Employment

As an amendment to motion S4M-14405 in the name of Jackie Baillie (Employment), leave out from first “believes” to end and insert “recognises the achievement of the UK Government in increasing employment by 175,000 in Scotland since the 2010 General Election; acknowledges that there has been considerable growth in full-time employment and number of hours worked; welcomes that wages continue to rise ahead of inflation and the positive impact on earnings that will be brought about by the national living wage premium announced in the Chancellor's summer budget; considers that education is one of the most important drivers of economic prosperity, and expresses disappointment with the Scottish Government's record on education, which has brought about a fall in literacy and numeracy, a failure to close the gap in attainment between the most and least well-off school pupils and the cut to 140,000 further education colleges places."