Exclusive:Scottish schools charity cuts 17 jobs weeks before Christmas after SNP funding axe
A total of 17 jobs have been axed at a national education charity just weeks before Christmas after the Scottish Government withdrew funding, it can be revealed.
The redundancies were confirmed by Young Enterprise Scotland, which has been working with the nation’s schools and colleges for more than three decades.
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Hide AdBosses described it as an “enormously unsettling and upsetting time for everyone involved”.
The charity will also lose its office at Rouken Glen in East Renfrewshire in February after ending the lease.
It comes after The Scotsman revealed in October that Young Enterprise Scotland (YE Scotland) was facing closure, having failed with all five bids it submitted for grants under a new Government funding model launched by Economy Secretary Kate Forbes this year.
Redundancy notices were initially issued to all 31 staff, but a partial funding U-turn by Ms Forbes has enabled the charity to survive, albeit with a drastically reduced workforce.
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Hide AdJust 11 of the 31 staff will be retained, with 17 being made redundant. The others are understood to have left when the funding cut was confirmed.
Five days after the threat to the charity’s future emerged in October, Ms Forbes announced in Holyrood that she had decided to approve emergency support of £285,000 to run two Young Enterprise programmes this year.
Last night, Young Enterprise Scotland CEO Emma Soanes said: “It is a huge relief that we have been able to avoid a complete closure of Young Enterprise Scotland and we are grateful to the Scottish Government for providing us with emergency funding which prevented our worst case scenario becoming reality.
“Sadly however, this will provide little consolation to the 17 valued members of our team who have lost their jobs just weeks before Christmas.
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Hide Ad“Losing our major income source has been an enormously unsettling and upsetting time for everyone involved, and while we try to remain positive there is no doubt there will be challenging times ahead as we refocus and prioritise what programmes we deliver within schools and colleges on such a reduced staff model.”


YE Scotland supported more than 18,000 school and college students last year through its programmes, including its flagship Company Programme, which many industry leaders credit with sparking their interest in a career in business.
Around 2,000 pupils from S5 and S6 take part in the Company Programme each year, starting up their own student firm, before running through the key milestones of developing an idea, conducting market research, creating the product or service, promoting that product and ultimately trading it.
Over the past three years, about 1,000 of these pupils have gone on to complete an SCQF Level 6 qualification run by YE Scotland in entrepreneurship, the same level as a Higher.
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Hide AdYE Scotland’s funding has historically come from a combination of a core continuity grant from the Scottish Government, an ongoing pipeline of support from trusts and foundations and, to a lesser extent, support from the private sector.
The grant from the Government has varied over the years, but has typically been between £450,000 and £550,000. Last year it was around £486,000.
However, the Scottish Government opted to change to a competitive process from this year, launching the Entrepreneurial Education Pathways Fund.
Last month, it was announced that £829,000 would be awarded to seven education organisations, including Gen+, which is designing lessons that set high school pupils real-world challenges by established entrepreneurs.
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Hide AdThe University of Strathclyde will also provide activity packs that develop entrepreneurial skills in primary school children.
The other successful bidders were Daydream Believers, Socialudo, Founders4Schools, Powering Futures, and High School of Glasgow.
Ms Forbes said at the time: “These projects mean that for the first time entrepreneurship will be embedded in Scotland’s classrooms, from P1 to S6.
“By mainstreaming the subject we aim to give every school leaver the skills, confidence and opportunity to set up their own business.”
For YE Scotland, however, the future remains uncertain.
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Hide AdMs Soanes said: “We will definitely be engaging our own entrepreneurial mindsets in the coming weeks and months as we reposition ourselves within the education ecosystem and continue with our commitment to deliver financial and enterprise education from primary one and early years, right through to S6.”
Documents released to The Scotsman under freedom of information laws shows how YE Scotland was warning Scottish Government officials in the weeks before its potential closure was announced that “emergency funds will be the difference between significantly reducing the workforce or complete closure”.
In a memo sent on October 14, Ms Soanes also wrote: “Whilst we accept the outcome of the tender process and fully understand the nature of competition, when coupled with the ongoing delivery up the point of change, it has impacted our financial position beyond repair.
“This makes a supportive response to the outcome of the tender process impossible.”
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Hide AdGovernment officials responded that Ms Forbes would be presented with mitigation options, but they warned: “It must be understood that the information we submit to the DFM (deputy first minister) will be subject to significant scrutiny from finance and legal colleagues who, at the moment, have an explicit remit to control expenditure”.
On October 21, Ms Soanes updated the Government, saying: “We absolutely understand the need for scrutiny and have taken time to ensure that we’ve provided as much detail as possible. This is in the interests of total transparency as well as helping to move the process forward as quickly as possible.
“An initial meeting to begin the formal process of collective redundancy consultation is scheduled for tomorrow morning with all staff attending, so time is now very much against us.”
After the story broke on October 24, officials presented Ms Forbes with three options on October 26.
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Hide AdThe options were to provide the charity with the emergency £285,000 requested, to provide partial funding, or to reject the request from YE Scotland.
Officials recommended that providing all or some of the money represented “the best solution to a challenging situation”, with Ms Forbes opting to approve the full £285,000 on October 28, the day before it was announced to MSPs.
“The necessary budget is available but will necessitate some prioritisation of other planned activity,” officials told the deputy first minister.
YE Scotland is a licensee of YE UK, meaning they share some programme content and branding but operate separately.
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Hide AdA Scottish Government spokesperson said: “This will obviously be a concerning time for all employees impacted and their families.
“The Scottish Government has engaged with Young Enterprise Scotland to try to mitigate the impact of their financial situation, including awarding £285,000 towards the two previously funded projects to ensure the organisation’s continued viability.”
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