Employment (Scotland) (Hansard, 29 March 2001)

§ Miss Melanie Johnson

The Government have no specific employment targets for Scotland alone, but across Great Britain as a whole they strive for employment opportunity for all, with the aim that by the end of the decade there will be a higher proportion of people in work than ever before, defined as high and stable levels of employment, taking account of the economic cycle, so that at least three quarters of the working age population are in work by 2010.

However, in Scotland, by December of last year employment had risen by 4.9 per cent. to 2.3 million, while ILO unemployment stood at 165,000, a reduction of 22.5 per cent. since May 1997. Furthermore, by January of this year claimant unemployment in Scotland stood at 109,200, a reduction of 32.8 per cent. since May 1997.

In order to help this trend to continue in Scotland as well as Great Britain as a whole, the Spending Review 2000 committed the Government to the following PSA targets for the period 2001–04: Increase employment over the economic cycle; A continued reduction in the number of unemployed people over the age of 18, over the three years to 2004, taking account of the economic cycle; Reduce the number of children in workless households with no-one in work over the three years to 2004; and Over the three years to 2004, increase the employment rates of disadvantaged areas and groups, taking account of the economic cycle—people with disabilities, lone parents, ethnic minorities and the over 50s, the 30 local authority districts with the poorest labour market position—and reduce the difference between their employment rates and the overall rates.

Building on these PSA targets, the Government have recently committed to increase the proportion of lone parents in work to 70 per cent. over the next 10 years.