Meeting of the Parliament 19 March 2014
Well, that was easy. I thank the member.
The point that I was trying to make is that key to our interventions is that we are targeting young people early, before they drift to long-term unemployment. Longer-term measures such as the curriculum for excellence, reform of the college sector and our support for university graduates have all been taken with a view to better preparing young people for the world of work.
The commission for developing Scotland’s young workforce will offer a framework for creating opportunities for work experience for young people and a real focus on ensuring that young people do not disengage early from education but embark on pathways that link closely with labour market demand.
The Government is committed to using the £74 million of European youth initiative funding that will be available to us to make a real difference in south-west Scotland. That funding is allocated to regions across the EU in which the unemployment rate for young people was above 25 per cent in December 2012 and supports individuals aged between 15 and 29 who are currently inactive or are at risk of not moving to education, employment or training. To unlock that funding, we need the UK Government to finalise a partnership agreement with the Commission, but I am open to engaging widely on how we can use it to tackle long-standing problems in areas such as Glasgow, Ayrshire, Lanarkshire, Dumfries and Galloway and Renfrewshire. I have already received an assurance from the Deputy Prime Minister that the Scottish Government will be responsible for the management of the youth employment initiative money for south-west Scotland and a programme that, when matched with domestic resources, will be worth at least £110 million.
An important aspect of my role is persuading Scotland’s employers to invest in their future by growing young talent. I believe that our young people are intelligent, creative, hardworking and willing to work and, as the economy shows signs of recovery, we must continue to make the business case to employers to future proof their ability to take advantage of the new business opportunities that will emerge. Our make young people your business campaign will continue throughout 2014 with sectorally themed events in key areas such as the digital sector, information and communications technology, oil and gas, textiles and engineering, to name but a few.
Young people are without doubt hit the hardest when the economy is weak, but, as I have previously emphasised to the Parliament, youth unemployment is not just a product of recession. Prior to the recession and at a time of economic growth in this country, youth unemployment rates in Scotland reached around 14 per cent. We have to be more ambitious; after all, our goal cannot just be a return to pre-recession levels. I am sure that we all want better for the young people of Scotland.
Today’s debate and the cross-party support for the European youth guarantee should be taken as an opportunity to signal this Parliament’s determination to deliver a shared positive vision for our young people. The lessons that I have gathered from what other European countries are doing, from what we are doing in Scotland and from my wide discussions with employers, young people and other stakeholders across Scotland confirm my belief that we need to engage early to offer young people the support that they need before they drift to long-term unemployment; to better align our skills and employment systems with a supportive tax and benefits regime that is focused on moving young people into employment instead of penalising them for not being able to find work; and to tackle underemployment to create entry opportunities for young people with fewer or no qualifications.
With that in mind, I move,
That the Parliament recognises the critical role that young people will play in delivering long-term economic growth; recognises the disadvantage that young people face in the labour market and the negative impact of allowing long periods of inactivity; accepts the principle of early intervention to offer young people a positive destination; supports the principal aim of the European Youth Guarantee to reduce youth unemployment; endorses the aim of ensuring that all young people under the age of 25 receive a good quality offer of employment, continued education, an apprenticeship or a traineeship within a period of four months of becoming unemployed or leaving education, and agrees that, to deliver this, delivery agencies must align skills, employment, taxation and benefit policy to better support young people into education, training or employment.
14:58