Fiona Hyslop

Sandy Begbie, who led the Developing the Young Workforce Group that played a pivotal role in the delivery of the Edinburgh Guarantee to young people, was asked to write an implementation plan for the guarantee.

The report’s recommendations include carrying out early work to identify youth employment opportunities with employers in some of the least impacted sectors, including financial services, utilities and life sciences.

It also called for working to introduce an incentive model where the government pays 50% of wages for young people who need the most help.

The plan also called upon the public sector to create more opportunities for young people and for businesses who would not normally have taken an apprentice full-time to consider sharing an apprentice with other employers.

It also recommended providing support to encourage SMEs to take on a young person if they are able to do so.

The guarantee will ensure everyone aged between 16 and 24 has the opportunity of work, education or training. The Scottish Government is funding it with £60 million which will be broken down as follows:

• £30m through local authorities to help local partnerships to deliver employability support for young people
• £10m to create additional opportunities in colleges
• £10m additional funding for Developing the Young Workforce, the Scottish Government’s internationally recognised Youth Employment Strategy
• £10m to support pathways to apprenticeships

Economy secretary Fiona Hyslop said: “The guarantee will be crucial to improving the opportunities of young people in light of the pandemic, and I was delighted to be able to speak to some of them earlier today about how the Edinburgh Guarantee has benefitted them.

“The scale of this task will be significant, and that is why we have set ourselves the challenge of this ambitious guarantee. I would urge all employers who are able, to work with us to create more opportunities that recognise the valuable contribution our young people have to make in growing our economy. Progress will only be possible through collaboration and a collective determination to succeed. I am pleased that the Scottish Government has become one of the early adopters of the Youth Guarantee.

“My message to Scotland’s young people is simple: we are right behind you, we want you to be successful and we will do everything we can to give you the opportunities you need.”