Work-help cuts will not be as bad as the SNP fears

JUST before Christmas, the Scottish Government warned that the UK Spending Review was going to hit support for Scots looking for work badly.

Cabinet Secretary for Fair Work, Skills and Training Roseanna Cunningham said she was writing to Iain Duncan Smith, the Work and Pensions Secretary at Westminster, demanding a rethink of Chancellor George Osborne’s budget proposals, which she said would cut 75 per cent of what is spent in Scotland on employability services – an estimated £40 million.

This would have a severe impact on what the Scottish Government is able to do when newly devolved powers over projects like the controversial Work Programme come to Holyrood in around 15 months, the SNP said.

Come the new year, and the concerns haven’t diminished. Indeed, the Scottish Government’s mathematicians appear to have become more pessimistic. They now estimate 87 per cent of the budget will be cut, or £45 million.

Ms Cunningham said this flew in the face of Smith Commission recommendations that Scotland would have more resources to better support those facing most difficulty in finding work.

Work done consulting on employability services with users and communities, training providers and trade unions now risks being undermined by the Spending Review, she added.

That’s not entirely true, though, according to insiders. A significant cut to this budget is a blow, but it hardly threatens all employability work. In fact, the sum under discussion is only around 10 per cent of that spent helping people become more job ready.

Other budgets contributing to such work include those of Skills Development Scotland, the European Social Fund, councils and the Big Lottery Fund.

What is needed is what was already needed – much greater cooperation and coordination between the various participants to make employability work effective. Getting people into work is good for the economy, helps tackle poverty and cuts social security bills.

The Scottish Government still has considerable scope to make a difference.