Welcome to this Special Edition of the Employability in Scotland e-bulletin
In the few days since the January issue of the e-bulletin, the Employability Programme has continued to develop at pace.
Rather than wait until the end of the month, this special edition will update you on recent developments and share further information on the announcement made by the Minister for Employability and Training at today’s Social Security Committee in the Scottish Parliament.
Jamie Hepburn MSP, Minister for Employability and Training announced today that contracts worth up to £96 million will be put out to tender to deliver Scotland’s full programme of employment services from 2018. Mr Hepburn also confirmed that nine contract areas will deliver employment support across Scotland next year, with one of the contracts set to be reserved for a supported business. The contracting process will commence in March and for more information please see the related news release.
These contract package areas have been developed on the basis of substantial stakeholder engagement, both through 2015’s consultation ‘Creating a Fairer Scotland: Employability Support’ and a number of supplier engagement events in late 2016. The areas are based on local authority boundaries, reflecting both local authorities current contribution to employment support, and the opportunities this presents for integration and alignment with related services. We believe this approach creates a strong foundation for delivery from 2018 and developing our approach in future. We will of course monitor and review the effectiveness of these structures in relation to both performance within the devolved programme and emerging issues, such as City Deals in Scotland.
We recognise that this news will be of particular interest to many of you across the network and we are keen to ensure that further information is shared as quickly as possible. You will find further details in the Employment Support 2018 section on the Employability in Scotland website.
Please do keep in touch and watch this space for further updates. We hope you find this special edition helpful and as always are always happy to hear direct from you, and receive your case studies, examples of good practice and your contributions for the Employability in Scotland website and e-bulletin.
Best wishes
