Capita Job Losses (Skypark)

– in the Scottish Parliament at on 26 November 2020.

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Photo of Sandra White Sandra White Scottish National Party

First Minister, Three UK is not renewing its contract with Capita at Skypark, in my constituency. That will result in 500 jobs lost over the next couple of months. Will the Scottish Government commit to exploring every avenue to save jobs at Skypark, and will it give an assurance that it will provide substantial and tangible support to employees who are affected by the decision?

Photo of Nicola Sturgeon Nicola Sturgeon Scottish National Party

I was concerned to learn that Capita has entered into consultation with its customer service staff who support the Three UK contract. I know that this will be a worrying time for those workers, particularly given the difficult time that the whole country is going through.

Sandra White has already spoken to the Minister for Business, Fair Work and Skills about her concerns, and he told her that he has spoken to Capita, to encourage it to fully explore redeployment opportunities along with all possible options to mitigate any potential job losses. Scottish Enterprise is also engaging with Capita and is offering its support now and through the consultation period.

If this does, sadly, result in job losses, the Government will provide support to all affected employees through our initiative for responding to redundancy situations: the partnership action for continuing employment—PACE—initiative, which is well known to members.

We will do everything that we can to support people in what I know is a very difficult set of circumstances.

The Presiding Officer:

Thank you, colleagues. That concludes First Minister’s question time.

13:28 Meeting suspended.

14:30 On resuming—