Help at hand for young jobless
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
THE steady rise in youth unemployment across the UK since 2004 reached one million this month.
That’s one in five 16- to 24-year-olds who are not in education, training or work – not because they are lazy but because of factors beyond their control.
In the Highlands alone, a shocking 915 of our 18- to 24-year-olds are currently on Jobseekers’ Allowance.
This is worrying. If young people are out of work, consequences will be felt for decades afterwards.
We need to ensure that the young people of today do not have a false start, and help us build the new economy of the future.
That’s why Liberal Democrat Leader and Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, has unveiled the Youth Contract, worth £1 billion.
Starting next April, the Youth Contract will provide at least 410,000 new work places over the next three years for 18- to 24-year-olds to help them into work, including 160,000 wage subsidies and 250,000 new work experience placements.
These new plans will also mean that young people will receive extra support from JobCentre Plus after they have been on Jobseekers’ Allowance for three months.
This will range from help with CVs and applications to a careers interview from the National Careers Service.
This announcement comes just days after my Liberal Democrat colleague and Secretary of State for Scotland, Michael Moore, announced that JobCentre Plus are now offering employers in Scotland the opportunity to take on young people for an extended 12-week work experience placement if it will lead to an apprenticeship.
This can make a real difference to a young person, as they will continue to receive benefits during these 12 weeks.
In these difficult times, Liberal Democrats are doing the right thing and making sure we help those who need it most.
It is vital that both UK and Scottish Governments work together in supporting youth employment across Scotland.
It is one of the biggest challenges facing Scotland right now, and everyone needs to pull together to make sure we do everything we can for this generation.
I look forward to working with local businesses, the Job Centre and young Highlanders to ensure that they benefit from the support announced last week.
Direct rail links
I AM sure, like me, that ‘Strathy’ readers were disappointed to hear of the potential new threat being brought forward by Transport Scotland, the Scottish Government’s transport agency, suggesting all rail services should stop and start in the Central Belt.
Businesses in the Highlands rely on current direct rail links with London, which the UK Government recognised when it took the decision to proceed with bi-mode trains.
This ensured that the trains could continue to provide a direct service, preserving the Highland Chieftain service, as well as improving intercity rail services across the UK.
I hope that the SNP Scottish Government will quash these suggestions and vow to safeguard both the Chieftain and sleeper services.
While the SNP might be happy for Scotrail to be the only rail operator delivering services throughout Scotland, businesses rely on connections across the UK.
We must not let a Nationalist insular view of our railways dictate that cross-border services should start and stop in Edinburgh. Nor should we allow the uncertainty of the SNP’s plans to affect our remaining services.
Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie has highlighted how Transport Scotland has said itself that it is prepared to cut short the franchise in order to fit with the timetable for a referendum on independence.
Scottish Lib Dems are campaigning to stop the cutbacks to Scotland’s railways and will shortly launch a fresh campaign on the party’s website.
Our plan is to offer the future rail operator a longer franchise to allow us to insist on service improvements to passengers.
A recent academic study of rail contracts across Europe says that “Longer franchises would increase the incentives on train operating companies to consider new rolling stock”.
Longer trains and faster long-distance journeys should be delivered, not cuts, overcrowding and closed services.
