Scottish Government must do more to tackle youth homelessness

On May 28th I spoke in an Equal Opportunities Committee debate on “Having and keeping a home: steps to preventing homelessness among young people” at the Scottish Parliament, where I called on the Government to do everything in its power to tackle youth homelessness.

The debate followed an enquiry and report which aimed to explore the existing good practice in local authorities and other agencies in and beyond Scotland which are effective in preventing youth homelessness.

I heard evidence from young people across the country about the principle causes of youth homelessness, including family breakdowns, addiction issues and mental health problems. The report stated that homeless young people are being failed by a lack of support in overcoming inadequate life skills, compounded by substandard accommodation and isolation.

I am sure that everyone would agree that it is scandalous that young people who are already in a vulnerable position are subjected to such low levels of housing provision. It is not acceptable that young people who have been forced into homelessness are treated in that manner.

Finance is of course the biggest barrier to action being taken. I hope that the government will take seriously the points highlighted by many members and that it will do everything in its power to ensure that no young person is denied a home, an education or the support they desperately need in the future as a result of a lack of funds afforded to them.

We need to act on youth unemployment

I was glad to have the opportunity to speak in yesterday’s debate in the Scottish Parliament on youth unemployment. You can view my speech in full on the DemocracyLive section of the BBC website at 51.40 in the first half of the debate.  

There were  thoughtful and insightful contributions from across the Chamber, and I would like to extend special thanks and congratulation to my colleague Jayne Baxter for her excellent maiden speech.

Youth unemployment is too important and immediate an issue for us to allow it to become mired in petty political point scoring, and I was relieved that, for the most part – although with a few notable exceptions – there was a degree of consensus on the gravity of the problem, if not its solution.

The stark facts state that long term youth unemployment has escalated with frightening rapidity, especially in areas such as North Lanarkshire. As was pointed out in yesterday’s debate, Lanarkshire has already suffered the ravages of endemic unemployment, following the dismantling of its once vibrant coal industry and the closure of the Ravenscraig steelworks. We have a responsibility to do everything in our power to bring jobs and investment to the area, and to ensure that young people have access to the advice, education and training they need to enter the jobs market.

As I highlighted during the debate, although the Scottish Government has invested considerable funds in youth employment schemes, it has also reduced funding for further education by 24% between 2011 and 2015, This may well lead to the closure of some courses, and deny many young people the opportunity to gain the training and qualifications they need to enter employment or higher education.

In another negative move, the Government skills and training agency Skills Development Scotland has withdrawn front line careers advisory services, replacing them with the website “My World of Work”. Although Angela Constance, the Minister for Youth Employment, assured me that this website constitutes “a service enhancement and is certainly not a replacement for face-to-face contact”, the closure of local Skills Development Scotland offices and the reduction in staff numbers suggests otherwise.

Cutting back on further education funding and careers advisory services is, I believe, antithetical to the Scottish Government’s stated objective of tackling youth unemployment.

I hope that Angela Constance and her Scottish Government Colleagues – especially the Cabinet Secretary for Education, Mike Russell – listened carefully to the contributions to yesterday’s debate, and will take the advice offered in the collaborative spirit implied by its “all Government, all Scotland” approach.

Endemic youth unemployment a real threat

I was very concerned at recent figures revealing a massive rise in the levels of long term youth unemployment over the past 4 years. Figures compiled by the STUC show that the incidence of 16-24 year-olds claiming Jobseekers’ Allowance escalated by over 1000% between March 2008 and March 2012, a rise in excess of that in both England and Wales.

Further analysis of the data reveals an even more worrying picture, with the rise in rates of long term youth unemployment even higher within certain local authority areas.

For example, in North Lanarkshire the percentage of 16-24 year-olds claiming JSA for more than a year rose by over 3000% between March 2008 and March 2012, whilst figures for South Lanarkshire show a percentage increase of over 2500% over the same period.

Youth unemployment is rapidly becoming the major crisis of our times. Despite some excellent work at local authority level, with both North and South Lanarkshire Council’s investing significant funds to help young people into work, there has been a marked lack of leadership from Central Government, and it is this failure of leadership that is fuelling the rise in long term youth unemployment.

It is time for Mr Salmond and his SNP Govermment colleagues to stop hiding behind the claims of “25,000 modern apprenticeships”, and “guaranteed places in education or training for 16-19 year-olds” and take responsibility for the reality on the ground.

Youth Unemployment still a huge problem

Whilst I join my colleague Kezia Dugdale, Labour’s Shadow Minister for Youth Unemployment, in cautiously welcoming the news that both North and South Lanarkshire will benefit from the Scottish Government’s youth employment strategy fund, it is vital that this money is not just a one-off headline grabber, but is invested in a sensible way to produce employment opportunities over a sustained period.

Last week’s latest round of unemployment statistics once again made for depressing reading, especially in North Lanarkshire, where the latest figures show the claimant count amongst 16-24 year-olds (those claiming jobseekers allowance) is now at 10.1%, up from 9.4% this time last year, and well above the Scottish and UK average.

Under this SNP Government Scotland has become locked in a downward spiral of unemployment, with women and young people bearing the brunt of the crisis.  Last month North Lanarkshire Council, in common with other local authorities such as Falkirk and South Lanarkshire, announced significant investment in projects to get local people into work.

Following the publication of its Youth Employment Strategy I urged the Government to learn from the employment initiatives being launched by local authorities. Instead, on the day on which Youth Unemployment Minister Angela Constance described youth unemployment as “endemic”, we learned that the Government’s own careers advisory agency, Skills Development Scotland, plans to cut 10% of its staff across Scotland, with 60% of those cuts to key frontline workers in North Lanarkshire.

This will mean that school leavers in North Lanarkshire will receive less face to face careers advice, and flies in the face of the Scottish Government’s stated commitment to addressing youth unemployment in Scotland.

Leave no one behind

On Thursday I spoke in a Scottish Government debate on the Youth Employment Strategy.

I was very glad to have the opportunity to speak on what is becoming a crisis issue. The rate of youth unemployment in Scotland has now crept above the UK average, and the problem is especially acute in areas of Central Scotland.

Whilst I believe that the Government’s strategy contains some positive initiatives, such as Community Jobs Scotland, it is generally short on detail. That is why I was keen to emphasize the many positive schemes being funded and administered by local councils.

Falkirk, North and South Lanarkshire Councils have worked hard to address the problem of youth unemployment, and their schemes have all enjoyed considerable success. I believe that the Government should learn from these examples.

I also believe that some provision for young people on the autistic spectrum, and indeed those with other disabilities, should form a part of any future strategy. There is currently very little in the way of employment and educational opportunities for autistic school leavers; this situation has been ongoing for some time, and is simply unacceptable.

A Youth Employment Strategy should be comprehensive – it should include everyone, and leave no one behind. Everyone deserves the chance to work.

Hamilton CAB

SIobhan with Community Jobs Scotland employees Scott, Michael, Barry, Ian , Natalie and Maggie

I recently visited  Hamilton CAB to speak to staff employed through the Community Jobs Scotland scheme.

Community Jobs Scotland helps young poeople aged between 16-24 into sustainable, long term employment by offering them paid work experience in the Third Sector. Opportunities must provide at least 25 hours of work per week, and must pay at least the minimum wage. So far, the scheme has secure short term employment for over 1,000 people.

I really enjoyed talking to the young people on the scheme. Many young people are demonised in the media as lazy and feckless; they are portrayed as lacking both the desire and the qualifications to find work. I have never believed this to be the case, and was annoyed to hear the SNP Member for Shettleston, John Mason, repeat this demeaning stereotype in Parliament when he alleged that many young people do not want to work.

I suggest Mr Mason visits the young employees at Hamilton CAB. One of the employees I spoke to described searching for a job with his best friend, who was also out of work. They went out every day, handed out hundreds of CVs, and, despite their relative lack of success, remained positive and determined by providing support and encouragement to each other.

To assert that the thousands of young people currently unemployed are  reluctant to work is ridiculous and insulting; instead of blaming young people who are suffering from a lack of opportunities, it is time that the Scottish Government took firm action to combat youth unemployment.

The other young employees I spoke to during my visit were enthusiastic about their work with the CAB, where they have been placed on a structured training programme providing them with transferable skills and experience of dealing with the public.

However, whilst Community Jobs Scotland is providing welcome opportunities for young people, improvements can be made. Potential participants should not be required to be out of work for six months before applying to the scheme, as is currently the case, and nor should they have to wait 6 months between placements.  Flexibility is key, and if the current rigidity is not done away with, then participants will become trapped in a cycle of termporary placements.

However, by and large, the scheme is performing well, and I would like the Scottish Goverment to invest further funds to give more young people a foot up in the job market.