Youth Employment

In December 2011, Angela Constance was appointed as Scotland’s – and the UK’s – first Youth Employment Minister, demonstrating the Scottish Government’s commitment to focus efforts in supporting young people into employment.

In January 2012, Ms Constance set out the Scottish Government’s priorities in a draft Youth Employment Strategy. The final version of this strategy, Action for Jobs – Supporting Young Scots into Work, aims to enhance the opportunities available for young people to get into work. The strategy is a call to action, a catalyst for change, a stimulus for collaborative, innovative responses to supporting young people into employment.  It is built on three strategic themes – enhancing the offer for young people, an all-Scotland approach and engaging with employers.

On top of commitments such as Opportunities for All, which guarantees a place in education or training for every 16-19 year old, the delivery of 25,000 Modern Apprenticeships each year over the lifetime of Scottish Parliament and the continuation of the Educational Maintenance Allowance which helps young people from low income families stay in education, the Scottish Government allocated additional funding of £30 million to support youth employment. Amongst other things, this funding will support the creation of 1,000 subsidised jobs in the third sector through Community Jobs Scotland, a range of opportunities for around 3,500 young people in six local authority areas, and a £2.5 million Social Enterprise and Third Sector Challenge Fund to support young unemployed people.