Key figures in business and education including the Chief Executive of the City of Edinburgh Council will meet later today in Glasgow to outline how best employers can make long term commitments to developing and employing young people.
Rob Woodward, chief executive of STV, will today chair the first meeting of the National Invest in Young People Group.
The Group has been convened to oversee the establishment of industry led Regional Invest in Young People Groups across Scotland a key recommendation of the Commission for Developing Scotland’s Young Workforce.
The Group also includes the following members:
- Colin Borland – Head of External Affairs (Scotland), Federation of Small Businesses
- Sue Bruce – Chief Executive of Edinburgh City Council
- Liz Cameron – Chief Executive, Scottish Chambers of Commerce
- Heather Dunk – Principal of Ayrshire College
- Sylvia Halkerston – Former HR Director, Macphie of Glenbervie
- Grahame Smith – General Secretary of the STUC
- John Stewart – HR Director Scottish & Southern Energy
- Graeme Waddell – Chairman of Energen Biogas.
Cabinet Secretary for Fair Work, Skills and Training Roseanna Cunningham welcomed the meeting and said:
“This is an important step in the delivery of a wide ranging radical programme to develop a world class vocational education system for Scotland. Our young people are well educated and keen to work and our employers are increasingly recognising that investing in young people will be crucial to growing their businesses.
“This group will draw on the knowledge and experience from different interests to put young people and employers at the centre of vocational education. Their input will be key to support the system that meets the needs of our employers and matches the ambition of our young people and I will be very interested to hear about what they have discussed.
“Recent employment statistics for Scotland have been very encouraging with record numbers of people in work. However, we want to go further and to tackle long term issues in the labour market and barriers to young women and men getting into jobs.
“I want to be very clear that we will not settle for a return to pre-recession levels of youth unemployment and the Scottish Government has shown real ambition with our initial response to the Commission’s work. We will outline how we will take forward the recommendations in the coming weeks.
Rob Woodward said:
“I have been impressed by the breadth of knowledge and enthusiasm shown by every member of this group. They are all passionate about delivering a vocational education system in Scotland that supports the needs of our employers, our young people and our economy.
“By drawing such committed people from industry, education and the trade union movement can contribute to delivering that shared vision.”
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