Letter to Minister on Youth Employment Strategy Funding...

Ms. Angela Constance, MSP Minister for Youth Employment T3.25 The Scottish Parliament EDINBURGH EH99 1SP Dear Minister Youth Employment Strategy Funding I wish to raise several concerns with the methodology, transparency and outcome of the current allocation of additional funding to support Local Authorities in tackling youth unemployment. I understand that the available £9m is the balance from an initial allocation of £30m originally announced for this activity.  It is worrying that this allocation has been diluted over recent months, particularly since I have learnt that funding has been diverted to Further Education and the Community Jobs Fund. I am sure that you are aware that Inverclyde remains one of the most employment deprived areas of Scotland with a significant jobs gap.  Indeed, from your own labour market information, it is recognised that the claimant count rate for Inverclyde is the 6th highest in Scotland.  This anomaly is not unique to Inverclyde, with other areas having equally high claimant count rates and being excluded from additional funding.  Accordingly, the methodology for allocation of award between authorities seems arbitrary and discretionary on the one hand, whilst there is a perceived lack of fairness and transparency on the other hand.  Please clarify who agreed the Local Authority allocations, as it appears there has been no consultation through SLAED, which is the primary economic development engagement forum for all Local Authorities below COSLA. Please clarify the justification for additional funds for the Community Jobs Fund which has underperformed, both in participation and outcome rates since the allocation of funds to SCVO.  I think it is worthwhile to note that Inverclyde currently has 905 young people aged 18-24 in receipt of JSA, the 31 posts provided through the Community Jobs Fund programme will not even begin to tackle youth unemployment in Inverclyde. You will appreciate that Inverclyde Council through the Single Outcome Agreement and Community Planning procedures has allocated resources for employability and has been successful in programme delivery, including targeted initiatives with young people from care leavers to graduates.  Nevertheless, the Local Authority alone cannot solve all of the historical and deep rooted labour market challenges we face, we rely on support from partner agencies and indeed we would welcome much needed support from the Scottish Government. Finally, this decision has been made when it appears that Inverclyde has been disadvantaged in other areas of economic development as a result of the decision making process of Scottish Government.  There have been significant cuts to the budget associated with our Urban Regeneration Company, Riverside Inverclyde, which put at risk our efforts to regenerate the area and develop the business base.  Inverclyde has been excluded from the award of Enterprise Area status whilst neighbouring authorities have been included and are, therefore, more attractive destinations for inward investment.  The net effect of all the above is that the physical regeneration of Inverclyde is stalling and is increasingly reliant on the singular funding of the Local Authority.  If the area becomes less competitive in attracting new companies, unemployment will continue to increase in the area which is something none of us aspire to. I welcome your response and certainly the opportunity to sit down and discuss this situation further. Yours sincerely Stephen McCabe Leader of the Council