JACK Perry, chief executive of Scottish Enterprise, says the organisation must return to a sharper focus on pure economic development because at present it is responsible for everything from ''rehabilitation of drug addicts to regeneration of the Clyde waterfront''.
In a staggeringly blunt speech to the Scottish Engineering annual dinner in Glasgow, Perry seemingly made plain his wish for the economic development agency to jettison much of its social inclusion work.
He endorsed Nobel prize-winning economist James Heckman's recent conclusion that ''the efficiency of public spending would be enhanced if human capital investment was directed more towards the young and away from older, less-skilled and illiterate persons for whom human capital is a poor investment''.
Perry, who took over the top job at Scottish Enterprise in February, proclaimed these comments had ''given us at SE something to work on''.
He added: ''I realise government has a duty to care for and support and, where possible, develop this latter group (the older, less skilled, and illiter-ate) but I do not believe this should be the primary responsibility of an economic development agency.
''However, I am certain that by creating a more vibrant, dynamic and growing economy all Scots will benefit.''
It remains to be seen how Perry's comments will go down with his political masters, who have put social inclusion at the heart of their policy agenda.
Perry would appear, after a relatively quiet first three months, to be starting to try to make his presence felt and drive forward the agenda for the economic development agency.
His predecessor, Robert Crawford, had cited fierce
criticism of the organisation as a driver of his decision to depart.
A Scottish Enterprise spokesman confirmed that much of the agency's social inclusion responsibilities came when it subsumed Careers Scotland in April 2002.
The spokesman also confirmed that Perry's comments about the range of activities did not signal a wish not to be involved in the Clyde waterfront regeneration. Rather,
the chief executive was specifically questioning whether social inclusion was the role of an economic development agency.
Final text of a speech obtained by The Herald from Scottish Enterprise shows that Perry, a former chairman of
the Confederation of British Industry in Scotland and ex-partner of accountancy firm Ernst & Young, told his dinner audience on Thursday night: ''We need to return to a sharper focus on pure economic development.
''At present, we are responsible for a range of activities from the rehabilitation of drug addicts to regeneration of the Clyde waterfront. Our purpose has become opaque and consequently our message confused.''
Perry said Scottish Enterprise had a demand from its customers for ''support to develop the workforce of the future''.
He added: ''Time and again you tell us that it is not so much skill shortages you face but skills gaps, and often these gaps are in soft and basic skills, problem solving, numeracy, customer service, even understanding of the need to turn up for work every day.''
Singling out those who lacked a work ethic, he declared: ''Some of our best results are in programmes for groups not far from the labour market - school leavers who need workplace skills. Our results are less good trying to train those who don't really want jobs.''
He then went on to say that he found Chicago University-based Heckman's lecture on this subject in Scotland last week, part of the Allander Series on Scotland's economic future promoted by former enterprise minister Wendy Alexander, had ''given us at SE something to work on''.
Perry also told his audience that, if he could do one thing in his new role as chief executive of Scottish Enterprise, it was to ''play my part in helping to break the destructive cycle of underperformance and consequent self-doubt that prevails in Scotland''.
He also acknowledged continuing public scepticism about the value of Scottish Enterprise.
Perry said: ''While it is heartening that Scottish Enterprise is held in such high regard internationally, I am not sure people in Scotland think of us in the same way. I would like us to be an agency in which the people of Scotland can feel proud.''
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