Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government will work with all non-departmental public bodies to help them develop plans to tackle youth employment.

1. The Scottish Leaders Forum (SLF) brings together chief officers of all public bodies in Scotland to strengthen networks and bring strategic thinking to issues of relevance across public service.

2. The Scottish Leaders Forum Plenary Meeting on 1 and 2 March 2012 was focussed upon the combined areas of Sustainable Economic Growth and Youth Employment. On the particular area of Youth Employment, the Minister for Youth Employment spoke about the various strands of action to address this, now embedded within the Youth Employment Strategy.

3. Workshop sessions were then facilitated by Scottish Government Officials with colleagues from Job Centre Plus and Skills Development Scotland to discuss with participants the practical ways that employers across public service could work together to create further opportunities for young people.

4. In concluding the event, all participants were invited to make a pledge on what they would do personally, in their role as senior leaders in public service, to tackle youth unemployment. Some committed pledges on the day and others were received in response to a follow-up letter from the Permanent Secretary after the event.

5. There was a high level of engagement with this agenda and we have received 81 specific responses from organisations across public service. Within these there are:

30 organisations which commit to offer Modern Apprenticeships (some for the first time)

32 organisations which commit to offer work experience, placements or paid internships

8 organisations which commit to make use of community benefit clauses or influence the supply chain in other ways to create opportunities for young people

2 organisations which commit to substantially increase the proportion of young people in their workforce

Many indications and examples of ways that organisations will use their own communications and influence to reinforce the importance of providing opportunities for young people

Many examples of innovative collaborations and partnerships across organisations to tackle youth unemployment together

A wide variety of other pledges, including using the CPP (community planning partnership) to mobilise an action-focussed and partnership model to tackle youth unemployment, create an action-learning set across SLF members and personally providing mentoring to an unemployed young person.

The Scottish Chambers of Commerce has provided a summary of financial estimates setting out that of the £505,000:

(a) £300,000 will be allocated for incentives to firms, and

(b) £99,000 will be allocated for the delivery of careers fairs.

We want our young people to have as many positive opportunities as possible. Jobs and economic growth are this government’s top priorities and youth employment is one of the most critical.

We have invested over £46 million to benefit over 600,000 young people since CashBack began in 2007 offering young people positive opportunities and investing back into communities. All CashBack activities and projects provide our young people with positive opportunities which develops their skills and confidence that helps them prepare for their future and to reach their full potential. Those are the very attributes that employers look for in a young person.

I am delighted that every year, young people going through CashBack projects find a positive destination whether that’s as a football coach or rugby development officer in our SFA and SRU programmes or into volunteering in YouthScotland and college courses and apprenticeships through our innovative use of CashBack funding in partnership with the private sector with ScottishPower and the Personal Development Partnership.

I have met with key stakeholders including Susan McPhee, Acting Chief Executive of CAS, Yvonne MacDermid, Chief Executive of MAS and Rod Ashley, Chief Executive of Scotwest Credit Union.

I intend to bring together a wider audience, in a roundtable discussion, to consider the merits of a conference on these issues. All relevant stakeholders will be invited, including Civic Scotland and COSLA.

Regulatory powers for pay day loans rest with Her Majesty’s Government and have done so for successive UK Governments.

Further to my letter to UK Minister Norman Lamb regarding greater regulation of Payday Lenders, the UK Government has gained agreement with the industry’s four main trade associations to strengthen industry codes of practice. This includes significant improvements to ensure increased transparency for consumers about the way payday loans work, and effective compliance monitoring.

The Scottish Government believe that increased transparency will highlight that pay day loans can become a very expensive form of lending and allow consumers to make an informed choice. We view the regulation of this type of lending as a very serious issue, and we will do everything in our power to ensure that people in Scotland have access to advice, financial education, and, if appropriate to their circumstances, the option of low cost borrowing from credit unions.

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