The Scottish Government

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4 ENTERPRISE

Introduction

4.1 This section of the report focuses on the aspects of the portfolio which aims to support enterprise. In particular it focuses on Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise and the work of local authorities.

Background: wider policy context and evidence

Wider policy context

4.2 Both Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise play a key role in delivering aspects of the Scottish Government's Economic Strategy (The Scottish Government, 2007a). It is a wide-ranging strategy that recognises that all the arms of Government need to play a role in strengthening the Scottish economy. The strategy has five strategic priorities:

• Learning Skills and Wellbeing
• Supportive Business Environment
• Infrastructure Development and Place
• Effective Government
• Equity

4.3 The following elements of the strategy have significant implications for disabled people:

• Enabling disabled people to start up and develop their own businesses through business support services.
• Ensuring business developments sites are accessible through the investment funds.

4.4 In addition, the strategy aims to reduce economic inactivity by addressing the problems of unemployment among disabled people and the high number of disabled people claiming Incapacity Benefit. Employability is dealt with in the Education and Lifelong Learning Report. However, it is evident that both the enterprise agencies have an important role in promoting equality for disabled people by increasing employment opportunities and encouraging good employment practice by Scottish businesses.

Research and statistical evidence

4.5 The Annual Survey of Small Businesses in Scotland in 2005 (Scottish Executive, 2006e) found that 8% of all businesses had a partner with a disability or long-standing illness. This was more commonly the case with businesses with no employees (9%) compared to those which employ staff (6%). Of those, micro and small businesses were more likely to have a disabled partner (6%) than medium sized businesses (4%).

4.6 The High Level Equality Statistics Report 2006 (Scottish Executive, 2006b) includes data on entrepreneurship among disabled people. This shows that slightly more disabled people are thinking about running their own business or becoming self-employed than non-disabled people (11% compared to 9%), but fewer are actually doing so (only 7% compared to 11% of non-disabled people). For the reasons noted in the section focussing on planning and the built environment (see 6), there are no statistics available about the accessibility of business developments.

4.7 Changes in economic participation by disabled people are always likely to be slow, and many factors influence entrepreneurship by disabled people such as the benefits system or discrimination by banks in their willingness to provide capital investment. These particular issues cannot be addressed by the bodies covered in this review. Nevertheless, there are some positive signs of progress in the work of Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise. Local authorities in their disability equality schemes give very little attention to their role in encouraging enterprise in their area and how this might benefit disabled people.

Areas where progress is evident

4.8 Progress was found to be evident in relation to:

• Support to business start-ups
• Training programmes for employers

Support to business start-ups

4.9 The Scottish Enterprise Disability Equality Scheme annual report shows that over the three year period from 2004 - 2007, two hundred and seventy-five disabled people have been supported to start up a business (see Table 3) within the Scottish Enterprise area. It is not clear whether the business was eventually launched, or whether it is still trading, but this is likely to represent a significant step forward for the disabled people involved.

Table 3: Business start-ups by disabled people (percentage of all start-ups supported)

(Scottish Enterprise, 2007)

4.10 The percentage figure refers to the proportion of all start-ups supported by the organisation in the period. (Scottish Enterprise, 2007). Clearly this represents a small proportion of all business start-ups in lowland Scotland, but without additional data on disabled-led businesses it is not possible to assess how successful Scottish Enterprise had been in reaching disabled people who wish to start up in business. Highlands and Islands Enterprise does not provide comparable data.

4.11 Scottish Enterprise supports Business Able, an initiative to support disabled people setting up in business. Since it started it has supported two hundred and twenty businesses and it was recommended that it be rolled out across Scotland from April 2008.

Training programmes for employers

4.12 Both Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise have supported the Equality Matters in Business Project, a pioneering Scotland wide project that aims to enhance the advice and support given to small and medium sized enterprises ( SMEs) on the business benefits of good practice in equality and diversity. It is a 2 year scheme running to March 2009 which covers all strands of equality, focuses on the demand for diversity and addresses the barriers that prevent the supply of a diverse workforce..

4.13 Statistics are not available on the outcome of this project however, monitoring procedures are being put in place to record the number of businesses advised and an evaluation is currently being carried out.

Areas where progress is less evident

4.14 Examination of disability equality schemes did not show clearly how disabled people were being assisted to start-up their own business.

Disabled people into business

4.15 A number of local authorities acknowledge their role in promoting prosperous and sustainable economic growth in their disability schemes, often in the context of their Community Planning Partnership. The actions which follow relate to increasing the employability of disabled people. But it was not obvious how local authorities were encouraging disabled people to go into business. Although the issue of employment was raised by disabled people in the course of the development of a number of disability equality schemes, it was not clear how this was linked to the encouragement of enterprise and economic development.

Categories of impairment

4.16 Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise use the general term 'disabled people' throughout and do not include reference to the needs of people with particular impairments. The statistics they provide do not break down the disabled population by impairment. Given that people with different impairments can have quite different needs and different experiences of services, information about the range if impairments of disabled clients could help the development of services.

Consultation and involvement

4.17 Scottish Enterprise has established an Equality Forum which is likely to be an appropriate way to involve disabled people provided that it is used correctly to question and challenge the work of the organisation. Highlands and Islands Enterprise part funds the Scottish Enterprise Equality Forum.

Summary and conclusions

4.18 The data from the High Level Equality Statistics Report 2006 (National Statistics Scotland, 2006) indicate that there is considerable interest from disabled people in setting up their own business. However the fall off between that expression of interest and the numbers actually running their own business requires investigation.

4.19 Despite some positive initiatives by the enterprise agencies, the relatively small numbers involved would seem to indicate that many disabled people interested in starting a business are not accessing the Business Gateway or Highlands and Islands Enterprise start-up services. In the Scottish Enterprise area the Business Gateway has been transferred to local authorities, and local authorities in the in the Highlands and Islands are developing a Business Gateway for their area which is expected to be in place during 2009. A greater understanding of what barriers disabled people face in setting up their own business could help inform delivery of these services in ways better suited to disabled people.

4.20 The initial absence of statistical data is starting to be addressed in the material included in annual reports and this is to be welcomed. Nevertheless the absence of clear targets in the disability equality schemes means that the work of the enterprise agencies to promote disability equality may be difficult to measure.

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