The next item on business today is a debate on motion 9821 in the name of Jamie Hepburn on developing the young workforce review of progress at the midpoint of the seven-year programme. Any member who wishes to speak in today's debate, I would encourage them to press their buttons to let me know, and I call on Jamie Hepburn to speak to and move the motion. Presiding Officer, this year, 2018, March Scotland's year of young people, that is an opportunity for us all to focus on the contribution that young people across the country make to our communities and to our society. On 12 December last year, in this chamber, the Minister for childcare and early years set out this Government's ambition for 2018 to ensure that our young people feel and believe that they are valued, wanted and vital to our country's future. One of the most significant ways in which we can work to that end is by supporting Scotland's young people to achieve the best possible outcomes for the lives ahead of them. In our programme for government, we made clear our prioritisation of education and our on-going commitment to quip our young people with the skills and qualifications that they need to succeed in a rapidly changing labour market. In this context, this year of young people, and in light of our commitments in our programme for government, I welcome the opportunity to update the chamber on the progress of our youth employment strategy, developing the young workforce, as laid out in our third annual report that was published earlier this week. The evidence and recommendations of the commission for developing Scotland's young workforce's final report, Education Working For All, gave us a shared vision of how we can tackle youth unemployment and, in so doing, address inequality and improve social mobility. The report was widely welcomed by members across the chamber. The Government responded quickly and unequivocally to accept the 39 recommendations that were made by the commission, and we made plain that we shared its vision of a world-class vocational education system. We are now at the halfway point of the programme's seven-year period, which is marked by a milestone achievement that I am confident that we will collectively welcome. We set a stretching target and ambition that, by 2021, we would have reduced youth unemployment here in Scotland by 40 per cent from 2014 levels. We have met that target four years early. I am also pleased to note that Scotland's youth unemployment rate has fallen from 25.5 per cent in October 2011 to 9.7 per cent in October last year. Not only do we have a lower youth unemployment rate than the UK as a whole, but we are now also consistently amongst the best performers in the entirety of the European Union. If you have any figures on the variable employment rate within Scotland, because I think that there are probably quite grave variations there, I am interested in what you are going to do to tackle that. I recognise that there are variations. Some of them are quite significant within different communities. One of the things that I am going to do to tackle it is to continue to promote the development and young workforce agenda that has seen so much progress. I recognise that we need to maintain that progress and continue the downward trajectory in youth unemployment. In particular, there is more for us to do for those who are not in employment education or training many of whom face a variety of barriers to such destinations, many of whom will be in the very communities that Johann Lamont has referred to. That is why it remains critical that we continue our long-term plans to strengthen education, skills partnerships between schools, colleges, training providers and employers. As I visit schools, colleges and employers engaged in developing the young workforce activity, I am constantly met with energy and enthusiasm by those involved. The collective endeavour that we see with those partners and with the local government who share a leadership role with this Scottish Government embedding the strategy is making a difference. We now have 21 developing the young workforce regional groups covering every part of Scotland. I have been impressed with the range and diversity of initiatives that are being led by each group in their own region responding to their own circumstances, but all working to the same end of ensuring that our young people, wherever they live in Scotland, have the skills, learning and training opportunities that they need to equip them for the world of work and indeed for the lives ahead of them. We need employers at the heart of our approach to developing the young workforce, which is why each group is chaired by a representative industry in their region. Their role, input and commitment is critical. If thanks to this partnership effort, we are seeing positive changes. The volume and number of S5 and S6 students enrolled in college courses at SQF level 5 and above increased almost 40 per cent in one year from 2,169 in 2014-15 to 3,014 enrolments in 2015-16. Those higher-level courses are the key to getting more young people re-engaged in education and moving into the higher-level skills that Scotland society and economy needs. We are offering a wider range of options for young people in school, including the expansion of the foundation apprenticeship, providing accredited work-based learning alongside other course choices in the senior phase. I can advise part that foundation apprenticeship opportunities are now offered across all local authority areas and we will continue to expand those opportunities. In 2017, we saw more than 1,200 foundation apprenticeships start up from 346 in 2016. I can set out to part today that this year coming, we will support over 2,500 foundation apprenticeship starts in Scotland schools. To better promote those new opportunities and help strengthen employment engagement schools, careers advice is also being offered earlier in school and we have established and continue to develop the career education standard, a work placement standard and guidance in school employer partnerships. We also see that Scotland's college is making a vital contribution to the developing the young workforce agenda. The successful completion rate of higher education provision in colleges overall has increased from 73.1 per cent to 73.9 per cent. At the same time, 83.9 per cent of college leavers aged 16 to 24 years are progressing to a positive destination of higher-study training work or into a modern apprenticeship. We also see colleges strengthening their links with employers. With 85 per cent of colleges now having established employer industry advisory boards to review and enhance curriculum quality, planning and outcomes. The expansion and foundation apprenticeships that I referred to a few moments ago has been matched by an expansion in modern apprenticeships in 2016-17. We exceeded our target of 26,000 modern apprenticeship starts with 26,262 people beginning an apprenticeship, an increase of 444 from 25,818 in 2015-16. Apprenticeship offers a fantastic opportunity to learn new skills while earning, and it gives employers the chance to grow their own talent while building a highly-skilled workforce. I wonder if the minister could outline for us what has been done about the gender issues within apprenticeships. That is a point that I will come to, but we have recognised that that has been a historic issue. It is still an on-going issue, but it is one that we are determined to take head-on. Over the period of the last decade, we have seen an increase in the number of women undertaking in modern apprenticeships. Generally, there are still some particular frameworks that we need to do rather better in. I will refer to some of the work that we are doing later. Of course, we have tasked the skills of Scotland through its equality action plan to take efforts in that regard. We are seeing improvements, but I recognise that we need to see further improvements still. We remain focused on delivering our commitment to increase new apprenticeship starts to 30,000 per year by 2020. Today, I can announce that we will fund up to 28,000 apprenticeship starts next year as the next step towards that target, up from our interim target of 27,000 this year. I am pleased to say that the pathfinder phase of exploring graduate-level apprenticeships has proven that it is worth. We will, for the first time, formally include and recognise the important contribution graduate-level apprenticeships make to achieving our annual delivery targets. After successful testing of the graduate-level apprenticeship model over the past two years, confidence in demand from both our higher and further education institutions and from employers is not at a pace and level where those high-level skills opportunities can be mainstreamed into the annual apprenticeship delivery targets underlying the Scottish Government's commitment to graduate-level apprenticeships. I would need to come back to Mr Gray with that specific figure in writing. I do not have that right in front of me right now. I could try to look through that substantial briefing that I have in front of me, but rather than that unedifying spec to let me commit to writing to Mr Gray with that information in due course. As a result of the investment that we have made in graduate-level apprenticeships, Presiding Officer, I can tell the chamber that we will see the introduction of new graduate-level opportunities in business management, construction and cybersecurity, all the areas of critical importance for employers across Scotland. At the same time, we are introducing a number of enhancements to ensure that modern apprenticeships continue to meet the needs of young people, of employers and to support the development of key and priority sectors in our economy. I am very grateful to him on that theme. Will he also include the suggestions from Inclusion Scotland that it will help those who have disabilities to be part of the workforce? Yes, just as the point was made by Elaine Smith about the need to do rather better in terms of ensuring better gender representation within our modern apprenticeship frameworks, I recognise the need to do better in the area of ensuring that people with a recognised disability learn disability, the example that is being posited by Liz Smith, but disability is more generally. We need to do far better in ensuring participation in not just modern apprenticeships but our entire labour market. Of course, we have set out a reaching and demanding target to have the disability employment gap in our disability strategy. Of course, doing rather better in modern apprenticeship frameworks would make a substantial contribution. I am pleased to see through the activity that we have undertaken against the quality action plan that we are doing better, but there is still a long way to go. I recognise that. We also have to do more to support our rural communities to better access modern apprenticeships. Last year, I announced the introduction of a supplementary payment for training providers in recognition of the additional costs involved in the provision of training for modern apprenticeships in rural communities. During this year, 2017-18, that rural support policy was available for trainees who resided in Aberdeenshire, Argyllun Bute, Highland, Moray, Orkney, Pertham, Ross Shetland, Western Isles, Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders local authority areas and Isle of Arden in North Ayrshire. This year, I am pleased to confirm that not only will we continue with the rural supplement, but that will now be made available to training providers based in all postcode areas that are defined as being geographically rural, extending that support across all of Scotland's rural communities. If, in April, we also support the extension of the early years workforce as part of our commitment to near double early learning and childcare for three or four-year-olds and the eligible two-year-olds by substantially increasing the level of contributions to training costs across all age groups of apprentices. We will also increase our contribution to training costs for dental nursing apprenticeships and management apprenticeships. Those enhancements all help to make our apprenticeship programme an attractive offer. I am clear, though, that ensuring the equality of access to opportunities—something that we have already touched on—is key to the long-term success of developing the young workforce. That is why I ensured that the 2018-19 in modern apprenticeship contracting instructions for providers should re-emphasise explicit equalities requirements to help to advance equality of opportunity. We are, as I have alluded to, making progress. In December, we published an updated equality impact assessment that showed the breadth of that progress. In 2016-17, we have seen the success of the stepping-up programme run by Enable Scotland, which supported 1571 young people with disabilities in 70 schools across 11 local authorities to access careers guidance and work placements of all those engaged, and 98 per cent achieved a positive destination. Colleges working to tackle gender underrepresentation at subject level in all college regions have set out their commitments within new gender action plans. SDS published its first annual update on its modern apprenticeship equality action plan that I referred to in July 2017. That reflects on both progress across a range of indicators and, more importantly, includes details of further efforts to reduce gender stereotyping, increase the number of MA starts from minority ethnic communities, optimise the chances of a successful transition for care-experienced people into apprenticeships and increase the number of individuals starting apprenticeships who have a learning of physical disability. However, we know that there is more to do to address barriers to work and training for some young people to tackle inequality and ensure that all of our young people have equal chances and choices to succeed in life going forward when we must build and progress to date. That is a challenge to all our partners, including our employer groups. Long-term change will only come from fully embedding the developing young workforce approach within the school curriculum. To help to achieve that, we have placed that approach alongside GERFIC and curriculum for excellence as part of the three interrelated drivers of our ambition to create a world-class education system with the needs and interests of children and young people at its heart. The young people are at the heart of our ambitions and we look forward to their continued engagement over the course of this year of young people, which we will use to help to further promote developing the young workforce to pupils, to parents and to practitioners. So, too, will we continue to promote the benefits of this agenda to all of Scotland's employers, urging them to get involved in improving the life chances of Scotland's young people. I look forward to continuing to showcase the personalities, talents and achievements of Scotland's young people, something that I know all of us in this chamber can be relied upon to do. I take great pride in supporting this agenda on behalf of the Scottish Government. I commend the motion in my name, which I now move to Parliament and I hope we will unite in backing that decision thing. I want to find me to begin my own comments this afternoon with reference to the contribution that young people made at the time of the 2014 referendum, a contribution that incidentally changed my views about whether, not 16 to 17-year-olds should have the vote. I had previously not been in favour, based largely on what young people themselves had told me when I had been in schools, but I was very much of the opinion after 2014 that they were a highly articulate group within the debate and good for them as a result of that. However, I was particularly struck by the frequency, irrespective of what their views would be about the future of Scotland. I was particularly struck by the frequency of their references to education, to skills and opportunities and the job market. They cared deeply about their education and employment and what they expected from it. It is a very good starting point for the Scottish Conservatives in today's debate. I warmly welcome what the Scottish Government has said in its motion and the comments from the minister this afternoon. I want to pick up a constant theme from young people and employers, irrespective of who they are, that they want to have a strength in literacy and numeracy, first and foremost, because it is only by acquiring that strength that the other doors of opportunity unlock. That is a constant theme from many employers. Some of them have been telling us that they are still having to spend a considerable amount of money topping up the skills when young people come into the workforce. If we look at the 2016 employer skills survey, 31 per cent of Scottish employers said that there was a lack of complex numerical skills among applicants. 16 per cent said that that applied to all their applicants, which is quite a worrying statistic. It was 18 per cent on the ability to follow basic writing instructions and 17 per cent on IT skills. I am very pleased that the Scottish Government is trying to address some of that, not just through curriculum for excellence, but also through better opportunities within the Labour force. I am also pleased with the Scottish Government's decision to introduce STEM bursaries, but let's be clear that those will not have the greatest impact if we cannot solve some of the other skills within schools. On that theme, I have been very struck by what some employers have said to me and also some teachers recently, that it is time to think again about whether we should have a discrete qualification in arithmetic. I spoke to Janet Brown about that in SQA, not because I feel that there is anything necessarily wrong with the mathematics courses, but the point that has been made by a lot of employers is that the basic skills of arithmetic are fundamental when it comes to the ordinary working of many of our young people. Some of that is important in terms of not having the distraction of mathematics when people find that a bit difficult. I was very taken with what Janet Brown was saying about the possibility of reconsidering that, particularly as the Scottish Government and the SQA are looking to reform national 4. I think that there is another issue about the curriculum for excellence, and that is ensuring that, within the desire to offer the broad general education, there is as much emphasis laid on the need to acquire knowledge as to learning new skills. The curriculum for excellence, for very good reasons, has focused a great deal on the skills element, but I do not think necessarily that there has been the same focus on that knowledge base. It is very interesting that, given that the National Library of Scotland has now made available the archive of a lot of exam papers over the years of the changing focus of that, and I think that that is reflected in what many of employers are telling us about our young people. Clearly, the Scottish Government has devoted a great deal of time and no doubt taxpayers' money on its plans to develop Scotland's young workforce. There are good ideas here, let's not be in any doubt, but I also think that there is a need to reflect more on what Sir Ian Wood said in his seminal report about vocational training, because there has been a very strong cross-party agreement about that, but I wonder if really enough is being done to implement his recommendations. Vocational training is not only the right thing to do for our young people for educational reasons, but it is obviously the right thing to do for the economy. Lots of really good things have happened in recent years, whether that is the modern apprenticeship scheme that the minister has spoken about, the opportunities for all programme projects that have been set up by the chambers of commerce or skills academies such as Queen Margaret University and the hospitality and tourism sector. Those have all played a major part in extending opportunities, but the vast majority of young people continue to be faced with a school system that does not necessarily have the diversity. I am not talking here about different kinds of schools, but about the diversity of choice within the vocational route as much as the traditional academic one. For too long, Scotland has not taken advantage of some of the thoughts that Ian Wood has put before us about where the encouragement and incentive among young people could grow so much more if those vocational opportunities were extended and expanded. I think that he points in his reports to other countries, whether it is Germany or Denmark, about the influence of that greater choice within the curriculum. That is not just talking about different subjects, but about the different emphasis in the older years of senior school, where that emphasis is. It is very important that we should stay—yes, of course. I wonder if she would accept that we are still in a rather early period of rolling out the new developing young workforce agenda that is about whole system change. Surely she would recognise and welcome what I have just said a few moments ago. Two years ago, we saw 326 foundation apprenticeships in Scotland schools. Last year, we saw 1,200. Next year, we have a target of 2,500. The Deputy First Minister has already set out publicly previously from 2019 that there will be 4,000 such opportunities in Scotland schools, so we cannot start to see that direction of travel that she is talking about. Yes, minister, I accept that, but I think that there is more to be done in school level. If I read Sir Ian Wood's reports correctly, and also what some of his predecessors said, the opportunity for vocational training to have that diversity needs to start below the actual job market. That is the point that we need to try to get hold of. If we read the evidence from European countries, I think that many of them are being successful because of that diversity of choice.  If we look at the example of Newlands junior college, which has been a highly successful institution supporting young people between the ages of 14 and 16 who have been very disengaged in mainstream education, but who found their niche at Newlands junior college. I listened carefully to what Jim McCall has said, whether it is in his articles for the Herald or having met him on a couple of occasions. I think that that Newlands example is part of that diversity. The calls for other examples of similar institutions across Scotland should not be left unheard, because that diversity is important. It motivates young people. It is plain for all to see when you visit Newlands junior college. I think that they deserve a great deal of credit for what they have done in that diversity. The strong messages from Ian Wood and institutions such as Newlands are very important. It was good to hear in recent time that the letter that Shirley-Anne Somerville sent to colleges that she was looking for a rebalancing of college places so that there was a much better emphasis on part-time places. I think that that is an important thing. It matters for several reasons, but, principally, because those places increase the flexibility in the workforce, but also because they allow the colleges to be much more responsive to the demands of their local economy. On a visit to Fife College, I was told just how important that ability is. Part-time places allow a much greater speed of turnover, and that is something that, obviously, is much more helpful. I am pleased that the Scottish Government, of course. Shirley-Anne Somerville is grateful for the opportunity to restate our commitment to part-time places and to reiterate that nearly three quarters of all college places are on part-time courses. The Government continues to fund part-time and full-time courses, particularly those that will encourage young people and those in the job market into further employment. I take that point, minister, but there was a lot of criticism about not sufficient emphasis on that. To replace that emphasis is a good thing, because it allows that flexibility, and it allows the ability, as I said, to address the very specific demands of local economies, so I think that that is an encouraging sign. My time is up, but I want to say that this is a very important debate. Nothing is more important than the future of our young people, but I would like to see a greater diversity of opportunity and no letting up of our attempts to engage our young people in the choices that they can make to make Scotland into a better place to live, but also to have the better opportunities both in education and employment. I am very happy to support the Scottish Government's motion and I move the amendment in my own way. Thank you very much, and I call on Ian Gray to be followed by Tavish Scott and if Mr Gray would move the amendment in his name. I rise to move the amendment in my name and to support the Government's motion. The wood report on which developing the young workforce plan was based was, in my view, one of the best reports of its kind that I can remember. It certainly addressed a critical issue, not only for the future life chances of our young people, but also for the economic prospects of our country, ensuring that we have the skills that we need for the jobs of the future and that we release the potential of our future generations, this nation's greatest latent asset. It was a report that was commendably clear and specific in what it required us to do to provide more and more diverse paths for young learners to pursue, properly valuing vocational learning, as well as academic, and breaking down the barriers between school, college, university and the world of work in order to do so. That is potentially a profound change. The danger was and is that we do it half-heartedly, as Liz Smith has characterised. At the time of the report, I remember saying that, if the result of the wood report was just a few more pupils doing the odd college course while still at school, we would have failed. A consistent and concerted effort is needed to make wood happen. The fact that we have a seven-year plan and annual reports to track progress is, I think, very welcome indeed. There is progress in the plan, fairly noted in the motion, not least, of course, the fall in youth unemployment to which I will return later in my remarks. That progress in the report is reported in numbers, but it reflects real opportunities for real young people. A few weeks ago, I met Connor Waldron, last year's foundation apprentice of the year. Connor did a manufacturing and engineering foundation apprenticeship as part of West Lothian College's pathfinder programme, and then went on to a job as an apprentice mechanic with West Lothian Council, winning a job where 700 applied and 360 were interviewed for only two places. Connor was in no doubt that he would not have had that chance had it not been for the foundation apprenticeship that he completed. Indeed, he said that it is unreal what you get out of the foundation apprenticeship.  However, there is a long way to go. At the same event, Helen Young, deputy head of the West Lothian College engineering department, who had overseen the programme from which Connor had benefited, talked about the many positive aspects of that programme, but also of the challenges that they were facing. They were having trouble recruiting to the programme because they were having trouble getting schools to promote it. Or, when they did have students on the programme schools, they undermined their motivation by insisting that they miss their foundation apprenticeship training in order to help at sports dates or take part in school concert rehearsals. Problems, too, with finding enough employers willing to provide work placements. The message that Helen Young was trying to put across was that developing young workforce programmes such as foundation apprenticeships are not yet embedded in the system. Too many teachers and employers still do not know about them, or if they do, they do not take them seriously enough. They see them as something extra, not on a par with, say, hires, even though a foundation apprenticeship is at level 6. That is in the numbers, too. The minister talked about 1200 foundation apprenticeships, and that is progress from the 460 or so the year before. I know that they are new, but it is still an average of around three per school. 3,000 level 5 vocational courses referred to in the report are still only an average of around eight per school. It may be that those opportunities are being made available now in every local authority. They are clearly not being made available in every school, and we have a lot more to do to make them available, understood and valued in all schools as an option for all pupils. That, of course, is before we get to—sure. I mean, let me readily concede the point. I suppose that it goes back to the point that I just made to Liz Smith. We are at virtually the onset of a journey, so I hope that he will recognise that we are progressing in the right direction. On the fundamental agenda of promoting the benefits of those opportunities, would he join me in welcoming the fact that we now have 21 regional groups that are the right, the length and breadth of the country that will help to promote those opportunities across all of Scotland? Well, I do, and I think that I have spent some time illustrating the strength of the foundation apprenticeship and other parts of the vocational programme. My point is to make those opportunities available more widely. That is before we get to those young people where progress has not in fact been on track, of course. As the motion fairly acknowledges, those who face particular barriers of disability, ethnicity or care experience or traditional gender bias still very extreme in some frameworks and sectors such as construction or engineering, where in fact the proportion of young women in engineering actually fell from 6 to 5 per cent in the last year. My point is just that we will not change that without intensifying our efforts, one-to-one support for some young people or efforts like those in Woodmill High School in Fife, where they have a three-year gender action plan involving CPD to change staff attitudes engagement with parents to change their attitudes and a complete redesign of course choice structure in language to encourage young women to choose science subjects and other subjects traditionally where few women did indeed study. Three years in, we are at the start, but we need to be stepping up our efforts to transform young people's learning and skills choices. Get beyond the past finders and the good examples towards a lasting transformation of the senior phase of school-age education, but we also have to be more rigorous about how we measure success.  UK-wide 36 per cent of zero-hour contracts are filled by young people. If it is the same proportion here, that would mean 25,500 in Scotland. We count that as a positive destination, but it is not. That is not developing the young workforce, it is exploiting them. It is not opportunity, it is alienation. We should stop counting that as positive, and we should discourage it too by ensuring that publicly procured goods and services are not rewarding that kind of insecure and unfair employment. So we are entitled to celebrate success in developing the young workforce, but we are obliged now to redouble our efforts and deliver that success for all, for the many, as some might say, and not just the few. I call Tavish Scott to speak to him in a move amendment 9821.1, Mr Scott. Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. The merits of the Developing Scotland's Young Workforce programme are considerable. Liz Smith, Ian Gray and the minister rightly set those out this afternoon, both to tackle the scourge of youth unemployment and to revolutionise how we help young people to prepare for work and indeed for life. Sir Ian Wood's report, Wars and Remains Fundamentally, Write the World, moves on, even from 2014, of course, on artificial intelligence and what that means for the workforce of tomorrow, is one of the surely great unknowns in designing the policy approach for developing Scotland's Young Workforce and indeed the labour market more generally. Re-reading the Wood commission is the basis of my amendment today. John Swinney may recall when he was the finance sector that I made the argument about decentralising Skills Development Scotland then. I make the argument to the minister, Jamie Hepburn, not on the basis of any political points, but rather because I think that there is a really serious case in supporting young people with a more flexible, adaptable and closer system of support and one that potentially saves some money as well, very appreciative of the challenges that any Government faces, but one that therefore could allow more to be spent on the very apprenticeships and the flexible learning for vocational education that we all seek to support. Decentralising Skills Development Scotland to the college regions would be consistent with the Wood commission's thinking and indeed recommendations where they said, for example, that the newly formed regional colleges and those, of course, were at that time in 2014, through more focused and ambitious outcome agreements, working closely with industry, should ensure that a college education provides skills and qualifications relevant to the market requirements and, in particular, the new challenges of the modern technology-orientated economy. Well, I agree with that. They also made a specific recommendation that the new regional colleges should have a primary focus on employment outcomes and supporting local economic development. Now, for me, the key word is primary and the recommendation is clear. I believe that the arguments in favour of this decentralisation are entirely consistent with the thinking of them and indeed the philosophy of the Wood commission. As indeed they are with the Scotland of Harry 2. Cabinet Secretary. I agree with Mr Scott for giving way. I accept a lot of what he says and I think it's at the heart of how we've tried to implement the Wood commission report with the groups structured in a way that are aligned to the college regions and with particular account taken of the diverse geography that he particularly represents in the islands, but also across the highlands and islands where we've taken particular course to make sure that the local dimension of setting that agenda is very much reflected in the way in which the DYW agenda is taken forward in all communities. I can very much agree with the sentiments of the Deputy First Minister's suggestions there and in how the programme is working. What I'm arguing for today is for a further development of how the service can be enhanced for two reasons. First, I've always believed that the strategic purpose of Skills Development Scotland could be assumed into the enterprise agencies and the Scottish Funding Council, which now I'm fairness come under the auspices of the board that Mr Brown set up last year. It's whatever I may think of that. There is at least a very clear structure in that case, but as importantly or for some more importantly it is what happens at a local and regional level, the point that the Deputy First Minister has just made, that needs to be enhanced. Improvements are necessary. Many see SDS as a top-down organisation that, given half a chance, imposes a one-size-fits-all regime on everything that it goes with. Only after, for example, pressure from MSPs of all parties representing rural areas did they amend their previous proposals that would have made it very difficult for apprentices to undertake courses in specific colleges and locations in the central belt, which for many is still absolutely essential. I'm actually grateful to Mr Hepburn for the work that he did on that. I know that the Aberdeen developing Scotland's Young Workforce meeting just before Christmas, colleges, councils and with the Scottish Government. The plea was that creative policies would achieve better outcomes with the money that is available if there was more flexibility in all the evidence, or certainly some of the evidence that I've been given suggests that that does not come from SDS. The foundation apprenticeship that Mr Hepburn talked about at some length today is a very good policy. It's the right policy, but it is bedevilled. It's not me saying that it is person after person who deals with it. It is bedevilled by bureaucracy, by form-filling systems processes, and it's not just the SDS form-filling systems and processes. It's the fact that they change them so regularly as well. I can't be the only constituency member to have had that representation on a consistent basis over a matter of time. So I'm arguing just for a simplification of that, and if this was devolved to a college region level where there was much more input from the business men and women who were on the regional boards that Mr Hepburn has rightly set up and who therefore had a very close hand in how those methods were designed, I don't think that we'd have the same concerns that are being expressed to me certainly about how this organisation currently operates. I just think that we could do an awful lot better with the money that Mr Hepburn spent. I take on board the point that he makes. If there are concerns about any level of bureaucracy, it's incumbent on us to hear them and to respond. I would suggest that it doesn't necessarily suggest or lend itself to a radical overhaul of the structure of Skeleton Scotland, perhaps the man in which to implement some of the policies. Let me readily commit now to happily meeting with Mr Scott to take on board any concerns that he has. I'm grateful for that. That's very fair. I think that I'll always seek to argue for a decentralisation model, but he's the Government and he's got every right to look at it. I certainly recognise and applaud a commitment to tackle systems that are not helpful in delivering the kind of services that we all want to see. I want to make one other observation on SDS, if I may, Presiding Officer, and that is that their online careers service, the My World of Work, is not seen by schools to be as effective as one-to-one sessions for young people with local SDS staff. I believe the local SDS staff, I'm sure, is right across the country, are the stars in that particular organisation. However, if they were given more flexibility and removed from some of the clutches of centralised control, they would be able to provide the more adaptable learning and responsiveness to local needs that would so enhance the service. A service not, of course, just for young people, although that is the context of today's debate, but also for employers, for schools and colleges, too. Ian Wood made very clear his desire to see close working relationships evolving and sustaining between crucial building blocks for a young person's future. I believe that the responsibilities of SDS should be devolved to our college regions right across the country. If the argument against that is that we need national programmes and nothing else, I understand that, but we can have national programmes surely that can be locally interpreted, flexibly designed, with targets based on the real economic local needs, not imposed from above. Different parts of Scotland, of course, will do different things. Glasgow College, with its size, with its economies of scales and the city region to cater for, will take and should take different decisions to UHI colleges. I'm not arguing for reform for reform's sake, rather for an approach that can make this very important programme for Scotland's young people more adaptive to the ever-changing circumstances that our young people face, putting the local and regional economic and vocational dimension at the heart of what we can offer young people so that they can make the choices that will shape their futures. I move the member to my name. Thank you very much, Mr Scott. Before I move on to the open debate, can I just say and understand why members turn round when they're addressing somebody behind them? If you do so, the microphone doesn't catch what you're saying. That applies to all members. I know that it's a courtesy to turn round, but it does mean that other members can't hear what you're saying. It's been drawn to my attention, so if you could just assist. I move on to the open debate. Gillian Martin, followed by Oliver Mundell. Ms Martin, please. I'm coming at this report from two standpoints. From that, as a former further education lecturer, the majority of my work in life has been focused on getting young people from all backgrounds into skilled, meaningful work. Secondly, I'm the only backbencher in this chamber in both the Education and Skills Committee and the Economy, Jobs and Fair Work Committee. I've got an overview of the skills agenda from both those policy areas. I welcome the report and, of course, the achievements that we've made in terms of youth employment. I welcome the report to prove that equality is at the heart of the developing young workforce policy. I did, however, have one reservation with the focus of the recommendations that were made to the Government from the national advisory group at the time. I've not really changed that view, and that's that we have a largely unmet need in training and encouraging young people into enterprise and a changing work environment where more and more people are looking at self-employment and setting up companies as an option. I'd like to see future development of the policy to focus on entrepreneurship and enterprise as it could yield some very positive results, particularly in preparing young people for a never-changing employment landscape and, crucially to this debate, promoting diversity in business leadership. I take on board the minister's comments about business management courses, but people study a great many things and then find themselves setting up as self-employed as a result of that. As it stands in our current demographic in entrepreneurship, it's not exactly one that screams equality. The majority of business owners in Scotland are white, male and from middle-class backgrounds. If we don't encourage more young women into setting up in business, in particular, we're missing a huge opportunity. I've often mentioned the enterprise gap in this chamber and how, if we had as many women setting up in businesses as men in Scotland, we'd add £7.6 billion to our economy. I also feel that schools, colleges and universities could do a little bit more in providing students with the basic skills and tools to set up in business. As many in this chamber will know, I lectured in television production and the creative industry is one sector where the vast majority will be self-employed accessing work on a project or contract basis. It's simply the nature of the industry that has been for a very long time. I'll give you an example of where I'm coming from. Bizarrely, many years ago, a unit in the HND that I taught was dropped that taught many of the skills needed to operate as a self-employed individual. It was called freelance working skills and to my mind, even though the subject matter could be perceived as dry, and the students did know about it, believe me, especially after two exciting years of making films and producing live television. It was one of the most important units of the course, because it taught students how to find work, how to get a portfolio or a show reel ready, how to navigate the tax system—you see what I mean about being dry—how to set up a company and, most crucially, how to market themselves to clients, as well as employers. I always taught this unit around two months before graduation, but when it was dropped from the curriculum, I found myself having to teach it ad hoc to make up for it. I've also discovered that there's no director in Scottish Enterprise that is directly responsible for engagement with the educational institutions and whether that engagement would be partnering businesses with educational establishments for innovation opportunities, but we're relevant to this debate, engaging with graduating students to become the next generation of entrepreneurs and employers. I focus on maximising the potential of those demographics, not currently engaged in business creation, could be a real winning formula. As a former business owner myself and currently the convener of women and enterprise cross-party group, it won't surprise anyone that I very much think business creation is also a key route out of gender skills and employment segregation, restrictive traditional employment practices that do not meet the needs of those with family responsibilities or caring responsibilities, the gender pay gap and gender stereotyping, all things that led to me sitting at my own company in 2001. Those are issues that have blighted the workplace, which most women in Scotland will be acutely aware of. They could be tackled at source with a focus on getting more women to set up in business themselves and becoming employers and business leaders. With a dearth of women in leadership positions in the private sector, it follows that not enough private sector companies have flexible working practices—women on their boards, women in leadership roles or women in the STEM roles. The drive for the quality of opportunity in the workplace, so ensuring that there is parity in the take-up of modern apprenticeships, access to college and university is hugely important, but so too is creating the next generation of entrepreneurs and employers who must be diverse if we are going to tackle systemic inequality in the workplace. Give young people the tools to be confident in that area and we will see generational change in the way that the private sector operates, which will unlock our economic potential and ensure equality of opportunity. I very much enjoyed listening to Gillian Martin's speech there. I think that a number of the points she raises are very valid. I experienced in my constituency where there are not always natural job opportunities for young people within existing companies and sometimes they have to go out there and create those economic opportunities for themselves. I was also interested in some of the points that were made by Tavish Scott on decentralisation of and flexibility for different communities. Again, we see a great variation across not just Scotland but across the constituency that I represent in what is on offer and what the demands of the local economy are. I wanted to start with a little reflection on a comment that was made in Marie Todd's speech before the Christmas recess. It is no reflection on her at all, but I thought that it was interesting when she said that some other members of this Parliament would be surprised to hear that young people chose enterprise and regeneration as key themes for the year ahead. In a way, I felt that it spoke volumes to some of the disconnect between policymakers today and those of tomorrow. In a region with some of the greatest and perhaps most pressing economic challenges to be found the length and breadth of our nation, I was not surprised to hear that young people care about economic opportunities, that they are worried about the longer term sustainability of their own communities and value opportunities that come along around high-skilled jobs, quality jobs and jobs that are more than just a positive destination that are about having a positive outlook for the rest of their life. In that context, I recognise that the developing young workforce has made an invaluable contribution. I might add a long overdue start in stemming the tide of centralisation and decline. I am greatly impressed by what the local team has achieved in Dumfries and Galloway in a relatively short period of time, as well as bringing together and maximising existing local training and employment opportunities. The team has also done a sterling job in reaching out across what is a large and diverse rural area, instigating new ideas and initiatives, working with schools, the college sector, local businesses and young people themselves. They have done so much to tackle the barriers that have emerged as a result of the urban rural divide across a great many years. There can be no denying, as the minister has recognised in the opening speech, that there are often real challenges in rural communities and that it is hard to make opportunities accessible to all, particularly when it comes to training. I welcome very strongly the progress that has been made. The issues that I talk about that face many of those rural communities have been around and have been a long time in the making. It is also fair to say that they are not unique to Scotland. However, they have to be recognised, and in doing so, we must acknowledge that there are not always easy fixes. At the halfway point, developing the young workforce is showing many encouraging signs, many welcome signs, but in my part of the world, we are still more than halfway from job done. There are also some broader concerns that I have voiced previously in this chamber, which I feel stand in the way of progress, not just in rural communities across my Dumfrieshire constituency, but that are holding young people back across Scotland. I do not believe that it is until those issues are addressed that we will be able to move forward. I cannot help but feel that we are asking the DYW team to do their jobs with one hand tied behind their backs. While we are doing that, we are denying our young people the full opportunity to pursue their own aspirations and priorities. As I have said already, it cannot simply be about getting people into employment as an end in itself. It must be about ensuring that at every stage of their lives, our young people have what they need to succeed. I am afraid at the moment that they are being let down by a Government that sometimes chooses to prioritise other things. While today's debate is welcome, sometimes what we hear in this chamber does not match up with what young people feel that the Government's priorities are. Our education system no longer acts as a great leveler it once did. Every moment that we ignore that fact, we are selling our young people short and we are leaving many of them behind. That is why I welcome the constructive approach that my colleague Liz Smith has set out when it comes to ensuring that every parent and pupil across Scotland gets a first-class educational experience at their local school, an approach that recognises the concerns of our teachers and their considerable efforts to make the best of the Scottish Government's poor implementation of the curriculum reform. I am also worried that, meanwhile, in the college sector, we have seen more than 150,000 college places disappear. I welcome some of the moves to refocus efforts on some of the part-time courses. We seem to have a Government that, all too often, undervalues the economic contribution and tangible difference that college courses make to ensuring that we address the skills gap in areas such as Dumfries and Galloway. On higher education, we see continued complacency— I am afraid that you must draw your remarks to a conclusion. On higher education, we have seen complacency, and I think that we need to tackle that and make sure that everyone has a fair crack at the whip. Thank you. I call James Dornan to be followed by Elaine Smith, please. Thank you, Presiding Officer. Oliver Mundell was doing so well there right up until the last couple of paragraphs where he fell into the old trap of slogans and cliches. Can I just comment on Liz Smith's mention of New Orleans junior college? I was going to mention it in my speech later on. I visited it in my constituency and I visited it a few times. I spoke to Mr McCall and others and it is a very good example of how people from difficult circumstances, finding school and education difficult in the whole, can then move on and make a difference to their lives. I am delighted to be part of today's debate. I feel that it could not be better timed at the beginning of Scotland's year of celebrating young people. However, as I well know, we are not young people forever. Therefore, it is vital that we are committed to ensuring that all of our young people, regardless of background, find themselves able to reach a positive destination. To that end, I was delighted to read that we are four years ahead of schedule of our target for reducing youth unemployment by 40 per cent. The Government is right to congratulate the many parties and partners within local authorities, employers and those within the education system. Many of you will have read and detailed the response to this report from Action for Children Scotland and the many barriers that they feel prevent young people from retaining a secured, employed position, no knowledge of how to put a CV together or a lack of confidence with the interview process. I remember my first experience of interviews all too well. Believe it or not, it is not completely gone yet. It can indeed be a daunting and, in my case, embarrassing prospect. As an adult, I still feel nervous at the thought of some of the earlier interviews, so I can only imagine what it is like for someone who has never been outside of an educational establishment. Action for Children Scotland did state that they have sought to work collaboratively with schools to engage young people in vocational opportunities. Many young people across Scotland leave school in an afternoon to attend work placements, allowing them to experience that change from educational to employed environment. Those opportunities also provide young people with the necessary work experience requirements that prospective employers now look for in a CV. I will go into more detail about that later in my speech, because I think that these are terrific opportunities. As in so many cases, education is the key to so much. I will now turn briefly to my role as convener of the Education and Skills Committee. The committee has a strong interest in vocational learning across our schools, colleges, universities and through apprenticeships. Although the committee is not undertaking a specific piece of work in vocational education, it is very much part of our day-to-day scrutiny of education policy. For example, in September, the committee had an evidence session with the SQA, and during that session, the committee explored how vocational qualifications are being taken within the senior phase. In some cases, the SQA suggested that some vocational courses had displaced academic courses. That is an area that the Scottish Government, as I know, is working on in its learner journey review. It is also very much on the committee's radar and a topic that the committee may explore in more detail in the future. One very important aspect of the wood report on the developing young workforce programme is the issues of equalities, in particular gender segregation and modern apprenticeships and other vocational learning, which I know has been brought up earlier. The wood report recommends that the Skills Development Scotland creates an equalities action plan for modern apprenticeships and the SDS publish an action plan in December 2015, covering five years. In our report on the performance and role of key education and skills bodies last year, the committee noted that there may be wider societal problems issues that lead to gender imbalance in the uptake of certain modern apprenticeships. Nevertheless, the committee urges Skills Development Scotland to ensure that its programmes are accessible and attractive to all of Scotland's young people. The committee will continue its watching brief on the progress and implementation of the SDS qualities action plan. While making those very important points, I think that it is prudent that we highlight the success of the vocational training programmes to date. I would like to take some time to provide details of the many benefits to the chamber. The foundation apprenticeships, which, as we already know, enables most of S5 and S6 to be released from school at certain times, to work with a local employer, is doing that alongside the other academic qualifications and allows people to develop a brilliant vocational skills set alongside their academic achievements. However, it is more than that. It benefits the pupil by giving them the opportunity to see how work is done. It benefits the employer, but it gives them an opportunity to see if they want to keep this man on, man or woman on, if they have somebody who already knows their business, already knows how it works and already knows some of the people who are working on it. It also gives employers the opportunity to build great ties with local schools and colleges for providing the employees of the future. Those apprenticeships are designed alongside employers and business owners, and that can only have a positive effect in any particular business that chooses to participate. That was a detailed report, which not only outlined the various challenges that we will face while developing the young workforce, but more. While accepting that there are still those challenges to face, it is a report that highlights the importance of various organisations working together from education establishments to the Government, from schools and colleges to third sector organisations. Absolutely all of them are committed to our young people, and I would like to take that opportunity to voice my congratulations. I fully support those organisations in achieving the goals that are set out in the report, except that there is much more to do, but any investment in young people is an investment in the future in Scotland. Finally, I would like to congratulate and thank our many young people who are working so hard to become part of a growing and ambitious workforce. The real achievements belong to them. Thank you very much. Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. I put on the record that I am a member of Unite the Union. At the end of last year, we debated the forthcoming year of young people 2018, and now at the start of this new year, we are again quite rightly debating a young people's issue. Tackling youth unemployment is vital for our country's future prosperity, but it is also a major contributor to eradicating poverty and inequality in society, so that long-term strategy is welcome and necessary. To effect real change, I believe that it must be more radical and that Labour's amendment would help to do that, so I will support Labour's amendment. Work is important in tackling poverty, but we also know that many children living in poverty and families with parents do work, but they remain poor due to low wages and precarious employment conditions. Poverty wages and insecure employment are particularly prevalent among our young workforce, and the Unite campaign, Better Than Zero, which is run for young people, by young people, to tackle insecure and low-paid work, is having some success in the hospitality industry, and I think that their message can be shared across other employment sectors. The approach taken by Better Than Zero also challenges the presumption that young people can work any hours and be as flexible as the employer wishes. Young people will have many other commitments in their lives, including pursuing further study, caring responsibilities and, indeed, as young parents themselves. Young people deserve respect in the workplace, good terms and conditions of employment, and a safe working environment and a decent wage. Two of the ambitions of the developing young workforce programme for schools are embedding meaningful employer involvement and stronger partnerships between employers and education. I want to look at those important aims and raise some questions with the front bench around those. Perhaps, first of all, the minister could tell us if the employers involved are committed to fair work, including no zero-hours contracts and a living wage. It would also be helpful to know if the aims of the fair work framework are applied within the developing young workforce programme. One recommendation is that the growth business and inward investment companies in receipt of public funding should be encouraged and supported to employ young people, so an update on that would be welcome, and whether it includes a commitment to a living wage. Another recommendation, which was mentioned earlier by my colleague Ian Gray, is that procurement and supply chain policies should be used to encourage more employers to support the development of Scotland's young workforce. I would also again be interested to know whether that would include fair pay and conditions in that recommendation. There should also be encouragement to recognise the benefits that collective bargaining brings, picking up on one of the five principles of the fair work agenda, giving employees effective voice in the workplace. Obviously, those are areas where the Scottish Government can have a big influence and make a practical difference to young people's future prospects in the world of work, but I think that revisiting what is considered to be a positive destination must be a priority. There also needs to be scope for supporting trade unions and speaking to young people in our schools on a regular basis, building on initiatives such as the STUC unions into schools programme, because any partnership with employers should also include a meaningful partnership with trade unions in protecting and promoting workers rights. Although the numbers of young people undertaking modern apprenticeships continue to increase, which of course is to be welcomed, it would be helpful for the minister to provide some additional information with regard to the fact that more than a fifth of those who are starting do not finish. I appreciate that the reasons for that will be complex, but it is unacceptable that modern apprenticeships do not deliver for those young people. The figure might conceal a higher drop-out rate among young people who need additional support or from particular backgrounds, or maybe there is no childcare in place, which was something that Gillian Martin alluded to earlier in her speech. In fact, it is surprising to see that there is absolutely no reference that I can see to incorporate support for young parents in the developing young workforce programme. Of course, the gender issue is involved as well, which I raised earlier with the minister. I turn specifically to disabled young people. I welcome the objective to increase the employment rate for young disabled people to the population average by 2021. That report shows that the employment rate in Scotland for young disabled people increased from 35.2 per cent in 2014 to 40.8 per cent in 2015. However, it is cause for concern that it then decreased again to 35.6 per cent during the same period in 2016, so I would be interested to hear an explanation for that and what steps are being taken to improve the situation. The Coalition of Disability Organisations, represented by Disability Agenda Scotland, has recently produced a very helpful report on the gap with a number of strong recommendations for the future. I am sure that the minister will take that expertise on board. There are already some welcome initiatives included in the programme, including, for example, Scotland's employer recruitment incentive. The report confirms that 1,600 employers have been supported by this financial incentive, giving disabled young people and young people with care experience employment opportunities. However, with regard to the long-term impact, we need to know the numbers of young people who have been assisted through the scheme and how many remain in employment with those employers. There are other issues that I could have raised. I do not think that I have time, but one of those was support for learning in schools. That is vital for young disabled people, but it is an area that is suffering due to on-going reduced Government funding for councils. I am also interested in the cost of placements. Those can be unaffordable, particularly for children living in poverty to access, so I would like to know if there is any assistance with that. In closing, we know that, for future prosperity of our country, young people must be employed in secure, fairly paid work. Therefore, that is an important piece of work. The Government should be recognised for putting it in place. However, it is equally important for all of us to scrutinise its progress, hold the Government to account for any failure, because our young people deserve no less. Thank you very much. I have called Ivan McKee to fall by Gordon Lindhurst, and I would say that there is some time for interventions, and your time will be made up. Ivan McKee? Thank you, Presiding Officer. It is a pleasure to take part in this debate on the third annual report on developing the young workforce programme. I take this opportunity to remind the chamber of my role as parliamentary liaison officer for the economy portfolio. The Scottish Government's focus on inclusive growth is a key element of our economic strategy. Given everyone in our society the opportunity to participate in the workforce contributing to our economy and allowing them to realise their potential is critical to driving that inclusive growth. At a time when the Scottish Fiscal Commission has indicated that they believe that Scotland's economy is currently operating above capacity, meaning that growth is constrained by a lack of appropriate workforce, it is essential that maximum effort is made to ensure that those furthest from the labour market are given opportunities to join the workforce. The parts of our country that suffer most from a lack of opportunity are those where the maximum focus needs to be to ensure that youth and young people are supported into work and that young people recognise that society has a whole values, their contribution and has, as a priority, their future career prospects. Unfortunately, my own Glasgow Proven constituency, with the highest unemployment rate in the country, is one such area, and as such stands to benefit disproportionately from a successful youth employment strategy. Developing the young workforce at Scotland's youth employment strategy with the overall objective of reducing youth unemployment levels by 40 per cent, on the Labour amendment. Do you consider work that involves zero-hour contract and precarious work, should we count as a positive destination for young people in your constituency and others? I think that the positive destinations are calculated, they are calculated at the moment, and that makes sense. I think that the minister may comment on that later. I think that it is important that people are helped back into work. The success of the development young workforce programme is clear. Scotland now has a third lowest unemployment rate in the whole of the EU. The target set three years ago to reduce youth unemployment by 40 per cent has been met four years early. At 9.7 per cent, youth unemployment in Scotland compares very favourably with the UK average of 13 per cent, yet there is more work to be done. As the Government motion recognises, that is particularly so in tackling gender imbalances in specific sectors and improving opportunities for all young people, particularly those who are disabled from ethnic minority backgrounds or who are care-experienced. Changing perceptions of gender stereotypes is something that I am glad to see focus on, and it is something that I have spoken on in this chamber previously in debates on women in enterprise. I echo the comments made by my colleague Gillian Martin earlier in the debate regarding tackling gender imbalances and providing training and entrepreneurship and enterprise to young people to prepare them for the ever-changing world of work. The emphasis on providing support for care-experienced young people to find their way in the world of work is also very positive. I want to take this opportunity at this stage if I may to commend the work of MCR pathways in their young Glasgow talent programme, which works to train volunteers to spend an hour a week mentoring a young person off on a care-experienced young person providing them with the confidence to progress in the world of work. The programme includes work taster sessions with participating employers to give young people exposure to the world of work. The MCR programme has had considerable access with positive destinations for care-experienced young people who have been mentored, increasing to an excess of the average of the general population. I myself have been mentored by a young man in my constituency as part of the programme and I would recommend that to other members. Turning to the substance of the development of the young workforce report not only has progress been commendable and overarching level, but I am also particularly pleased to see the use of key performance indicators tracking progress and setting specific objectives for key elements of the programme. A year-by-year focus on the actions that are required across all aspects of the programme is required to deliver the substantial reductions in youth unemployment, which are targeted and to maintain that going forward. The programme focuses on creating new work-based learning options, enabling young people to learn in a range of settings in their senior phase at school, embedding employer engagement in education, offering career advice at an earlier point in school and introducing new standards for career education and work placement. It must be recognised that the programme is a partnership effort, including the Scottish Government, local government, employers and many other partners. Other on-going elements of the strategy include the review of the whole 15 to 24 learner journey to ensure that the system supports young people and their economy with the right balance of skills and qualifications. The STEM strategy is about its objective of growing STEM literacy across society and encouraging and supporting everyone to develop their STEM capabilities throughout their lives. Less words, more numbers and always a good thing. Further expansion of foundation apprenticeships and modern apprenticeships, completion of the developing young workforce employer network, increasing the take-up by business of investors and young people accolade and, of course, establishment of the new enterprise and skills strategic board tasks of the insurance effective use of the considerable resources that the Scottish Government deploys to develop the workforce and support business growth. Conclusion, Presiding Officer, there is nothing more critical to the future long-term success of the Scottish economy and of Scottish society than ensuring that our young people and that means that all of our young people have the training and opportunities to participate in the workforce to the fullest of their potential. The focus of this government on ensuring that this is the cases to be commended and while there is still much work to be done, progress to date has been impressive. I look forward to future reports on the progress of the strategy and delivering as much progress as we have seen to date. Deputy Presiding Officer, the future of our country and our economy will be the backdrop to the future of our children and our children will be that future. Scottish businesses rely on a skilled workforce to cope with the demands of a competitive globalised world. For them, quality input is essential in delivering quality output. Quality in, quality out. One of the most important responsibilities of the Scottish Government, in my view, is to enable a climate in which quality input can be delivered so that our people and economy can flourish. We have heard about the Wood Commission, which was tasked in 2013 with identifying how to establish a modern, responsive and valued system for vocational training with the goal to emulate the successes of other European labour markets. Some of those will be more familiar to some of us than others. Take the German example. It is no coincidence that Germany has the lowest level of unemployment in the EU for economically active 15 to 24-year-olds. No doubt, the approach in that country assists in achieving its success, with teaching of a vocational education at a help-trueler level combined with opportunities to take part in a dual training, so a special system of apprenticeship involving training in a company whilst learning at school at the same time. That is an approach that can equally be seen in other countries such as Switzerland. The commission concluded from these that the vocational offering by schools in this country could be enhanced. I have seen myself how that vocational work can be beneficial with the Scottish traditional building forum. They are exemplary in seeking to train up a traditional construction workforce for the future and spreading career awareness amongst young people. Such skills remain essential and young people joining skilled trades critical if we were to maintain cities like Edinburgh where traditional buildings showcase its world heritage site. It was fantastic to meet pupils from schools across Scotland benefiting from that at an event that I hosted recently at Holyrood with the STBF. Just one example from this, not from my own region but St Moden's High School in Stirling, which was piloting a course called Roofing in the Classroom. Pupils can benefit from a more diverse education system through initiatives such as those. Often nowadays we are told that pupils do not have an idea of what some of those traditional vocations are. Seeing those things in action is what can help them to identify with and say that is something that I am interested in. That is something that I want to do. I think that that is equally true of both girls and boys. It is something that, in my view, the Government should fully endorse in collaboration with industry. For both sides have important roles to play. Our education system first and foremost needs to provide pupils with an education that gives the best grounding and basic skills. If employers want skilled workforce, they too have an interest to be involved in and support training within the system. The final report from the WID commission says as much when it discusses other European countries in which industry and education work together with each other. Businesses themselves provide their own overarching support infrastructure to make the opportunities available while children are still in education. The report says that exemplary industry leaders and employers should inspire their peers to do the same. Do you think that exemplary employers should encourage precarious work in zero-hours contracts? Or would you support Labour's call for those not to be included as positive destination and assessment of use and employment? It is a complex series of issues that I do not have time to address in this. Certainly, I think that employers should be encouraged to provide quality employment to their employees. If we are talking about getting young people into vocations rather than simply going into academic educational routes, we need to get young people into companies to give them an idea of the sorts of jobs that they could do. For example, girls who might not otherwise be encouraged into STEM subjects simply by being told about it in the classroom. If they see these things in action, it is things that they can identify with, and they themselves may well choose to go into that sort of career, whereas otherwise they won't. I think that that is an important aspect of that. It is fair to say that there are no simple answers to all of these things. In conclusion, I would simply mention two of the things that Scottish Conservatives have suggested. One is that the apprenticeship levy should be ring-fenced for in-work training to ensure greater numbers of business-led apprenticeships can be provided, and that a flexible skills fund could support qualifications other than apprenticeships, offering greater opportunities to our young people to support skills training so that they can benefit. I thought that you collided with your microphone. There would be room for somebody with skills training in first aid. Stuart Stevenson, to be followed by Joanne Lamont, please. Thank you, Presiding Officer. In relation to today's topic, let me draw members' attention to my being a professional member of the Association of Computing Machinery, a member at the institution of engineering and technology, and a fellow of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufacturers and Commerce, all of which have an interest in education of young people. In relation to my own life experience, I am largely an autodid act, which is a bit inconvenient because it means that I have nobody to blame but myself for any shortcomings in my knowledge and understanding of the world. I have, of course, managed to re-engage with education in recent times. In stopping being a minister in 2012, I managed to find time to do a postgraduate certificate at Strathclyde University and did it online. The reason I raised that is because it is illustrative of the new ways in which education can be done. It was an online course, which essentially I could choose what time of day I did the study. I could choose exactly when I was going to complete exercises. If I came in bleary-eyed in the morning, that might have been some of the reasons why that was possible. That leads us to something much more broad, which we have not mentioned, that is enabled by the development of online computer training. That is basically self-paced learning. I think that, particularly for people who have other responsibilities—they might be childcare, they might be caring for parents—being able to choose the pace at which they move through an educational system is going to be of value, particularly to people who find the present even quite flexible approaches still too restrictive. As technology improves and develops, I think that there is great scope for us to look in that area at further opportunities. With that, I encourage the Government and others to think about where people get access to technology, because, often, the people we want to bring into the system are those who have least access. That means libraries, other public spaces, perhaps computer terminals in voluntary sector. Equally, we need to have the people who are there at least able to provide the basics of support that people and provide a bit of direction if they find themselves in difficulties. Let me move on to the more generality. That is, under the heading that I would describe, as achieving the impossible. One of the great things that our youngsters do is that they do achieve the impossible. Things that old lags, such as myself and others in the Jimbo year, might be considered beyond contemplation. They do not know how impossible it is and they achieve it. I think that I might have used the example before when I was minister. We had only £12 million to do a wee bit of electrification in the railway network. All officials said that it was £27 million. It cannot be done for a penny less. Eventually, they got fed up and gave it to an engineering graduate apprentice who did it for £12 million. He did not know that the project was impossible. He did it, but it was a very simple basis of a bit of the overhead wires had no power in them as they went under a bridge. The bridge did not have to be jacked up, the railway did not have to be taken down and that got it in £12 million instead of £27 million. There is in our youngsters and the people in the system a huge potential that, at our peril, do we talk them out of tackling the impossible and succeeding? We have talked a little bit about maths. The great trick is that I think that the most expert mathematicians that I ever see are people who do not regard themselves as doing any maths at all. Liz Smith talked about arithmetic. I was that cohort who sat the very first ordinary grade arithmetic exam in 1962. I found it rather simple, I must say, but others I am sure found valuable. The people who use maths without knowing its maths are the guys who are standing around in the bookies with a wee short pencil behind their ear. They are doing five-horse accumulators with complex odds and they can instantly tell you how much money they will win if it all comes to good. I cannot do that. I have a degree in mathematics. People are not persuaded to disconnect from using those skills and acquiring those skills if we do not persuade them to do so. I thank the members for taking an intervention, but the huge potential that Stuart Stevenson mentioned of our young people, surely that will not be realised with insecure work and low pay? The member is absolutely correct. For some people who choose things such as zero-hours contracts, in other words, they work when it suits them, it is fine. Exploitative zero-hours contracts controlled by employers can all be condemned. I will just leave that little thought. Let me just close because I am heading towards the conclusion that I have to come to. I very much welcome the support that has been in particular for people in rural areas such as Aberdeenshire and Murray. I think that there is a wee bit more we have got to think about doing and that is for those who have to attend classes we have still got the issue of how to get to college sometimes is quite an issue. The bus services have been re-tuned in their office that is generally quite helpful. Finally, I want to say three things. People need to learn for their life skills and learning a systematic approach. That means learning actively about time management. They need to learn how to develop analytical skills that they can apply. Finally, my own hobby horse, because I lectured to postgraduates for a couple of years on the subject, they need to learn project management skills. That applies to almost every area of life, almost every area of work, and it is something that I do not hear specifically referred to. Thank you very much. I call Johann Lamont, who is followed by Ruth Maguire. I am happy to contribute to this important debate. In this of all issues, the future opportunities for our young people and how we create a stronger and fairer, more resilient economy is critical that Government policy is informed and shaped by real-life experience. We cannot see this debate in isolation. It is important to understand that choices elsewhere in the system will have an impact on initiatives such as this. It is essential that there is a proper assessment of individual budget choices and local government cuts in education on the aims of this particular programme. It is certainly true in my view that the effectiveness of the wood vision will, on the part, rely on how schools can support them to take up the range of opportunities beyond the usual route of higher and university. However, if schools are seeing, because of cuts to local government spending, the stripping out of the very support staff who would work with the most directly vulnerable young people and would work to support them, those are no longer there than the chances of the initiatives by the wood identified by wood will have less of an impact. However, I want my contribution to say a little more about the reality of working life for all too many people, particularly young people but not exclusively, and perhaps challenge the Scottish Government a little about what within their powers they could do to address this. I want to talk about precarious work, in which zero-hours contracts feature heavily. In my work, which in my view is the antithesis of the ambition of the wood report and the speeches of the Government over some time in this matter. You do not have to go far to get the evidence. Direct experience of a couple of young people I know working for big companies in hospitality has given me more horror stories than I could ever have imagined, but it is important that the experience that they have described to understand that this is not unusual, but we should reflect on it. It is not about choice. There is no certainty about when those young people are working. They may be given a week's notice, but they are still expected to be available. Minimal training, especially, for example, about personal safety in dealing with room service. Going in for a six-hour shift, with a 40-minute journey to get there, is only to be sent home after 30 minutes. Contracts confirm that breakages will come out of the wages of individual workers. If more is breakages, the cost of breakages more than earned in a particular week, there will be a facility for young people to pay up in installments. Tips paid for in credit cards are never reaching the staff themselves. Tips being used to make up when customers walk out without paying. Young people working for six hours get paid for six hours, but if they work for just over six hours, they will be paid for five and a half hours, because they are entitled to a break that they did not get and they are not going to get paid for. Five minutes taken off the beginning of your shift and at the end of your shift to mark the time that it takes you to walk from where you have logged in and where you have checked in to where you go out. I will make a point with that in a moment. As one young friend told me when I asked him how he knew that he had lost his job, I found out that he said that when I looked at the roster and my name was not on it. As better than zero campaign and others will tell you, this is not unusual, not just casual staff, not just young people, it is the routine experience of all too many people. This cannot be described as positive destinations for our young people or an aspiration of anyone in this chamber. In the economy committee in the last parliament, we conducted an inquiry into fair work and I asked witnesses from the DWP a simple question. That was whether a claimant would be sanctioned for refusing a job with a zero-hours contract and all the insecurity that goes with it. They could not answer. I understand that the Scottish Government is not responsible for employment law and we can have a debate about where those powers should properly lie. I understand that they do not have responsibility for that aspect of welfare, but I think that it is reasonable to ask the Scottish Government the equivalent question. Should a zero-hours contract be regarded as a positive destination, and if so, why? The matter is placed in the broader economic and social ambitions of the Government. The wood report matters because we care about youth employment. We should not sully that aspiration by having a category of work that is deemed to be a positive destination, which self-evidently is not. Will the minister look again at the definition of a positive destination? The impact on young people of this routine exploitation will have a longer-term impact on attitudes to work, ability to get on in work and to thrive in the economy. It is a cost to all of us, not just to the young people experiencing it. Finally, will the Scottish Government commit to using its power to encourage better and more far-sighted approaches by businesses big and small? Is it reasonable to expect that recipients of the small business bonus should show that they do not have such exploitative practices? Will the Scottish Government ensure that Scottish Enterprise or other support given to companies should be contingent on a commitment that there are basic rights for employees, not to have the kinds of attitudes to that workforce, as I have described? Will the minister update us on the effectiveness of the business pledge in creating that good-quality attitude by business? In conclusion, it must be a minimum commitment by the minister that his own Government's approach to zero-hours contracts, what they have said explicitly, their hostility to exploitative work, is followed through in all areas, and that, as a bare minimum, employment figures should reveal, not conceal, very significant levels of exploitation captured in positive destinations. I see the direction of travel of the Scottish Government in relation to the wood report and to young people. I care as deeply as anyone else about it, but we cannot be in a place where it looks as if, on the one hand, we want to ensure that young people are given the best opportunities and, on the other hand, going along with practices that must surely be unacceptable. I call Ruth Maguire to be followed by Michelle Ballantyne. 2018 is the first-ever year of the young people that provides an excellent opportunity to build on our existing achievements and to continue improving the life chances of Scotland's young people, whatever their background. I would like to begin my contribution by welcoming the fact that the headline target of the strategy to reduce youth unemployment by 40 per cent by 2021 has been met four years early. That is hugely positive progress and provides a solid base that we can continue to build on. In particular, although the broad target has been met, it is clear that there is still a bit of work to be done in addressing gender imbalances and improving opportunities and outcomes among particular groups, such as those who are disabled, care-experienced or minority ethnic backgrounds. With continued strong partnership working between employers, schools, colleges and universities that are supported by the regional DYW groups, I am confident that we will see those improvements over the coming years. The year of the young people also serves as an important reminder that, when we are talking about developing the workforce or meeting employers' needs, we are fundamentally speaking about the lives and experiences of individual young people. Yes, the impact on the economy and employers is an important dimension of today's debate, but equally—in fact, not equally—more importantly is enriching young people's lives and aspirations by giving them a variety of different ways to succeed and to fulfil their potential. Apprenticeships have an important role to play here, giving people with skills not traditionally covered in school exams the opportunity to shine and excel, such as craft apprenticeships. The national picture on that is encouraging, showing a year-on-year increase in the number of modern apprenticeships at level 3 and above. That indicates that we are well on course to achieve the target. On a local level, I am also pleased to say that DYW Ayrshire has been doing some great work over the past year, and I would like to share a few examples with the chamber. One of the most inspiring stories that I read about was of Martin and Son builders, a small family business based in Co-winning, in my constituency. The owner of the business, Martin, is profoundly deaf after losing his hearing five years ago, and one of the reasons he was keen to be involved with DYW Ayrshire was to demonstrate to pupils that this has not stopped him from running a successful business. Martin visited St Winning's primary school for five consecutive days to give each of the five classes an insight into the building trade. Pupils participated in a series of interactive tasks that included using laser levels, sizing, measuring angles and calculating thermal heat loss. The young people were also introduced to bricklaying and watched a live demonstration of a small wall being erected. As well as introducing pupils to this career area and allowing them the opportunity to engage in interesting hands-on activities, Martin also sent them a powerful message to pupils at a young age about overcoming challenges and achieving success. Turning to some of the high schools in my constituency, Ock and Harvey academy has had great success with its barista cart, higher grounds coffee bar, which functions as a coffee bar training facility for pupils such as Lucy. As well as undertaking an S4 customer service programme, from which she gained hospitality-specific qualifications, Lucy was able to gain valuable experience from working on the school's coffee bar. To quote Lucy herself, I enjoyed the course so much that I have now decided to focus on hospitality as a career, and I am now studying this at Ayrshire College. Another pupil who undertook the programme, Kai, said, The barista training has given me the confidence to work as part of a team and communicate effectively with customers of all types. I feel prepared to work in the hospitality industry now that I have my customer service, first aid at work, city and guilds barista qualifications. Working at the higher grounds coffee bar has been one of my favourite experiences at Ock and Harvey academy. Another good example is the partnership that is developed between the Hallmark Hotel in Irvine and DYW Ayrshire, with the hotel recently developing a hospitality training programme for S6 pupils at Greenwood academy. At the end of the three training sessions, providing pupils meet the necessary criteria, Hallmark hotels make job offers to the pupils to work on a casual basis, allowing them the work hours that they want, the work hours that fits in with their school and their extracurricular activities. That is a good example of how there is a place for mutually beneficial casual hours contracts, whether for workers such as young people who are still at school and fitting in a job around other commitments or for other employees who need casual work. That said, we have to remain vigilant that mutually beneficial flexibility does not turn into exploitation and we must always ensure that the employment being offered to our young people is of a good quality and that they are treated with respect, particularly when public funding and partnerships are involved. Fortunately, the hospitality sector is somewhere that examples of poor treatment and exploitation more often than not of young workers can be found. The Unites Fair hospitality charter provides a good benchmark when it comes to acceptable standards in the sector, and I would like to take this opportunity to reiterate my support for the aims of its campaign. In all sectors, including hospitality, we must be careful to ensure that a good balance between employer and employee interests. Young people who are ready and willing to work are a benefit to employers, but businesses must also be prepared to invest in our young people, to get them prepared for work and to develop them when they are in the role and not just to step in to employ them once they are trained elsewhere. Looking forward, one of the main targets now is to address the substantial gender imbalances that exist on certain courses and in certain industries. That applies equally to getting men into areas such as nursery teaching as it does to getting more women into science, technology, engineering and maths areas. Colleagues will not be surprised that I will take this opportunity again to highlight the exemplary work of Ayrshire College in this respect, whether the Ayrshire girl can and the Ayrshire man cares campaigns, powerfully challenging gender stereotypes and transforming people's outlooks. I see the Presiding Officer nodding at me, so I will close there. Thank you, Ms McBride.  I call Michelle Ballantyne, followed by Graeme Dey. On a recent visit to East Coast FM, a radio station based in Haddington, I saw first-hand how schools, employers and voluntary organisations can work together to develop young people's skills and prepare them for a job in their chosen field. East Coast has received national recognition, including a Royal Training Award, and is a shining example of how to bridge the gap between school and work. Working with local secondary schools, East Coast FM trains young people how to produce their own radio shows in preparation for a career in that field. The station encourages young people to expand their skills and knowledge, while giving them the chance to work towards something tangible, which, for several alumni, has led to jobs in the media. A similar success story is the textiles industry in the Scottish Borders. Although that has sadly been in decline for several decades, in recent years the sector has seen something of resurgence. That is in part due to an influx of young people entering the industry. At the start of this decade, 12 local employers came together with other partners to create the Borders Textile Training Group, which develops fresh talent in textiles and weaving, helping this traditional industry to enjoy a fresh lease of life in the 21st century. Other Borders initiatives such as Heriot-Watt University's industry programmes have shown similar results and have provided a pool of young people with specialist knowledge who have valued the world over and are ready for work. Interestingly, those initiatives were created before the wood review, birthed from a desire to create a system that rewards hard work and reflects the marketplace, and they have all been resounding successes. Members, this is the kind of integrated strategy that is required if we are going to build new industries and preserve the ones that we already have. The creation of employer-led regional groups is a step in the right direction, but, as the report admits, those groups are still evolving. Engaging with existing employer groups to maximise co-operation and build, as the report puts it, sustainable industry-led infrastructure with an emphasis on developing skills in response to industry demand must be an essential step in bridging the gap between education and employment. At present, only 32 per cent of employers recruit young people directly from education, and that figure has stagnated since 2014. Whilst many employers recognise the potential benefits of employing young people, the perception is often one of not having the time or resource to invest in training, and sadly, in some cases, a view that young people are not ready for the workplace, sometimes born out of a poor experience. We must provide our young people with education that is both academic and vocational and supports their choices about their futures and prepares them for the reality of work. I believe that it was Thomas and A Edison that said that opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work. However, Presiding Officer, it is important to remember—Deputy Presiding Officer, trying to promote you there—that this strategy, however, is not just about meeting targets, it is also about building a confident enterprise workforce that values its place in our society. To ensure that, it is imperative that our education sister provides not only a broad-based curriculum that has vocational training embedded, but that there must be meaningful work experience available to all young people. Good-quality work experience can play a key role in helping a young person to make decisions about their future careers and can also give employers an opportunity to identify potential employees. The Scottish Government's recent review on the life chances of young people identified a number of issues that impact on a young person's wellbeing during their transition into work. An increasing number of our young people cannot get on the first rung of the housing ladder and are likely to be in lower-quality employment than their elders, while many others struggle with the transition from school to work. That strain and uncertainty can take its toll. As we have seen in the life chances review, there is growing evidence of growing mental health issues, particularly among young women, which the transition into employment can only serve to exacerbate. In this year of young people, which counts mental health as one of its main themes, I think that there should be an acknowledgement of that fact in our workforce strategy. However, I note that the strategy does not contain a single reference to mental health, either in the initial document or in the subsequent annual reports. Although that was not included in Sir Ian Wood's initial recommendations, that is an area that should be addressed to meet the demands of today, and I urge ministers to examine that issue and its potential impact on our economy. To conclude, Scotland's young people are one of the country's greatest assets, and it is in our national interests to ensure that they have access to the skills, training and support that are required for them to enter the world of work. The Scottish Government has taken some promising steps towards achieving this outcome, but it must be careful not to assume quality for quantity in a race for statistical parity with other European nations. Although, as my colleagues have highlighted, we could learn much from some of those countries. Rather than Sir Ian Wood noted, that is not just about numbers, it is about Scotland's long-term economic success and the wellbeing of its workforce. That should be our priority. I call Graeme Dey to be followed by Emma Harper. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I suspect that it will come as no great surprise to members to learn that I intend focusing my remarks on young workforce developments in my neck of the woods. I want to highlight not just examples of success, but areas where improvements could, I think, be made. Let me begin on a positive note, with two examples that are noted in the report. Following the development of the Foundation Apprenticeship Skills Development Scotland, Scotland has piloted work-based learning qualifications at SCQF levels 4 and 5, including a project at level 4, which involves pupils at Breakin High School and my colleague, Mary Gougeon's constituency, in partnership with Dundee and Angus College and a number of local employers. Knowing the work that goes on at the college, I was not at all surprised to read of it being at the forefront of developing our young workforce. I very much look forward to welcoming the Minister for Employability and Training to the college in a few weeks' time to see for himself some of the work going on there. The document also notes the Angus Works programme, which is driven by Angus Council. Rather than the usual one-week work experience, that initiative of the SCQF pupils has access to the work environment one day a week across a 22-week programme. There are roles right across the council and Angus Alive, including in relation to trading standards, waste awareness, daycare support and clerical assistance museums. The list goes on. Pupils have to apply for the positions that carry with them proper job descriptions and provide a mentor skills, and thereafter, hopefully, an endorsement from the employer. They are all incredibly useful. Those benefits have to be earned. The programme helps to develop a sense of personal responsibility as participants have to sign a charter committing to catch up on the school work that they might have missed—all commendable. However, let us turn to areas where barriers to progress still exist. It is as the motion indicates, as we have heard today, imperative to address gender issues in certain employment sectors. I come at this mindful of an experience that I had a little while back involving the first-class Angus training group in our broad, which produces the engineers of tomorrow and where the minister will also be visiting when he comes to my constituency. As we all know, attracting women into engineering is challenging to say the least. By way of perspective, since 2000, the training group has produced 629 apprentices. Of those, just 26 have been female. Half of those women have come through in the past five years, so we are seeing a degree of improvement, but it is relatively minor. Traditionally, the young women to pass through the group's doors have a family connection with engineering. The fact that that is slowly changing is, in part, thanks to an excellent joint initiative in Aberdeen involving, if memory serves, the local education department and industry through which engineering is actively promoted in schools as a career choice for females. I met a couple of young women who had taken up apprenticeships via that route. Two young women who had experienced only encouragement to tread this path. Comparing that contrast, however, with a third female apprentice on that year's intake, a young woman from our bro that joined them in spite of the best, perhaps that should be worse efforts of her school. She told me that having had family links to engineering, this was the career that she wanted to pursue, but sharing that ambition with some of those charts with guiding her education had provoked only negativity. She told me and I quote, I was told engineering was not something that girls did, that I should be looking to childcare or beauty. Presiding officer, is it any wonder that we find enticing young women into the sector so difficult when attitudes such as these remain? That is not down to government or necessarily the delivery agencies. It is a societal problem. However, I want to turn now to doing a Tavish Scott, as it were, and to look at an aspect of developing the young workforce. I know that it is a scary thought. From my experience, Skills Development Scotland could in practice be doing better. That is in actively and appropriately guiding young people towards careers where opportunity, increasing demand and decent salaries exist. I am thinking specifically by way of example of fields such as occupational and speech therapy. One consequence of the population living longer is that we sadly will need more people filling such roles to assist recovery from things such as strokes. My understanding is that there is a genuine shortage in those areas right now, which made a conversation that I had with an SDS official admittedly a little time ago all the more perplexing. I asked why they seemed not to point young people in the direction of such jobs, reasoning that they were highly skilled, well-paid and had a long-term future. To my surprise, I was told quite dismissively that it was not their role to point anyone towards a career choice. On one level, I understand that entirely, but surely we ought to be highlighting such options and encouraging consideration of them, thereby meeting workforce demand and handing our young people paths into sustainable long-term employment. I was pleased to read the development in the young for workforce progress report, where it explores the efficiency and effectiveness of progression for 15 to 24-year-olds through the education system. Considering the tertiary education system from the perspective of what our society and our economy needs in terms of the balance of skills and qualifications is a welcome step, I note that the aim is to support young people to make and sustain positive choices and to ensure that our investment matches his ambitions as efficiently as possible. The report goes on to state that there is an expectation that the skills of young people will not only increase but that those will better match the needs of employers to further the Scottish economy. That is the right direction of travel, of course, but SDS staff on the ground need to be at the very least highlighting occupations that they know, require staffing and will likely do so in a few years. Time and which they believe that people they are working with might be suited to. I am happy to be corrected if my experience is unusual or a little bit out of date, but I contend that the point that I have made is an important one. We need the practical delivery to match the intent that is established by Government. There are excellent initiatives that are helping to support young people to prepare for the world of work. The progress that has been made today proves that, but there is no room for complacency. The world is ever changing and we need to do what we can to equip our young people to deal with that. The last of the open debate contributions is from Emma Harper. Developing Scotland's young workforce is important wherever he lives, but in rural areas, the Scottish Government's seven-year programme can be transformative. Rural depopulation is a serious problem facing communities across Scotland and, of course, one of the biggest contributing factors is the lack of employment opportunities. As soon as I say the word rural, I feel that I should remind chamber that I am the liaison officer to the cabinet secretary for the rural economy. An encouraging economic diversity is key to creating employment, and much of the work that I have done in Parliament has been focused on supporting and developing the rural economy. However, it is also vital that we make sure young people are aware of the possibilities and options that lie on their doorstep. That need was highlighted to me recently when I helped an unemployed young gentleman who had been made homeless. No one had ever suggested to him that farm work may be a good work option to consider, and many farms actually have the ability to provide housing alongside employment. Unfortunately, Stranraer has one of the highest rates of youth unemployment in Scotland, but developing the young workforce programme in collaboration with Stranraer academy is helping to make a real difference. Last year, I had the privilege of opening the Stranraer DYW office and was welcomed by Justin Thomas and many education experts. Agriculture is a big employer in South Scotland, so the DYW has been working with Dumfries and Galloway council and NFUS vice-president Gary Mitchell to encourage young persons to think about farming as a career path. Gary now has a young man from Stranraer toon working full-time on his dairy farm, and Gary was even presented with the champion in developing the young workforce award at the Dumfries and Galloway business awards in 2016. He is the only dairy farm that I have seen with a classroom. Another nominee last year was Jas P Wilson forest machines. They have created pioneer relationships with educational establishments, especially Dalbyty high school and spring board, which is a charity that works hard to train and equip young people for the hospitality, leisure and tourism industries. The Scottish Government's strategy recognises the need to create new vocational learning options and enable young people to learn in a range of settings in their senior phase of school. This is something else that has already happened at the new Dalbyty learning campus, which is a high school, primary school and nursery on one site. It has an automotive shop for pupils to learn how to work on cars, engines and tyres, and the cars were donated to Dalbyty high school by Jas P Wilson. Last year, when Minister for Employability and Training visited the company, Jas P Wilson had 50 employees and one apprentice. One year later, they now have 60 employees and six apprentices, which is a great success story. Jas P Wilson is committed to developing the young folk in and around Dalbyty, and they have a classroom on site, too. The Royal Highland Education Trust, the NFUS policy manager George Jameson, is also doing excellent work engaging with young kids from local high schools. I attended the Royal Highland Education Trust's Food and Farming Day recently at SRUC Crichton campus. I was very impressed with the quality of the work Rett is doing in the region. Over 300 students attended the event over two days this year, including home economic students from four new free secondary schools, as well as the entire S1 year group from Anin academy, which is where I went to secondary school. I am looking forward to bringing my wellies and volunteering at next year's event. Another area that I am particularly interested in is enabling more young people into careers in healthcare. A career in healthcare does not just mean becoming a doctor or a nurse. There are so many other options, for example, physio and occupational therapy, optometry, health support and Scottish ambulance service. The NHS provides a range of apprenticeships, including a new modern foundation apprenticeship for young people in S5 and S6. While I was a clinical educator, I welcomed many young students to spend the day with me while they were doing their modern approach to learning. For me, the foundation apprenticeships for the young S5 and S6s help to gain valuable work experience and access to practical learning. Modern apprenticeships are available to those aged 16 or over, and the apprenticeships are in healthcare support. That is a qualification that allows people to build on a career working in a range of environments, including hospitals, health centres and in the community. As the minister's motion states, the headline target in the developing the young workforce strategy was to reduce youth employment, excluding those in full-time education by 40 per cent between 2014 and 2021. I agree with Ruth Maguire, and I am delighted that the target was achieved in May 2017, four years earlier than anticipated. This is a significant achievement, but it is important to continue the long-term programme plans and to strengthen education and skills partnerships and embed system change. A couple of members who took part in the debate are not in the chamber, and that is disappointing. However, we first of all go to Tavish Scott in six minutes, please. Can I firstly suggest to Graham Day that he never copies my style of speech making? He has a glittering career in Parliament in front of him and he is at the back, which I can hardly blame him for at this stage. He did in fairness raise a significant issue and indeed made a positive idea for a former principle of parliamentary procedure, which I commend to every member. Debates are here for the formation of ideas and the suggestion and testing of thoughts. If Graham Day enters that process in this chamber every week, that will be better for it. The minister started this debate by reminding us, as if we needed reminding in some ways, that this is the year of young people. Perhaps it is important to stress that and stress that again, because it is all too easy. As Ian Gray rightly observed in his opening remarks, to take the foot off your gas, or take the foot off the gas, rather, in the context of Government programmes that get introduced have inevitably some period where they are then reformed and are still needing that impetus and that drive after a number of years of implementation. Stuart Stevenson I mentioned the project management in my contribution. One of the rules of project management is that the first 95 per cent of a project takes half the time. I have a little time in hand, Mr Scott. I was so tempted to go into a whole thing about 5 per cent there, but I won't. I take Mr Stevenson's point, but I simply want to suggest to the Government that its right to take a positive approach to a seven-year programme that takes a lot of Government commitment and ministerial time. The programme that came out of Serene Wood's commission deserves that kind of emphasis and that constant ministerial attention in order to make the changes that are so very, very necessary. There are two changes that I particularly want to highlight, because I think that they have come through many of the contributions that have been made throughout the course of this debate this afternoon. The first is the absolute importance of constantly stressing the vocational routes into work and into life. Some of us have sat in this place for some time, sat through some committees right back in the early days where we produced reports into something called parative esteem between vocational and academic routes into work and into life. We are still talking about it all these years later. I share the concern that many of us have across the Parliament that we have yet to absolutely nail that and that we have yet to make that definitive move to basically saying to every young person in Scotland that it doesn't matter which way you choose to go and where you want to end up, the vocational route into life is every bit as important as the academic one. I can only urge the Deputy First Minister and his ministerial colleagues to keep making that argument from their exalted heights of the ministerial office. The second one has come through implicitly rather than possibly explicitly. I say this because the Deputy First Minister is obviously going to wind up today's debate. That is the role of the head teacher. I think that Ian Gray made mention of the fact that, without head teachers who absolutely believe in this programme, the Developing Scotland's Young Workforce programme, it doesn't fly in schools. If it doesn't fly in schools, it doesn't fly in any context. Jamie Hepburn, the minister, was quite right to make the observation about breaking down the barriers that Ian Wood wanted Government to do between colleges, schools, businesses and the agencies that therefore support them. However, it is about that head teacher in every secondary school in Scotland that will make the difference. I ask the Deputy First Minister when he is reflecting, if not today, but in future, on this debate, that when he introduces his own governance proposals—indeed, they are introduced in fairness—where he is asking head teachers to take on more responsibilities, that some consideration is also given for the fact that, across party and across Parliament, we have absolutely put much commitment into this programme. It is fundamentally important to how we help and support our young people, but if we constantly put pressures on our head teachers and this may come, indeed, with his proposals, then something will have to give. There has to be some consideration, I think, of the workload that we ask of our inspirational head teachers in every part of Scotland. Can I, just in final two points, fundamentally agree with Gillian Martin's point about skills in school around setting up businesses and entrepreneurship? I've heard I made that case before and it bears repeating. It is a strong case. I've been part, as a constituency member, of many young enterprise companies and supported and watched young enterprise companies with lots of initiatives, but they are not enough for them. They are not enough going on in Shetland. I'm sure that there are many cases across all the constituencies and areas that we represent where not enough is going on. I think that, dare I say it, that's another request, there's a straightaway of head teachers, but there certainly does need, as Gillian Martin argued, to be more done in that particular area. Related to that, Graham Day made this argument, as did many others, about the need for a change or a constant drive to ensure that we encourage young girls, girls and women into engineering and into other areas where, as yet, they are either not properly represented or, indeed, as Graham Day said, the statistics are going the wrong way in some areas. At home in Shetland, the Shetland learning partnership did a huge amount to drive a programme of introducing engineering courses at the Fisheries College in Scalloway. Absolutely for young girls and for women to say that there is no impediment to quite the opposite. There is every encouragement for all people to take part in those courses, and I think that that programme needs to be pushed and pushed and pushed again. I therefore absolutely reflect, as Oliver Mundell and Ruth McGuire did, the support that they showed for many of the initiatives in their own areas. I would just simply wish to thank John Henderson, the managing director of Ocean Kinetics, who chairs our local developing workforce group in Shetland and, indeed, Shona Thompson, who is the very able support for all that through Shetland Islands Council. One of John's employees, Shane Odi, is one of the apprentices of the year. Jamie Hepburn may well have presented him with his award at the Apprenticeship of the Year Awards last year. He is an 18-year-old, very able young man who is an engineer now and is one of the young men in that particular business who will ensure that we continue to supply the right services for the oil and gas industry, for the fishing industry and for many others. It is with those observations that, above all, we can stress and make the case for the vocational routes into life that headteachers are not overwhelmed by more initiatives and instead are utterly supported in everything that we ask of them. We make a really strong case around engineering and other traditional boy-only careers that are absolutely as applicable to girls and to do that in a way that is positive and supportive. I think that, on the basis of this debate, we should consider it taking forward. I welcome the opportunity to close this debate for Scottish Labour and voice my support, not only for our amendment but also for the Government motion and other amendments. Ensuring our economy works for young people should be a priority for our Government and for our education system. Unfortunately, in today's world, the odds are ever-increasing against young people with the high cost of living, rising student debt and precarious work opportunities. That is why Scottish Labour lodged our amendment on removing employment on zero-hours contracts from official Government statistics on positive destinations for young people. By amending the motion today, we look to all across the chamber to work with the Government to change the methodology for school leavers so that zero-hours contracts are not viewed as a positive destination. The Government's developing the young workforce strategy must be about developing young people in and out of employment and zero-hours contracts will not support the ambition of that strategy. We call on members to back our position that the estimated 71,000 Scots on zero-hours contracts deserve better, especially the estimated 25,000 young exploited Scots and correct the methodology for school leavers. The debate today has been very much a consensual and constructive debate, with recognition from across the chamber that, while progress has been made, more needs to be done. Contributions from Elaine Smith, Joanne Lamont, James Dornan and Ivan McKee have touched on modern apprenticeships, zero-hours contracts, STEM subjects, disability, gender segregation and the issue of both young carers and young parents. I want to additionally comment on some of those areas, particularly in relation to gender. James Dornan also mentioned the briefing from Action for Children. I, too, want to touch on some of the comments that they have made. While they welcome the progress, they also focus some of their remarks on the practical and personal barriers that young people face. Their briefing highlights the lack of knowledge and understanding of CVs and the interview process, and how young people can be helped to manage stress, anxiety and demoralisation. Action for Children works with schools and are keen to expand on that work. They also work with minority ethnic women to help them to overcome the barriers that they face, and I will talk in a bit more detail about BME young people later. Elaine Smith also made the very important point about the costs that young people face when on placement. Gillian Martin also made the point about encouraging young people into enterprise and business. I have to say that it is not an area that I had ever really considered before, and it was a point that was very well made. Oliver Mundell and Emma Harper also highlighted the specific issues that young people face in rural areas and the measures that they should be taking to help them. The overall figure on modern apprenticeships shows a very positive picture. However, when the stats are looked at in greater detail, there is still a volume of work to be done to ensure that female, disabled and BME people find and maintain an apprenticeship. Looking at apprenticeships and gender, it is clear that more can and should be done to end the segregation of roles in the workplace. Young people, male and female should not be grouped in certain industries and we need a far more inclusive approach to end that segregation. Skills Development Scotland aims to reduce the number of industries that are dominated by over 75 per cent of one gender. However, the majority of apprenticeship sectors are male-dominated, with only hairdressing and social services dominated by females. The stats for the second quarter of this financial year show that only 1.5 per cent of construction apprentices were held by female. The actual figure is 52 out of 3,285 modern apprenticeship starts. The same statistics that were released by SDS for quarter two of this financial year show that there is a gulf in the opportunities for female, disabled and care-experienced apprentices to start an apprenticeship at level 4 and 5 and at level 8. Only 30 per cent of females started this modern apprenticeship qualification, and when broken down, only 4.4 per cent of all female modern apprentices are taking on this qualification, compared with 5.5 per cent of male. For disabled modern apprentices, only 3.3 per cent started at the highest level, compared with 6 per cent for those not self-classifying as disabled. For BME apprentices, the number is only 3.7 per cent. It is very easy to stand here and say that young people are our future, and indeed they are. We, as politicians, have a responsibility to ensure that we do what we can to support them and help them as they move into the world of work. Undoubtedly, progress has been made. However, we need to work together collaboratively to ensure that that progress is not halted, and that a positive destination does indeed become just that. I welcome the voices from across this chamber and the genuine interest that they have expressed in the development of Scotland's young workforce today. It is undoubtedly the duty of this Parliament not only to build the conditions for a successful economy, but to consider how progress can be sustainable for future generations. In 2013, the developing the young workforce agenda got off to a positive start, with the appointment of the independent commission under the chairmanship of Syrian Wood. Others have made very clear that the commission's report in 2014 was a thorough and commendable body of work that was well received. His 11 key performance indicated that it addressed a number of significant issues of underperformance, some of which were long-standing. His findings drew attention to some of the genuine problems that faced young people on their journey into jobs and careers. Some of the statistics quoted in the commission's report were stark, but less than 30 per cent of Scottish businesses had any contact of any kind with education. Only 27 per cent of employers offered work experience opportunities. Only 29 per cent of employers recruited directly from education, and only 13 per cent of employers had monad apprenticesh