Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government invests £2 billion a year in grant funding to improve the future employment prospects of those participating in further and higher education. Whether in school, college or university, individuals can gain access to careers advice and support through Skills Development Scotland. Educational institutions also routinely encourage students to make full use of their own local careers facilities, with a view to aiding employment.

The Nigg Skills Academy has been developed to provide access to training which will equip individuals with the skills to participate in the opportunities that will flow from current and future investment in Nigg and in the wider energy industry.

In 2012-13 the Nigg Skills Academy has been contracted to deliver 270 modern apprenticeship starts. 140 of the contracted places are for 16 to 24-year-olds.

The Annual Population Survey (APS) is the preferred source of detailed data on young unemployed people.

The latest APS data available is for April 2011 to March 2012. This data shows that there were 4,500 people aged 16 to 18 who were not in full-time education and had been unemployed for over year. It is not possible to provide data broken down by local authority area due to the underlying sample sizes.

Given the continuing challenges within the labour market for young people, it is important that we continue to maximise the number of 16 to 24-year-olds moving into employed apprenticeships. All approved modern apprenticeship frameworks in Scotland are funded for this group, with higher contribution rates for apprentices aged 16 to 19.

Skills Development Scotland will continue to prioritise the majority of modern apprenticeship places to the 16 to 19-year-old cohort, get Ready for Work places to 16 to 18-year-olds, and Training for Work places to those aged 18 and above.

The £18 million available in 2012-13 now fully committed, and I am currently consulting on the best use of the remainder of the £30 million available over 2013-15, taking account of the impacts of this year’s investment.

I continue to take every available opportunity to widen the discussion beyond this additional funding and to consider how our investment across learning, economic development and local government can be aligned with the youth employment agenda.

As part of the all Government, all Scotland approach to tackling youth employment, all Cabinet Secretaries will consider how best they can each support Scottish Government objectives of helping young people into employment within their areas of responsibility on an ongoing basis.

As part of the all Government, all Scotland approach to tackling youth employment, all Cabinet Secretaries will consider how best they can each support Scottish Government objectives of helping young people into employment within their areas of responsibility on an ongoing basis.

As part of the all Government, all Scotland approach to tackling youth employment, all Cabinet Secretaries will consider how best they can each support Scottish Government objectives of helping young people into employment within their areas of responsibility on an ongoing basis.

The Scottish Chambers of Commerce put forward a proposal for a pilot scheme to support graduate recruitment and business growth. The Scottish Chambers of Commerce considered areas with high rates of unemployed young people aged 18 to 24 and areas in which they are well placed to immediately support delivery of the pilot.

As part of the all government, all Scotland approach to tackling youth employment, all Cabinet Secretaries will consider how best they can each support Scottish Government objectives of helping young people into employment within their areas of responsibility on an ongoing basis.