The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Economy has to be in the best place to spring back
Budgets are like buses – two tend to come along very close together. But this year the Scottish Budget bus came first, which has caused some uncertainty for businesses as Finance Secretary Kate Forbes awaits what might be delivered by her counterpart at Westminster in March.
What the Scottish Budget did deliver was at best a mixed bag. While some announcements were welcome, it was our view they did not go nearly far enough to avoid risk of widespread business collapse and job losses.
There was a small win for firms paying business rates. While the cabinet secretary listened to us and delivered a reduction in the nondomestic rate poundage, vital reliefs have been extended for only three months which is too short a reprieve.
While we understand that short extension is a holding measure until the UK Budget, businesses need a commitment to at least a 12-month reliefs package to get the certainty they so desperately need. In the long term, we still believe the rates system is unfair and needs significant reform.
Issues such as this are important, because it is a resilient and robust private sector which will deliver a strong economic rebound once coronavirus restrictions ease.
Every day businesses are failing, with the loss of jobs and livelihoods. Businesses and governments know funding support, however welcome, is just a sticking plaster. But like with any serious wound, it is still required so the economy can eventually heal.
Healing can be fully
achieved only when businesses are finally allowed to trade. But while we can’t, the chamber network will continue to call for an economic route map for how we will exit this crisis, aligned with the rollout of the vaccine programme. This is a critical component if businesses are to unleash the investment our country so desperately needs.
Let’s take a look at one of the main areas the Scottish Government can focus on to support the efforts of businesses to “build back better”, which is skills and training.
Economic recovery will require a joined-up approach to employment
and training support schemes to ensure Scotland’s workforce is not severely depleted when current support, such as the furlough scheme, eventually tapers off.
In the Scottish Budget, Ms Forbes confirmed an initial additional investment of £125 million for the Young Person’s Guarantee and National Transition Training Fund.
She also confirmed more detail on the proposed £100m Green Jobs Fund and an allocation of £230.9m to Skills Development Scotland (SDS). Alongside these announcements, SDS launched its Climate Emergency Skills Action
Plan. This focused on both shorter and longer-term measures that coloured in some much-needed detail on how businesses will help government achieve net-zero targets as we emerge from the Covid-19 nightmare.
The establishment by SDS of a Green Jobs Workforce Academy was one of our key asks. It is aimed at supporting both existing employees and those who are facing redundancy to assess their existing skills, and undertake the upskilling and reskilling they need to secure green jobs opportunities as they emerge.
SDS’ plan maximise the will also uptake of
apprenticeships in green jobs and develop new workbased learning pathways.
Lockdown has been unduly cruel to young people, having caused havoc with schooling as well as shutting down many entry-level jobs in customer-facing industries.
Businesses and the chamber network have been working closely with SDS and the Scottish Government in planning for 2021 and beyond, with focus on how the apprenticeship system can be used to integrate young people into jobs and careers.
As for next month’s UK Budget, the chancellor has within his grasp
the potential to deliver support that ensures jobs and businesses can survive and grow until the vaccine allows us to trade in an open economy.
We have been very clear that now is not the time to withdraw support. There will be a time to address the national finances but in order to achieve this, the economy must be in the best position possible to spring back – the stronger the better for our jobs, our livelihoods and our future place in the world as a trading nation.
Liz Cameron is chief executive of the Scottish Chambers of Commerce.
At-home care company Cera Care expanded north of the border a few months ago with the acquisition of Mears Care Scotland.
The September deal led to the UK business adding 14 offices and more than 1,000 staff.
The acquisition saw Mears Group’s social-care arm north of the border integrated into Cera, which is planning to add another 500 jobs in Scotland – most of them care roles.
London-based Cera is described as a technologyenabled home-care provider. It uses digital and data analytics to improve elderly care services.
In addition to its carer community working directly with elderly individuals, the company’s artificial intelligence app also gives family members and medical practitioners up-to-date health information, ensuring the needs of elderly individuals can be predicted and addressed in real-time.
Cera’s Perth office is among sites selected for expansion, with plans for 50 new staff in the city.
Kayleigh Wilson, manager of the office, said: “This expansion will be achieved with the recruitment of new care workers and when winning new contracts from local authorities.
“We expect that, with the jobs put at risk by the pandemic in the hospitality and travel sectors, many people with transferable skills will join our teams.
“The Perth location will manage Dundee and Fife as we grow. We currently have 48 staff managed by this area office.”
Asked about the impact of Coronavirus on Cera, Kayleigh said: “It’s really important to look after people in their own homes and free up NHS beds – our teams are well placed to enable this by providing full care at home as an alternative to hospital.
“We have run our care-athome operations to strict guidelines, using personal protective equipment where required and have been able to keep everyone safe.
“Covid-19 presents challenges for all businesses, with staff who have to self-isolate for reasons of their own health or a family member, and for the recruitment and training processes.”
Cera has raised more than £70 million to support its expansion. It now has 37 offices in the UK, delivering over 10,000 care visits a day, with 2,000 employees nationwide.
Finance director Ranpreet Grewal said at the time of the Mears acquisition: “The first half of 2020 reaffirmed how vital social care is across the UK as a whole. Ultimately, we want to provide as many people as possible with access to our technology.
“This deal means we are able to create hundreds of roles across Scotland to help put people back to work, provide best-in-class support to the country’s elderly community and further support the NHS during a time of unprecedented pressure.
“We had set ourselves the aim of establishing a national footprint in Scotland earlier this year, and this acquisition marks a huge achievement for everyone at Cera Care.
“The infrastructure and talent we have been able to bring in as a result of this deal provides us with an ideal platform to continue our growth.”
Cera was recently selected as the UK Government Department of Health and Social Care’s recruitment technology partner. It has grown to become one of the largest health-technology companies in Europe.
The firm was founded in 2016 by entrepreneur Dr Ben Maruthappu in London, after having to organise care for a loved one.
Facing difficulties arranging the right care and seeing the challenges care workers face when balancing the need to provide quality care with heavy administrative burdens, the venture was born out of the idea that there must be a better way.