Addressing the labour market emergency: Scottish Government response

Theme one – Assistance to Support Business Retention

Key actions

• We are investing over £2.3 billion to support Scottish Business through re-start and recovery.
• We have embedded the dimensions of Fair Work in the schemes and funds we have developed and are developing.
• We are providing funding, advice and support for businesses to adopt digital ways of working.
• We will focus on green, zero carbon opportunities for businesses in the North East through the Energy Transition Fund.
• We will work collaboratively with our agencies, local government and key partners to maximise employment opportunities across Scotland.

One of the key mechanisms through which we can protect existing jobs is to support our businesses and sectors of our economy to remain viable and sustainable as we move through the re-starting of the economy, and progress towards recovery.

By maintaining businesses, we also help to ensure individuals in existing roles, occupations and workplaces can continue to have secure employment.

What we were asked to do

The ESSB sub-group made a number of recommendations aimed at supporting businesses in Scotland to help companies “Build Back Better” and minimise job losses.

This includes the expansion and marketing of the single portal helpline and website, supporting companies to source funding and identify new business opportunities. It recognises the importance of accelerating approaches to ecommerce for SMEs, the need for alignment to Fair Work in supporting the development of innovative workplace practices to increase efficiency, alongside support for those facing redundancy to start up their own business.

What we are doing

We are:

• Pledging more than £2.3 billion of direct support for business
• Working closely with businesses, we are providing up to date information on how to access additional finances and other support through the Find business support in Scotland website and helpline
• Identifying further export opportunities through ‘A Trading Nation’ and Scottish Enterprise’s Export Compass scheme
• Increasing business digital adoption by offering support and advice through Business Gateway’s Digital Boost programme, as well as finance through the Digital Development Loan scheme
• Refreshing the Statement of Fair Work Practices, demonstrating our continuing commitment to Fair Work from public, private and third sector partners, and the maintenance of Fair Work First, ensuring fair work criteria are attached to grants awarded by and across the public sector
• Identifying opportunities to develop a vibrant, net zero energy industry through the newly created Energy Skills Alliance
• Exploring possibilities for employee ownership and cooperatives through Scotland for Employee Ownership and Co-operative Development Scotland.

What we will do

We will:

• Contribute to climate change commitments and support businesses in the North East in the oil, gas and energy sectors over the next five years as they grow and diversify through the £62 million Energy Transition Fund
• Ask our enterprise agencies; Scottish Enterprise, Highlands and Islands Enterprise and South of Scotland Enterprise to work with companies, and partners including local government, to identify what more can be done to maximise the employment impact of services and support, and to take forward action accordingly
• Work with the enterprise and skills agencies, equalities groups and other key partners to initiate early feasibility planning for a Centre for Workplace Transformation to support the development of more diverse and inclusive workplaces where fair work and worker wellbeing are embedded in the culture and practice
• Scottish Enterprise will develop a tool to enable employers to self-assess their policies and practices against the dimensions of Fair Work and to access support to help them adopt fairer work practices, in consultation with the Fair Work Convention.

Usage of Find Business Support: Between 12 March and 30 July, there have been 431,284 visits to the website, over 1.6 million page views and 8,185 businesses have subscribed to the email updates.

The helpline ensures that our economic development agencies can offer advice and access to finance and expertise. This helpline has received 13,750 calls between 13 March and 30 July. At its peak, the helpline managed 2,500 calls per day compared to previous typical levels of 40 calls per day.

How we will implement change

The Response to the report by the Advisory Group on Economic Recovery sets out in detail how we will work alongside the Enterprise Agencies and other delivery partners to support an economic recovery which is underpinned by our ambitions for a wellbeing economy one that is environmentally sustainable; supports local communities; and enables businesses to thrive and innovate.

In doing so, we will build on the new collaborative partnership between government and business which has begun to form as we deal with the COVID-19 crisis. Individual businesses and business organisations have been instrumental in the development and delivery of COVID-19 sectoral guidance and we will seek opportunities in the coming months to deliver a programme of collaborative, focused projects to address specific COVID-19 related challenges.