Scottish Government responds to Enterprise & Skills Strategic Board proposals to mitigate Covid jobs impact

The Scottish Government has responded to the report by a sub-group of the Enterprise & Skills Strategic Board that was asked to make recommendations to mitigate the labour market impacts from Covid-19.

The sub-group examined support that could be provided in four areas: business support available through the enterprise agencies and partner delivery bodies such as Business Gateway; an increase in scale and structure of the long established and successful Partnership Action for Continuing Employment (PACE) approach to helping those facing redundancy; change to and enhancement of Scotland’s skills system, alongside proposals for new training provision to support people to transition to different sectors where their job is at risk; and support for young people and other groups more adversely affected by the economic downturn.

In its response, the Scottish Government has made a welcome commitment to additional investment in Developing the Young Workforce (DYW) as part of the £50 million it plans to invest to support youth employment. DYW prepares young people for the world of work by connecting employers with education. Employer-led, DYW is active in Fife and has developed ground breaking initiatives, including a novel scheme where the school co-ordinators are funded so that they can devote at least one day a week to DYW activities instead of their regular school duties. Additional funding will help maintain these initiatives at a time when they will be needed more than ever.

The Scottish Government has also announced that the Flexible Workforce Development Fund will be doubled to £20m in the current financial year. This scheme allows any employer paying the Apprenticeship Levy to apply for up to £15000 towards the cost of workforce training.

Click here for the full Scottish Government response to the Enterprise & Skills Strategic Board

Click here to find out more about Developing Young Workforce

Click here for more information on the Flexible Workforce Development Fund