The Rationale For Employability Support - How To Reduce Government Spending In The Least Bad Way

21st October 2022

An Article from the Fraser of Allender Institute.

Recent events have placed great pressure on both the UK and Scottish governments to find savings to public spending. This was the case for the Scottish Government even before the mini-budget turmoil began, with the Deputy First Minister John Swinney announcing at the beginning of September that savings of at least £500m would be needed in response to the pressures on the Scottish budget.

The cuts announced in early September include £53m of employability support spending.

No one doubts that inflationary pressures on the wage bill increase the ever-present need to prioritise. A fixed in-year budget means that the potential for overspend needs to be managed.

Ideally, budget cuts are made based on impact appraisals so decision makers can fully understand the consequences of their decision, and the rationale is transparent to the public.

Next week's budget review will provide an opportunity to fully explain the rationale behind the decision about employability support and to outline the expected impact. Here we lay out our analysis of the potential impact and the questions we would like to see answered.

What is employability support?
Employability services provide individual support to people who wish to work but face barriers to doing so. These barriers are varied, multiple and unique to each person, but include lack of requisite skills or experience, logistical problems (e.g. accessible transport), lack of confidence due to a period out of the labour market, or the need for additional support for job applications and interviews.

Local authorities have long provided employability support as part of council services. In 2016 the Scottish Parliament received new devolved powers (and funding) to deliver services previously operated in Scotland by the DWP.

Read the full article HERE