Employability

As an amendment to motion S4M-04365 in the name of Angela Constance (Employability), insert at end "; supports the need for ambitious employment and employability programmes at both local and national level; is concerned, however, that the Scottish Government's rhetoric is not matched by the decision to cut £38.2 million from college budgets, nor the £86 million cut to the housing budget in 2011, which coincided with the loss of 12,000 construction jobs; notes that Scotland’s unemployment rate is now higher than that of the UK as a whole, with one in five young people out of work, and that long-term youth unemployment is almost four times greater than a year ago; is concerned that the Scottish Government’s modern apprenticeship programme is failing to produce the necessary skills base for the growth industries of the future, and calls on the Scottish Government to ensure that its final 2013-14 budget is amended to genuinely promote jobs, growth and fairness in order to ensure that actions on employability can translate into actual employment."