Glasgow Council for the Voluntary Sector

– in the Scottish Parliament at on 29 May 2013.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of Anne McTaggart Anne McTaggart Labour

4. To ask the Scottish Government what recent work it has carried out in partnership with the Glasgow Council for the Voluntary Sector. (S4O-02168)

Photo of John Swinney John Swinney Scottish National Party

Glasgow Council for the Voluntary Sector is part of Glasgow’s third sector interface, which provides a single point of access and support to the third sector in Glasgow. In 2012-13, we have allocated more than £460,000 to help the Glasgow interface to develop volunteering and social enterprises, to grow a strong local third sector and to build the third sector’s relationship with community planning. GCVS has supported the distribution of Glasgow’s £700,000 reshaping care for older people transformation fund, and it successfully applied for funding in year 1 of the reducing reoffending change fund.

Photo of Anne McTaggart Anne McTaggart Labour

In June last year, the Government published “Action for Jobs—Supporting Young Scots into Work: Scotland’s Youth Employment Strategy”, which highlighted the importance of the third sector in the Government’s plan to address growing unemployment. Given that the youth unemployment rate is now estimated to be more than 16 per cent, is the cabinet secretary satisfied that the objectives in the strategy are being met?

Photo of John Swinney John Swinney Scottish National Party

There is clearly a significant issue in relation to youth employment in Scotland today, which is why the Government took the action that it took to establish the specific ministerial responsibilities that Angela Constance is taking forward in tackling the issue. The statistics demonstrate that we are making significant progress in reducing the levels of youth unemployment, and that we are boosting youth employment in Scotland.

However, I say to Anne McTaggart that we are only part of the way through that exercise. There needs to be an intensified focus—to which I am certain the third sector in Glasgow is contributing—to ensure that we complete the tasks that are involved in creating the necessary opportunities for young people in our society, and in tackling the level of youth unemployment as effectively as possible.