Social Inclusion - Opening the door to a better Scotland

4. Promoting opportunities

4.1 Many aspects of social exclusion share one common feature: the lack of opportunities to participate in society - whether that participation is through work, through learning, or simply through an active social and family life. A lack of opportunities like these can blight people's lives. In particular, the consequences of unemployment, especially for an extended period, can be very serious in terms of poverty and ill-health.

4.2 The Government believes that work is the best safeguard against poverty, and that it has a responsibility to help people find and retain work. Where an individual has an opportunity to work, the Government believes that individual has a matching responsibility to take up those opportunities if they are able to do so.

4.3 The Government also believes that lifelong learning has a major contribution to make in promoting social inclusion. Opportunities to learn through vocational training or Further Education in general can improve the skills and employability of those seeking work, while less formal community education can provide the first steps into wider opportunities to participate in work and learning.

4.4 More generally, the Government is seeking to encourage opportunities to participate in society in other ways, through, for example, volunteering, the arts, and sport, particularly for those who might otherwise not get the chance to participate in these ways.

Opportunities to work

4.5 For adults of working age employment is key to social inclusion. An employed adult will be much less likely to suffer what we have described as social exclusion than someone who is unemployed. Much of this comes down to income; but the fact of having a job also makes a person 'included' in other ways: social contacts are easier to develop; there may be greater opportunities to take up training, or to learn new skills; credit and insurance are cheaper and more readily available; and a presence in the job market makes further progress in that market more practical.

4.6 Increasingly, many young people are failing to obtain any kind of job on leaving school. This can lead into the situation which has been described by the concept of 'worklessness', a state of chronic as opposed to temporary or periodic unemployment. One of the key challenges in tackling social exclusion is to tackle unemployment and worklessness. Government has a responsibility to take up that challenge.

4.7 The degree of opportunity an individual has to take up work depends on two things: that individual's skills, attributes and circumstances; and the prevailing conditions of the labour market.

4.8 Government action on the first of these aspects has been centred around the New Deals, a GB-wide initiative, backed by £350m in Scotland over the lifetime of this Parliament. Under the New Deal for Young People, people aged 18 to 24 who have been unemployed for more than 6 months are offered a personally designed mixture of intensive help, advice and support, to find work and to improve their employability through work experience, education and training. In addition, employers recruiting young unemployed people under this initiative will receive a subsidy of £60 a week. Young people in special needs groups, for example the homeless or those with drug or alcohol problems, can gain early entry to the programme.

4.9 Those who have been out of work for two years or more can receive help through the New Deal for the Long-Term Unemployed. Participants receive a series of individually tailored advisory interviews; employers recruiting unemployed people from this group receive a subsidy of £75 a week; and there will be opportunities for participants to increase their employability through a period of full-time education and training. In addition, a series of innovative pilots for people aged over 25 and unemployed for more than 12 months (or, in some cases, 18 months) commenced on 30 November. There are 28 pilots in Great Britain, 4 of which are in Scotland (Lanarkshire, Fife, Forth Valley and the Western Isles). The pilots are designed to take radical approaches to help people back into work, and will help around 7,000 people in Scotland at a cost of £10m.

4.10 Extra resources _ £10m over three years _ have been made available to support the New Futures Fund, an initiative unique to Scotland, which provides additional specialist support to those who face the greatest difficulties in preparing themselves for work. The fund is aimed at young adults primarily in the 16-34 group, who have the potential to respond to intensive intervention. The group includes people with learning difficulties who lack basic skills and personal or social skills, those who have been demotivated or are disaffected, those with alcohol or drugs problems and those who are homeless or with family or relationship problems. This initiative is designed to encourage organisations with experience in dealing with this client group to develop projects that equip these people for the world of work.

4.11 Since October 1998, lone parents claiming income support who want to find a job have also been able to receive a comprehensive package of help through the New Deal for Lone Parents. Personal Advisers help lone parents to identify their skills, develop confidence and apply for jobs or training and advise on the practical aspects of finding childcare and sorting out benefits. The New Deal for Disabled People offers a similar service to disabled people who want to work, and is currently being piloted in a number of areas, including Lanarkshire. Funding has also been made available to test innovative ways of helping disabled people to improve their employability. In addition, the New Deal for Partners will help partners of unemployed people who are themselves unemployed, 90% of whom are women. These people will have the opportunity to meet with a Personal Adviser and gain access to employment programmes to help them find work.

4.12 A further key part of the Government's efforts to increase participation in the labour market is the planned introduction of a 'Single Work-Focused Gateway' for all people of working age who seek access to welfare. This UK-wide initiative is intended to provide active help and support to all new benefit claimants, to assist those who can to improve their employability and move back into the labour market. This initiative will involve the Employment Service, the Benefits Agency, local authorities and other local bodies and will be piloted in 12 areas, including Clyde Coast and Renfrew, from June 1999.

4.13 For many people, particularly lone parents, one key barrier to employment can be the absence of suitable childcare. This is an area where public policy has largely lagged behind social change: the last 15 years have seen a dramatic increase in female employment and more express the wish to work were childcare available. The Government wants to see a major increase in the provision of affordable, accessible, quality childcare. As part of the Government's Childcare Strategy, Local Childcare Partnerships will identify local needs and plan how these can be met by a range of providers. The Childcare Tax Credit will make childcare more affordable. The New Opportunities Fund will finance the setting up of out of school childcare projects. In addition, the Government has committed £49m in Scotland over the next three years so that local authorities can, for example, support Childcare Partnerships, run information services and support key projects in their area.

4.14 So far we have discussed action to improve an individual's employability, in terms of their skills and circumstances. But the conditions of the prevailing labour market also affect the degree of opportunities to work that any individual will have. Many factors affect this, including the state of the global economy and the success of national macro-economic policies. But much can also be done at a more local level in terms of economic development and support for business, to help increase the opportunities every participant in the labour market has to find work; and specific action can be taken in areas where jobs may be particularly short.

4.15 Local Enterprise Companies and local authorities play key roles in local economic development, in seeking to ensure that suitable job opportunities are available, and that these are linked to the skills of the potential workforce and to available training. There is a particular need, however, to strengthen support for business development within deprived communities. Local businesses provide jobs, a base for local economic development and, in some cases, practical support for others in the community. There is a need in socially excluded communities to support and encourage entrepreneurship and to divert business skills into the legitimate economy.

4.16 Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise are working closely with the Government in promoting a modern, competitive and socially inclusive economy. Both have recently launched ambitious and forward looking strategies setting out how they will make their contribution to the Government's commitment to deliver an inclusive society in which links are strengthened between economic growth and inclusion - particularly in the most disadvantaged areas. They will help deliver and develop initiatives to break down unemployment and help to change attitudes towards work and training and towards recruiting from more disadvantaged groups. They will also work to promote lasting relationships between businesses and communities.

4.17 The arrangements under which small businesses are supported through the Enterprise Network and by Government are being reviewed by the new Business Growth Unit, established by the Secretary of State for Scotland. The new Unit's remit is to improve the structure within which small business can be created, and to establish a sustainable framework for support to reduce failure and to ensure these businesses survive. A new Business Growth Fund has also been established, with the aim of improving access to finance for start-up and early stage small business throughout Scotland. It is planned to announce details of the Business Growth Fund in March 1999. In implementing the scheme, Local Enterprise Companies (LECs) will be encouraged to stimulate applications from deprived areas, working in partnership with other local funding bodies. To support these initiatives Scottish Enterprise plan to supplement their Personal Enterprise Campaign with roadshows in areas of particular economic and social deprivation.

4.18 There is also a need to address geographical issues of economic development. This has been recognised by the role played by Scottish Office Ministers and officials in a variety of local economic initiatives, the commitment shown in the identification and addressing of local economic problems, and the establishment of the Glasgow Employment Zone. The Government currently co-ordinates activity in a number of areas affected by particular economic difficulties, including the Borders, Ayrshire, Dumfries & Galloway, Dumbarton and Clackmannanshire. This co-ordination takes the form of working in partnership with key players from each area, such as local authorities and Local Enterprise Companies; involvement in a variety of working parties and forums; and seeking to develop a multi-dimensional approach to areas suffering from economic deprivation. Such a partnership approach seeks to identify a strategic framework for the long-term regeneration of the area involved.

4.19 Government also currently provides assistance towards job creation in areas of high unemployment through the Regional Selective Assistance (RSA) grant scheme. It was recognised, however, that even within the scheme's designated Assisted Areas there can be pockets of severe, multiple deprivation. In an attempt to make these particularly deprived areas more attractive for business expansion or location, the RSA Priority Initiative was introduced in May 1998, initially on a pilot basis in 5 areas in Scotland. Under the initiative, companies which invest in, and employ individuals from, these areas will receive a higher level of funding. Reducing unemployment in these areas will not only help provide opportunities for those who are vulnerable to exclusion, it will encourage the regeneration of the community as a whole and will, therefore, play a key role in promoting inclusion.

4.20 By combining money currently available from a range of sources including benefits and training into a single Personal Job Account, Employment Zones will offer people aged 25 and over who have been unemployed for a year or more flexible opportunities to assist them into sustainable employment. This UK-wide initiative will enable long-term unemployed adults, especially those facing particularly difficult barriers to the labour market to benefit from individually tailored provision which meets their assessed needs. Glasgow was one of five Prototype Employment Zones in the UK launched last year to test out new approaches to assist the client group. The lessons learned from these have contributed to the design of fully-fledged Employment Zones, and a consultation paper was launched on 2 February. Fully-fledged zones will come on stream from April 2000 and will target 48,000 unemployed adults over a two year period, with an investment of £112m across the UK. A fully-fledged Employment Zone in Glasgow will target people who have been unemployed for 18 months or more; it is expected that 5,000 people will receive help over 2 years from April 2000.

Opportunities to learn

4.21 The principles underlying the New Deals - promoting inclusion and opportunity by helping individuals develop their skills and their employability - are much more widely applicable. These principles, indeed, lie behind much of the significance of lifelong learning. The world is constantly changing and the 'knowledge economy' is with us. Both Scotland's economic competitiveness and the prosperity of its people depend on the establishment of a culture of lifelong learning, where opportunities exist for people constantly to develop their skills, and where people take responsibility for making the most of those opportunities.

4.22 The Government recognised the significance of this agenda through publication in September 1998 of 'Opportunity Scotland', which set out its intentions for post-16 education and skills development. It is working with its partners in education, business and the voluntary sector to put these intentions into practice. At the heart of this programme is the Scottish University for Industry (UfI). The intention of the Scottish UfI is to support employers and employees by connecting those who want to learn with ways of doing so. Exploiting new technologies like the National Grid for Learning, learning centres in workplaces, communities, schools, colleges, libraries and even shops will create new ways for people to take up opportunities to learn. It will drive the demand for learning through mass marketing, encouraging a wider range of people to see learning as of benefit to them. The Scottish University for Industry is due to start operating in the year 2000.

4.23 A key role in delivering the training and educational opportunities envisaged under the UfI and the rest of the lifelong learning agenda will be played by Further Education colleges. Scottish colleges have an impressive record of extending opportunities to participate in learning, and have developed links with employers, community groups, educational and other interests. Nevertheless, it is clear that some sections of the community are less well-represented in colleges than others. In particular, people from a background of urban deprivation or from the rural hinterland are less likely to participate in further education, as are people with special needs, low previous educational attainment or heavy work or family responsibilities.

4.24 The Government has made clear that people from every section of the community should have the opportunity to pursue lifelong learning for both vocational and personal development. This will be a fundamental theme of the Government's forthcoming Strategic Framework for Further Education, which will challenge colleges to encourage increased participation amongst people within those groups least well represented, and to make participation and progress more accessible for them.

4.25 To help colleges perform this role, the Government has committed around £100m additional funding to the further education sector over the next 3 years, to support an extra 40,000 places. These places will be targeted towards people in groups under-represented in further education. Almost £30m extra will be invested in information technology over the same period, providing prospective students with more accessible and flexible methods of learning.

4.26 Among those who have little previous experience of learning, community education can also play an important role in connecting people with opportunities to learn, by stimulating and giving people informal learning opportunities in settings within the community. This expertise in reaching out to individuals and community groups, particularly those who may be disaffected or alienated from formal education, should be sustained and supported.

4.27 The Government has recently reviewed the future role of community education and the contribution it can make to the key aims of social inclusion, active citizenship and lifelong learning. The report 'Communities: Change Through Learning', launched in November 1998, recommended the extension of the community learning approach to other professional areas, focusing on the development of skills and knowledge through motivation, confidence building, and personal and group effectiveness.

4.28 The new approach will contribute to the development of communities, but to be successful it will require other service areas to identify the learning agenda associated with their work, and ensure that all those involved have the necessary understanding, skills and sense of purpose to take it forward. Councils will be developing community learning plans in association with communities, voluntary organisations and the range of other organisations which offer educational opportunities. Advice to councils on the content and production of community learning plans will be issued in March 1999.

Opportunities to participate

4.29 Participation in society is about more than work and learning, important as these are. Most of us 'participate in society' in ways which we would never think of as relating to 'social inclusion' _ going to see a film, taking part in sport. For many, however, it is this more general 'participation in society' that gives quality to people's lives, not least in the social contacts it helps develop.

4.30 Government's role in these general forms of participation in society is limited _ as it should be. However, in some areas it is appropriate for Government to seek to increase and encourage the development of opportunities for people to participate. Good examples of this are active citizenship and volunteering; sport; and the arts.

4.31 The Prime Minister has called for a step change in public involvement in the community through the 'Giving Age' initiative, which aims to promote active citizenship and volunteering throughout the community. It will tap into the energies of people who want to give their time freely through voluntary and community action. In Scotland, the new initiative will aim to change attitudes towards community activity; increase the number of volunteers; draw people from a wider range of social and economic backgrounds; and generally empower communities.

4.32 A Scottish working group is being set up to develop a Giving Age strategy. It will bring together the voluntary, public and business sectors in a new and co-ordinated programme to foster community action. The Giving Age strategy will include Millennium Volunteers, a £1.5m programme aimed at creating more opportunities for young people to become active citizens. They will be encouraged to become involved in a wide range of activities which offer benefits to local communities, and which at the same time help them to develop their own life skills and self-confidence. The programme aims to be inclusive by attracting young people from a wide variety of backgrounds, attainments and cultures. A key element is the involvement of young people at all levels in the programme in order to develop a sense of civic responsibility.

4.33 The development of a Local Volunteering Development Agency Network _ a national network of local volunteer 'job shops' _ will give ideas, support and opportunities to people who want to volunteer, and match volunteers and volunteering opportunities to achieve the step change in public involvement in the community. This will be accompanied by the Unemployed Voluntary Action Fund (UVAF), a charitable trust receiving over £850,000 Government funding, and in turn providing grants to local voluntary organisations working to tackle social exclusion and providing volunteering opportunities to unemployed people. UVAF will help marginalised people become involved in communities through volunteering and fund local projects pioneering innovative ways of combating exclusion.

4.34 Arts, sports and leisure activities also have a role to play in countering social exclusion. They can help to increase the self-esteem of individuals; build community spirit; increase social interaction; improve health and fitness; create employment; and give young people a purposeful activity, reducing the temptation to anti-social behaviour. Involvement in sport encourages team work and fair play, instils discipline and a sense of belonging, and challenges potential. People who participate in sports and arts activities are more likely to play an active role in the community in other ways. People in deprived areas consistently identify the lack of sports, arts and leisure facilities as a priority for action. The provision of adequate opportunities and encouragement for people to participate in these activities should therefore be seen as an integral part of community development, urban and rural regeneration and the building of an inclusive society.

4.35 The Government's aim is to increase participation in sport by people at all age and ability levels, and to encourage young people to remain active in sport as they enter and progress through adulthood. The Government reaffirmed its commitment to reverse the decline in school sport in the White Paper on education published recently. The Government, through the Scottish Sports Council, will encourage improved access to sport by promoting equality of opportunity, whether the inequality is linked to poverty, geographical isolation, race or gender discrimination or disability. The Government announced in November 1998 an £8.1m package of initiatives aimed at developing youth sport, including sport in schools; and these and other programmes will be taken forward by the Scottish Sports Council as part of a strategic approach within which the needs of deprived areas will have high priority. Meanwhile, the Scottish Arts Council has as one of its key objectives in the coming years the development of a programme to encourage the integration of the arts in social inclusion partnerships and programmes. As well as programmes funded by grant-in-aid received from Government, the Council is also developing Lottery-funded schemes to promote social inclusion.

Conclusion

4.36 The action described above has focussed on the contribution that increasing opportunities to participate in work, in learning and in society in general, can make to promoting social inclusion. But even when opportunities to participate are available, many people face barriers to taking up those opportunities - barriers to inclusion. The next strand of the Government's programme is about tackling these barriers.