Mar102017

97 per cent of key modern apprenticeships in Scotland are taken by men

Scottish Labour
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97 PER CENT OF KEY MODERN APPRENTICESHIPS TAKEN BY MEN

New research by Labour has revealed that 97 per cent of Scottish modern apprenticeships in construction, the motor industry, manufacturing and engineering are taken by men.

In a speech at Reform Scotland to mark International Women’s Day and the Budget earlier this week, Kezia Dugdale published new research showing that just 3 per cent of modern apprenticeships in key industries are taken by women.

Research by Engender revealed that just 25 per cent of company directors in Scottish FTSE 100 companies are women.

More details about modern apprenticeships in Scotland can be found here.

Speaking at Reform Scotland, Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale said:

“In planning for the future we should be planning for a Scottish economy that puts equality at its heart. 

“By that I mean the whole gamut of equality. We need an economy that works for all, regardless of who you are, where you live and the sector you work in.

“For those in professional sectors the tide is turning but it is still not nearly good enough. 

“As Engender’s Sex and Power report said earlier this week, only 25 per cent of company directors of Scottish FTSE 100 companies are women, and not a single chief executive of a Scottish FTSE company is female.

“At all senior levels in public life, and in the private sector, women are still not getting the top opportunities. As we look to the future, we have to ensure that this same inequality isn’t sustained into the next generation.

“Earlier this week, I had the privilege to meet some of the new apprentices at Standard Life. These are young people getting front line experience of the finance sector and gaining valuable real-world experience. It’s a great scheme.

“But across the country, the next generation of workers are still finding themselves setting out on their careers being segregated by gender.

“Ninety-seven per cent of the modern apprenticeships in construction, the motor industry, manufacturing and engineering are taken by men, while more than half of apprenticeships in sport, health and social care and administration are taken by women.

“These apprenticeships are meant to provide the best start for young people beginning their careers. We cannot have a situation, as we do right now, where inequality is being hardwired into the future workforce in these sectors.

“The SNP should be taking action to make sure that this situation doesn’t persist into future years of the scheme.”

Mar102017

Care home fined after boy drowned in disused quarry

HSE
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A Kettering based care home company has been fined after a 16-year-old boy drowned at a disused quarry on a day trip.

The Old Bailey heard how two 16-year-old boys who were residents at Castle Lodge Home near Ely, Cambridgeshire, were taken on a day trip to Bawsey Country Park near Kings Lynn, Norfolk.

The park is a disused sand quarry containing parkland and flooded pits, and the two boys went into the water at the pits despite the no swimming signs. One of the two boys became trapped in weed on the bottom of the pit and drowned. His body was recovered later.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) into the incident which took place on 16 July 2013 found the two residential support workers who accompanied the boys had very little experience and did not attempt to prevent the children entering the water.

No risk assessment was carried out prior to the trip and Castle Homes’ procedures were ineffective in ensuring the safety of the children while on trips outside of the home.

Castle Homes Limited, of High Street, Rothwell, Kettering, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, was fined £80,000 and ordered to pay costs of £20,000.

Speaking after the hearing HSE inspector Anthony Brookes said: “This boy’s tragic death was entirely preventable if the Care Home had planned properly and managed the risk of taking residents to the abandoned quarry.”

Notes to Editors:

  1. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety. It aims to reduce work-related death, injury and ill health. It does so through research, information and advice, promoting training; new or revised regulations and codes of practice, and working with local authority partners by inspection, investigation and enforcement. hse.gov.uk
  2. More about the legislation referred to in this case can be found at: legislation.gov.uk/
  1. HSE news releases are available at http://press.hse.gov.uk

Journalists should approach HSE press office with any queries on regional press releases.

Mar102017

“Under the Tories living standards are being squeezed and public services are being cut”

Scottish Labour
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The Chancellor’s Budget will impose further cuts on the public services we all value.

Philip Hammond claimed it was an upbeat Budget, but the reality is that by the end of this decade up to £1billion will have been cut from the Scottish Parliament’s funding. That means less money to spend on schools and hospitals.

Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale said:

“This was billed as a Budget that would be upbeat, but what we got instead was an insight into the devastating impact a chaotic Tory Brexit will have on families across the UK. Under the Tories living standards are being squeezed, debt is on the rise and public services are being cut. 

“The Chancellor could have brought an end to seven years of damaging Tory austerity, but instead he doubled down by imposing cuts to public services and welfare. Despite the £350million extra for the Scottish Government announced today, the reality is that by the end of this decade up to £1billion will have been cut from Holyrood’s budget – cuts the SNP chooses to meekly pass on to families here in Scotland.

“The fact that the Chancellor barely mentioned Brexit at all is a sign of the Tories’ complacency. Brexit will not only damage our economy but it has also provided the Nationalists with the excuse they have been looking for to impose another destabilising independence referendum on the people of Scotland. The Tories cannot be trusted on the Union.”

With major new tax and welfare powers being devolved to the Scottish Parliament, there is a chance to do things differently. For example, Labour has set out a plan to top up Child Benefit by £240 a year by 2020. This will lift 30,000 people out of poverty.

Kezia Dugdale added:

“We don’t have to pass on Tory austerity. The SNP should stop using the Scottish Parliament as a conveyor belt for Tory austerity and back Labour’s plan to stop the cuts and invest in valued local services like schools and social care.” 

One of the big mistakes of the Budget was the Chancellor’s change to National Insurance. It means that self-employed workers – like tax drivers and plumbers – will face a National Insurance contributions hike. This breaks a Tory manifesto promise from 2015, where they said that National Insurance would not increase.

Commenting on the National Insurance increase, Scottish Labour Westminster spokesman Ian Murray said:

“This is yet another broken manifesto promise from the Tories. At the General Election in 2015 the Tories made a very clear commitment not to increase National Insurance, yet today the Chancellor did exactly that. 

“This Budget proves once and for all that ordinary working people just cannot trust the Tories. The Tories are increasing taxes on those who set up their own businesses and drive our economy while cutting taxes for big business.”