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I have one final question, and then I will invite Graham Simpson in.

Last week, we had the cabinet secretary in to talk about the budget. There has been a £53 million cut in funding for employability services. The cabinet secretary outlined that that money was not committed, that opportunity was being lost and that the cut was necessary in a difficult financial situation. That was the decision that the Government made.

I go to Ashley Ryan first. It was anticipated that that money would come through, but it has been removed. Do you have any comment on the employability landscape for people with disabilities? What funding is required to deliver in that area?

Can you describe the barriers? When we think about the disability employment gap, we may think that the solution is the same for everybody, or that employers all need to do the same things to support more people into work. However, are there different barriers for people who are living with different disabilities?

Was it anticipated that the £53 million was coming? Was there planning under way or expectations linked to that?

Before I bring in Maggie Chapman, I will say that it was anticipated that Skills Development Scotland would be on the panel this morning, but for understandable reasons it is not here. Do you want to say a wee bit about the national bodies and national partnerships that are important to delivery in this area? You have spoken about local authorities, the postcode lottery and local delivery, but who are the national players here that are important?

Our next item of business is an evidence session on the disability employment gap. The committee has agreed to undertake some initial work to identify and address the barriers that limit the ability of disabled people to get and keep employment. We have launched a call for views, which will remain open until 16 February. At our next meeting in a fortnight, the committee will hear from the Minister for Just Transition, Employment and Fair Work. We plan to return to this work later in the year.

I welcome Emma Congreve, deputy director of the Fraser of Allander Institute, and Ashley Ryan, director of Enable Works at Enable Scotland. I ask members to keep their questions and answers as concise as possible so that we get through as much as possible.

I come to Ashley Ryan first. In general, participation rates for disabled people in the labour market have improved in the past 10 years. How has that been achieved? In your view, what is the employment outlook for the disabled population?

Enable Scotland—I think—recently worked with the Fraser of Allander Institute to produce a report. We know that the number of disabled people in employment has increased, but are some disabled people now further away from the labour market? The report focuses on those with learning disabilities, and the Government has a target in that regard. Do you have any insight into where greater focus might be needed?

Thank you for that, Ashley.

I turn to Emma Congreve. My initial question was partly about the outlook for continued progress. We recognise that there has been progress and that disabled people are getting into employment, but what does the picture for continued progress look like? The Government has a target to increase the employment rate for people with disabilities to 50 per cent. Do you think that it is on track to meet that target?

Thank you. Those were really helpful final answers. We will have the minister here in two weeks. I am sure that those are issues that members will want to raise with him.

I have a final question about “A Fairer Scotland for Disabled People: Employment Action Plan”. There have been a couple of progress reports; I think that we are lacking the most recent one. How important are progress reports? The plan includes a commitment on halving the gap by 2038, but there is also a commitment to have 50 per cent of disabled people in employment by 2023. How important is it that we get progress reports, and what are the key indicators that the Government should give us? The recent report focused on particular areas in Social Security Scotland and other public bodies, but that seems quite narrow for the scale of the challenge that we are trying to address.

The report also made recommendations around data, which you mentioned. You described the difficulties that exist in calculating the employability gap because of the number of adults who identify as having a disability. The report also talked about

“an audit of the current employability support schemes”.

The report was published in 2021. Has there been any Government response to it, or have you had any discussions with Government about some of the recommendations on data and audit?

Good morning, and welcome to the third meeting in 2023 of the Economy and Fair Work Committee. Our first item of business is to decide whether to take item 3 in private. Are members content to do so?

Members indicated agreement.