UK Government on adopting the European Youth Guarantee to ensure faster intervention with unemployed young people to help them into work? Cabinet Secretary. Mr McAlpine raises two important issues. Indeed, the south west of Scotland, including Dumfries in Galloway, will benefit from youth employment initiative funds. We are meeting with our local authority partners to progress that and discuss the roll-out of that rather substantial fund. In terms of the European Youth Guarantee, it is no secret that I and this Government are wholeheartedly in favour of a European Youth Guarantee and indeed this Parliament voted in favour of that position. I have written to the UK Government a number of times on this issue making clear that the work programme and the youth contract are failing to intervene early enough. The last reply that I received was from Esther McVeigh just last week on 24 October where she said that we do not think that the UK endorsement of this initiative would either be necessary or cost effective and I strongly dispute that. We have to prevent youth unemployment from becoming long-term unemployment and that means acting from day one of a young person's unemployment. To ask the Scottish Government how it helps young people with learning disabilities into employment. The Scottish Government recognises that young people with disabilities can face additional barriers to entering employment and our aspiration is that, with the right support, they are able to find suitable and fulfilling jobs and mainstream employment. It supports for young people with learning disabilities such as activity agreements, providing tailored learning, targeted employer recruitment incentives and employment and training opportunities through community jobs Scotland. We are ensuring that Scotland's most vulnerable young people, including those with learning disabilities, have the supports and skills that they need to be successful in the workplace. Cabinet Secretary will be aware of the Young Scotland Scotland talent programme run by the Scottish consortium for learning disability. I know that this is an initiative that she supports. Therefore, can the cabinet secretary commit to funding the programme going forward, given the fantastic results that it has achieved in giving young people the first opportunity at employment? Cabinet secretary? Yes, I have attended two Young Scotland Scotland talent events. I have even got a T-shirt to prove it. If I knew that Ms McMahon was going to ask a question with regards to Young Scotland Scotland talent, I would have even wore that T-shirt today. There were tremendous events that absolutely blew me away. Great networking events for young people with learning disabilities and proudly shown what young people with learning disabilities can and do achieve in the workplace. I have already provided £31,000 to support two events. I cannot make any promises, given that finances are always tight. If we, as we progress through the financial year, find that there is some scope for further support, we will indeed do that. Ask the Scottish Government how the Employability Fund supports women into work. The Employability Fund was introduced with the fundamental aim of improving the outcomes for unemployed women and men right across Scotland. The fund allows training providers greater flexibility to adapt to provision to individual client and local labour market needs and will deliver 17,150 starts each year. Can I thank the minister for that answer? I have got a breakdown of the Employability Fund here, and there are only 861 women over the age of 25 who have been able to access the fund. That is less than 5 per cent. The number of women who have received it in Perth, East Lothian and Aberdeenshire could be counted on one hand. I wonder therefore how her Government can claim success for women going back to work when so few have received support from the Employability Fund. For my experience in terms of figures that I have seen, about a third or 36 per cent of women received support from the Employability Fund across the country. I accept that there will indeed be regional variations and it would be interesting to understand the reasons for those regional variations. It is true that, given that the Employability Fund took over from getting ready to work and training for work, those were programmes that tended to be more utilised by young men and that will still be reflected in the Employability Fund figures. Fewer women are referred to the programmes because young women leaving school tend to have more young women going to positive destinations. However, Skills Development Scotland published its equality impact assessment for the Employability Fund earlier this year. It is committed to looking at a more diverse participation and to having less gender segregation in the programme. I am particularly conscious that, although young men tend to fall out of education and training than women, I am very conscious that the figure for young men has fallen, whereas the figure for young women has remained static. There are issues that we need to address there and we need to dig behind the headlines figures. Thank you very much. Can I ask the Scottish Government how it supports women in taking up places on training courses? The Scottish Government recognises that women can face challenges in accessing training and is taking a range of steps to address them. For example, in implementing the recommendations of the Commission for Developing Scotland's Workforce, the Scottish Funding Council on Skills Development Scotland has been asked to take action to reduce gender segregation in their courses, programmes and reports on progress. Since the Government came to power, the number of women accessing college courses has fallen very dramatically and, at the same time, childcare costs have risen to become amongst the highest in Europe. Does the cabinet secretary agree that one of the first priorities should be the provision of childcare places to any parent with a child under 5 seeking to access a college course? Mr Smith needs to recognise that women are not underrepresented in our colleges. 53 per cent of college students are women and 52 per cent of full-time students aged between 16 to 24 are women as well. We must recognise that, in the year ending June 2014, Scotland had the highest percentage of females with NVQ level 3 or equivalent qualifications in the United Kingdom at 63.3 per cent. We have to be proud of that level of achievement, but we want to continue to take further action to reduce all the barriers that women continue to face. My commitment to universal childcare and, indeed, of this Government is absolutely clear, and I just hope that Mr Smith will also join us in getting the full range of fiscal and welfare responsibilities to achieve that. The skills needs are of the west of Scotland economy. The Scottish Government is committed to working with partners to increase sustainable economic activity across regions of Scotland, including the west of Scotland. Responding to the skills needs of employers and businesses across Scotland is crucial to maximising our potential. Through Skills Development Scotland, we have committed to establishing a robust, evidence-based understanding of Scotland's strategic workforce skills assessments. SDS will shortly publish a series of regional skills assessments developed with local partners to inform future skills planning and investment. In that way, we are ensuring that our skills and education system remain closely aligned with the needs of employers and regions across Scotland as a whole. Would the cabinet secretary agree that the skills needs do vary across Scotland? We need to ensure that regional skills needs are being met, and with 140,000 cuts to college places across the country, would she also agree to undertake an analysis of what the impact of those cuts on training opportunities has had in places such as Renfrewshire and other areas in the west of Scotland? I think that regional skills assessments for local areas are indeed very important. They will be developed in collaboration with the Scottish Funding Council, the Scottish Enterprise, local partners and local authorities. They will need to be aligned with outcome agreements for colleges, for example, and community planning partnerships. To focus on some positive news, Mr Bibby might be pleased to know that the youth employment rate in Renfrewshire has increased to 59.1 per cent. The claimant count for young people in Renfrewshire has decreased so that there are 500 less young people claiming jobseekers allowance and other related benefits. That, of course, should be good news. Indeed, that claimant count is now lower than pre-recession levels. I think that some evidence that the policies of this Government are working on. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I welcome the comment centre from the cabinet secretary that she just mentioned. I also welcome the Scottish Government's action on securing a bio from Ferris and Shipyard in Port Glasgow. Does the cabinet secretary agree that the closure would have resulted in a loss of valuable jobs and skills in the west of Scotland and also the Inverclyde area? Yes, of course. I agree wholeheartedly that, had Ferris and Sclothes, that would have resulted in a loss of valuable skills, not only from the west of Scotland, but across Scotland as a whole. The impact that that would have had on families and the communities would indeed have been devastating. Instead, thanks to the investment and ambition of Clyde Blowers capital, Ferguson's, will remain an integral part of the Inverclyde community. Thank you. That concludes the time available for questions this afternoon. We have to turn to the next item of business, which is a debate on motion number 11301.