Welcome to the July edition of the Employability in Scotland e-bulletin.

Despite the Scottish Parliament breaking for recess on 1 July the Minister for Employability and Training, Jamie Hepburn MSP, has been busy touring Scotland to view, first-hand, various employability programmes being delivered. Mr Hepburn has been using this opportunity to speak to people who are using these services, capturing a key voice to inform how these services, and new services, will be delivered in future. Mr Hepburn has also been meeting with employers who have engaged with their local Developing Young Workforce (DYW) group.

On 13 July Mr Hepburn was in Fife, visiting Ember Technology, Purvis Group, Burntisland Fabrication and Avtek Solutions.

On 14 July Mr Hepburn marked Employability Day in Glasgow, celebrating the Graduation of 20 people through ENABLE Scotland’s Employment Academy for Supported Training (EAST), big congratulations to all those who graduated! The Minister then spent time listening to people using Scotland’s new transitional employment support programmes, Work First Scotland and Work Able Scotland, at Remploy and Wise Group respectively.

You can hear directly from the Minister on some of these visits here -

https://twitter.com/scotgoveconomy/status/885856278626672642

And learn more about Work First Scotland and Work Able Scotland here -

http://www.employabilityinscotland.com/devolved-employment-services/employment-support-2017/

On 26 July Mr Hepburn was in Dumfries and Galloway, visiting Smiths Hotel, Langholm Initiative, and SDS contracted training providers Lowland Training and Apex Scotland, where the Minister saw how training and employability related projects were helping remove the barriers to work through strong linkages with the local community and employers.

On 27 July Mr Hepburn visited William Grant & Sons Distillery, Ashleigh Building and GE Caledonian in Ayrshire.

The Minister will continue his Summer tour in August, please keep watching @EmployinScot ‏for more updates.

And finally, the closing date for submitting proposals to the Employability Innovation and Integration Fund was on Thursday 27th July.  Proposals will now be assessed and more information will be available in the coming months.

Don’t forget to keep in touch. We are always happy to receive your case studies, examples of good practice and your contributions for the Employability in Scotland website and e-bulletin.

Craig

'The Life Chances of Young People in Scotland' is the second report from the Independent Advisor on Poverty and Inequality, Naomi Eisenstadt, who says any support young people receive from the government is vital in their development.

The Scottish economy grew by 0.8% during the first quarter of 2017, according to statistics announced today by Scotland's Chief Statistician.

Expansion in the manufacturing sector has helped the Scottish economy to grow by 0.8% - the highest rate of quarterly growth in Scotland since the end of 2014, new figures reveal.

Businesses throughout the country are being encouraged to recognise the many benefits of employing people with disabilities.

Scotland's unemployment rate fell to a record low of 3.8% over the last quarter, down 0.7 percentage points.

Skills Development Scotland (SDS) has published an  updated Equalities Action Plan For Modern Apprenticeships. This covers work against the objectives identified for the original Action Plan in December 2015.

The Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region Deal will deliver inclusive economic growth across the region through housing, innovation, transport, skills and culture.  It is expected that the new deal will deliver 21,000 new jobs for the area.

A bursary of £4,000 per year will be made available to students on Scotland's new graduate entry medical course.

Scotland's national skills agency funded nearly 64,500 skills and learning opportunities during the past year.

In a UK first, public bodies in Scotland will be required to put reducing poverty and inequality at the heart of their decision making.

A new Foundation Apprenticeship in Food & Drink Manufacturing is being developed to help young people gain valuable work experience and industry recognised qualifications and skills while they're still at school.

Remember to follow us on @employinscot

You can view all current consultations from the Scottish Government online.