Heather Gray: New minister is a welcome move to help young Scots

THE Scottish Government’s announcement that it is to appoint a minister, Angela Constance, to tackle youth unemployment is a welcome and much- needed step in supporting our young people to achieve their full potential.

The issue of youth unemployment cannot be solved with a single programme; there is no “one size fits all” solution. There are an array of issues facing this diverse demographic group and we look forward to working with the minister to devise new solutions to enable disengaged young Scots.

With Scotland’s youth unemployment figure at over 100,000, the new minister has a very challenging task at hand, but what we do know is that amongst those numbers is a generation of young people who are able, willing and ready to work.

Times are tough and we cannot afford to write off a whole generation of talent. We have a wealth of undiscovered skills and the most important remit for this new minister will be to discover and nurture this potential.

Our experience and research provides compelling evidence that tackling youth unemployment is more cost-effective that dealing with its consequences. Given our ageing population, preparing these young people for entry-level jobs is also intelligent workforce planning.

The world has changed. What we need now is action. We need to give the young the tools to become the success stories they deserve to be.

We support some of the country’s hardest to reach young people, helping them overcome the significant barriers they face in their young lives. We believe that a difficult start does not have to determine their path in life.

The government’s appointment of a new minister is testament to the severity of the situation.

We are committed to working with the government and partners in the public and private sectors to equip young people with the skills, training and industry connections necessary to ensure potential becomes a reality.

• Heather Gray is director of The Prince’s Trust Scotland.