Meeting of the Parliament 19 March 2014
Thank you. I appreciate that.
The Scottish Government runs education in conjunction with Skills Development Scotland, so we have significant powers here in order to achieve more training, education and access to employment.
I will turn to the UK Government’s position on the European youth guarantee and the other measures that have been undertaken and look at how Scotland compares.
As the Minister of State for Employment, Mark Hoban, made clear, the UK Government does not believe that an all-encompassing work or training guarantee after four months is cost effective or in keeping with the UK labour market’s traditional strength of flexibility. Although I agree entirely with the European youth guarantee’s aims, it is perhaps best viewed as a response to particular challenges, some of which Jenny Marra raised, faced by several underperforming eurozone countries. Jenny Marra mentioned Greece, but I could equally mention Italy. Italy has a 42 per cent youth unemployment rate, compared with UK and Scottish levels that are both, I am pleased to say, below 20 per cent.
Accordingly, the UK Government is right to adopt a different policy response that is cost effective and focuses on the long-term unemployed. Our youth unemployment is below the EU average and falling at a faster rate. The centrepiece of the UK’s policy is the £1 billion youth contract scheme that was introduced two years ago, before the European youth guarantee scheme. That will provide almost 500,000 new opportunities for 18 to 24-year-olds through wage subsidies to employers, as well as apprenticeships and work experience placements. I am sure that the Scottish Government appreciates and endorses the value of such measures, and welcomes the fact that, between July and September last year, national youth unemployment fell by 48,000 across the UK.
Both approaches have the same essential aim of increasing the number of young people who are in work and ensuring that youth unemployment recedes back to historical norms. Consequently, the debate is best characterised not as a battle between two diametrically opposed forces but as a technical discussion about a time period.
László Andor, the European Commissioner for Employment, Social affairs and Inclusion, recognised that point in a speech at the University of Greenwich last year. He explained that there was significant disagreement in the Council of the European Union between those who felt that the four-month trigger was necessary and those who felt that six months would be more appropriate. If the Scottish Government falls into the former camp, my party and the coalition Government are in the latter group, but we all share the same aims—we all want the best opportunities and training for young people.
Another statistic is that four out of five young people come off jobseekers allowance within six months of signing on, which suggests that the current targeted approach best aligns with how our labour market is structured.
My final points are about the cuts to the colleges budget. SDS directly contracts less than 10 per cent of apprenticeships to further education, although I appreciate that the figure is higher for subcontracting. In these difficult times, I hope that our colleges, whose reputation is second to none, will get an additional share of that budget.
We know that there are 140,000 fewer students at college now than there were in 2007, which will harm our economy in the long run. Further education has lost 2,000 staff in the past three years and the number of staff is still falling—another 400 job losses in the past quarter were announced today. There are opportunities for modern apprenticeships, training and a quality education that every employer in Scotland recognises. We can involve the private sector and the third sector, but please do not forget our colleges.
I move amendment S4M-09376.1, to leave out from “within a period” to end and insert:
“; however recognises the reasons why the UK Government has opted not to sign up to the scheme; appreciates that a more flexible approach better aligns with the UK labour market; commends the work done by both the Scottish and UK governments to tackle youth unemployment, and recognises the shared commitment by both governments and all parties to tackle joblessness and improve the life chances of young people”.
Motions, questions or amendments mentioned by their reference code.