Weekly update: Employers views on recruiting people with a learning disability, Scottish Business Monitor Q3 2024, UK Budget previews and Prevention Watch

It’s been a busy week here at the Fraser of Allander Institute with a number of new reports and briefings released.

Research on Employer Behaviour and Learning Disabilities

On Wednesday we published a summary of findings from recent research conducted by Inclusive Recruiting on our behalf to better understand the fears and concerns of employers preventing them from employing people with a learning disability. This is part of our long-running programme on improving lives for people with learning disabilities in Scotland funded by the charity Acorns to Trees. Evidence suggests that employment rates for people with learning disabilities could be as low as 4 – 8%. Through interviews and an online survey key themes emerged regarding barriers to hiring people with learning disabilities.

1. A lack of knowledge of what a learning disability is is leading to prejudice
2. There is a lack of accountability and organisational prioritisation to ensure a more diverse workforce can be recruited and supported
3. There is a lack of knowledge on how to make recruitment processes accessible to people with learning disabilities
4. Perceived cost barriers to having people with learning disabilities within your workforce are acting as a barrier to action
5. Employers do not know where to start to look for support.

The report contains options for improvement and we have accessible reports available to download on our website.

Fraser of Allander Scottish Business Monitor Q3 2024

Today we published the Scottish Business Monitor for the third quarter of 2024 which asked questions about what was happening for businesses over August and September and their thoughts on the outlook for the year ahead.

There are definitely positive signs coming from businesses in Scotland with firms reporting an increase in employment levels and an easing off of cost pressures. The data this week on inflation, which has dipped below the Bank of England target of 2% for this first time since 2021, should further bolster business confidence. Of course challenges remain, including continued issues around exports, investment, staff availability, and rising staff costs meaning that growth expectations are somewhat tempered although positive overall.

Looking ahead to the UK Budget

The UK Budget will of course be looming large in the minds of businesses across Scotland as well as us here at the FAI, and we’re already starting to see the trickle of possible announcements being trailed in the media.

There will be much more from us on the budget in the next couple of weeks, and this week we’ve put out the first in a series of long reads on the UK Budget, starting with a look at the role of fiscal rules and the changes that are being considered by the Chancellor ahead of the 30^th November. Find it on our website – perfect weekend reading!

The role of prevention in tackling health inequalities

In case you missed it, the Scottish Health Equity Research Unit (a collaboration between us here at the FAI and the Centre for Health Policy at Strathclyde, supported by the Health Foundation) published the first in its new series of Prevention Watch briefings.

We all hear about the importance of prevention in public service delivery and this regular brief will shine a light on interesting developments related to preventing health inequalities through socioeconomic policy. In the 1st edition the briefing looks at comments from the Auditor General on the importance of leadership, the resource implications of prevention in relation to homelessness and suicide legislation, views of the Chief Executive of Public Health Scotland on the poverty dimension of health outcomes, and the Scottish Government’s vision for health and social care in Scotland and the conflation of policy related to early intervention and prevention.