20,000 Scottish young people out of work for more than 1 year

8,000 Scottish young people out of work for more than 2 years

In figures published this month the International Labour Organisation shows the global youth employment rate at a record high reaching 13%.

Younger workers in Scotland are being shut out of the labour market and this will lead to lost generations who will have never been in full time employment.

The results of allowing such a catastrophe to happen will remain a stain on the Scottish economy and Scottish communities for decades.

Young people are pouring out of our schools and colleges and have no jobs to go to or opportunities to secure jobs

Glasgow City Council, Edinburgh City Council and North Lanarkshire councils have the highest young jobless levels in the Scotland – at 25,170, 11,533 and 12,403 respectively.

One bright story in Scotland however, is the action taken by South Lanarkshire Council with its Young Peoples Future Jobs Fund. SLC has decided that positive action must be taken now in order to secure a future for their young people and they have provided a programme which links employers needs to local young peoples’ skills and talents

Key workers ‘place’ young people with employers with a view to them building relationships and therefore creating jobs and long term posts with training

Of course the Labour market has changed in its composition many times over the centuries.

250 years ago the majority of Scottish workers were located in the weaving trade –it had risen from 25,000 to 70% of all workers a hundred years later

150 years ago industry in Scotland evolved quickly to be dominated by heavy industrial occupations including coal mining and shipbuilding. This continued right up to about 60 years ago and there are still the remnants of the Clyde Shipbuilders to be seen even today

But for the last 50-year period the changes have been dramatic in our communities and the moves have been towards service industries, finance and transport. It is estimated today that 1 in 4 jobs in Scotland is in the Public Sector

Where will the jobs be in the next 50 years? Creative industries, service industries, hospitality, catering, social care, the environment sector?

In the UK a total of 72,000 18-24 year olds had been unemployed for 24 or more months in the 3 months to June this year. This figure is up 41.9% year on year and up 11% on the previous quarter.

A further 184,000 young people were out of work for a year or more in the 3 months to June

Total unemployment in the 3 months to June 2010 fell by 49,000 to 2.46m but the numbers claiming Jobseekers Allowance in July decreased by just 3,800 –which was far lower than the experts predicted of 17,000.

Long-term unemployment across all age groups also rose by 33,000 to 796,000 –the highest since 1997

The report singled out the UK as having one of the highest youth inactivity rates in Europe with the numbers of young people who would like to find work but who have ‘given up hope’ reaching 23.7% compared with 12.3% in Spain and 8.8% in Germany

‘Dare we hope? We dare.

Can we hope? We can.

Should we hope? We must.

We must, because to do otherwise is to waste the most precious of gifts, given so freely by God to all of us. So when we do die, it will be with hope and it will be easy and our hearts will not be broken.’

Andy Ripley, 10 June 2007, Athlone Friary

I attended a wonderful Mozart’s Requiem concert in the ancient church of St Leger in Cognac in early May this year. I was enthralled and uplifted by the wonderful music, as were the 400 in the audience and the 200 performers. We were all amazed at the intricacy of the Requiem and the beauty of the composition.

Later I discovered that Mozart did not complete the Requiem – in one of life’s supreme ironies, death took the unfinished work from his hand. There are a variety of versions, which claim to be authentic to Mozart’s style and vision of the work, and the chorus music is slightly different in each. Süssmayr did the bulk of the work, but compared to the genius of Mozart he was unfortunately a composer of limited technique.

The movements Mozart did compose have all of the voice parts and the orchestral bass line fully scored.

So once again Death was victorious and the life of the genius proved to be futile in the face of such a power?

At the same time as I was listening to the performance, in the South of England a very brave woman faced Death too –her life coming to its end prematurely like Mozarts. I had visited her the week before and had recognised the futility of all we humans can hope to do with our short lives – we can care, be successful, love, marry, have children, develop ourselves and so on. If we were to pick up a newspaper or watch television or overhear conversations on the train would we know of the struggles with death, which surrounds everyday life for some people? We might never realise the importance of the simple aspiration of dying well.

Instead I suppose it is easier to try and forget –it is the human way. The media knows what is important don’t they? ‘England wins the World Cup in Cricket’. ‘Greatest Tory/Lib/Dem Coalition in 70 years’. ‘Pound slumps to new low’. ‘Crisis on the world Stock Markets’.’ Sue Bo and the latest X Factor stars.’

Ann like Andy Ripley the England International Rugby star had a different approach –they lived well and choose to die well.

Andy Ripley wrote ‘Dying from cancer isn’t losing - it’s just dying from cancer. We all have to die of something at some time’

We can focus on the good things but at a time like this one is compelled to ask ‘what is the point??�

The Earth has been around for more than 4.6 billion years and recognisable humans for a mere 200,000 years –some would say that this is more like 15,000 years! But what is important is, that it isn’t a long time in the great scheme of things in our world.

So what can we do about it? As the man said, who thought about it long before me –there are only 2 things, which are sure in this life ‘death and taxes’

I have learned that it is important for us to Live well –doing what we can to the best of our ability, caring for others, making it easier for others and ourselves, enjoying what we have each day, loving, being happy. And then to be aware that we will inevitably be required to Die well too – planning, making it easier for others who are left behind, preparing ourselves for the journey which no one as yet has returned to tell us what to expect, leaving our little mark on the life we had and..…..

The question put to Andy Ripley is one so many who find themselves facing death are asked ‘What is the meaning of life?’

Paul Kimmage who, in one of the finest interviews ever written on this subject, explains to Andy ‘You asked me who I admired most in the world and I told you. And then you asked me if I had told that person and when I said no you said ‘You should tell him’, and I went home and wrote to him’

‘And what did he say?’ Andy asks

‘He didn’t say anything’. Paul replies ‘He didn’t need to.’

‘Yes, sometimes words are unnecessary. It’s called love, isn’t it?’

There are many like Ann, Amadeus and Andy who know about love and how much they are loved.

The problem with Job Centres in the country today is that they have moved too far away from the people in our communities and from the original concept on which they were founded. This was the concept of ‘labour exchange’ and this name was above the doors of all offices in the UK for decades and signified the real purpose of such centres –the exchange of labour for payment and working conditions between the employees and the employers.

We have sadly lost this ‘exchange’ and the organisation today merely lists Jobs Available and lists Out of Work People available for work.

There is no training available, no matching of employees with employers and a very restrictive 7% only of the workforce who are available for work being referred from Job Centres. Most people move between jobs or move from school, College and University into employment - it is the 7% of those registered that are referred from Job Centres

Employability is for all people looking for purpose, a career or a job and it so happens that 90% and more of us are always in employment and have the same issues with the level of personal employability skills we possess as do those who are not in employment. Those who are in employment have been more lucky or have used their employability skills better or have been in the right place at the right time or have known someone who has helped them into their current job or they have fewer barriers to securing full time work – which are just some of the arguments for the lack of understanding between those in work and those without work.

So what do my centres for jobs currently deliver in 2 major centres in Scotland?

In Edinburgh we operate an ‘employability’ Academy and in East Kilbride an ‘employability’ EK Works centre which are both located in retail premises in busy shopping centres. See our web site www.employmententerprise.co.uk for more details.

These centres are open to all –all ages from 16 years to whatever age. They are open 6 days a week. They have expert staff on hand for advice and support.

We offer

- guidance and support in finding work

- employability modular training

- introductions to employers

- jobs specific training in areas such as retail, care, hospitality, construction

- short courses

- links to College courses

- support from specialist agencies such as Drugs rehab or alcohol advice

- links to local authority economic development programmes

- contacts with local agencies such as the Shaw Trust, YMCA, Healthy Working Lives, Apex etc

The clients who register are entitled to attend up to 3 days or 15 hours each week (this permits those who are registered for Job Seekers Allowance officially to attend without attracting any penalties)

They are assessed using the Bridges to Employability Soft Skills Assessment Framework and divided into 3 categories for an individualised personal development strategy by our experienced staff

A – Job ready or nearly job ready

B – Needing employability upskilling or Practical Skills training such as Retail, Construction, Hospitality, Catering

C – Intensive support, specialist agencies, employability training, community support

None of our clients will go near an employer unless they are ‘job ready’ which ensures that employers are keen to participate in a relationship with the Academy/EK Works

Each year we see over 1500 people going through the Academy in Edinburgh and EK Works will see nearly 2000 clients. In Edinburgh over 400 clients are placed into full time jobs and in East Kilbride the target is 500. We deliver the employability module to over 2500 participants.

And the costs?

To deliver a programme like the Academy described above will cost in the region of £200,000 each year in each location and this funding comes mostly from a partnership between the local Council, the local College, the management of the shopping centre and contributions from other training agencies. The unit cost per job is under £500 and the added value from training progressions to College courses, part time work, voluntary work and full time training is a bonus for the projects.

The client group breaks down very evenly into all age groups, gender, employed/unemployed, skilled/non-skilled, local/national/EU citizens and the outcomes follow the same evenly spread pattern.

Employability is for all and all can use employability training.

In the next few years I see great opportunities for all parties involved

-Savings in Central government spending by ‘outsourcing’ employability to the Private Sector

- Transfer of funding dependency for Employability Centres from local government to private sector employers. Employers spend around £5000-£8000 to recruit 1 new employee –this figure based on advertising, recruitment staffing, interviewing and induction.

What if employers contribute instead of public sector bodies to the running of the Employability Centres?

- Delivery of short upskilling programmes where necessary

- Partnership agreements to enhance the provision (we are now working with YMCA Glasgow who work with Asylum seekers and Refugees)

- Greater employer involvement in recruitment and training from local communities

Employability centres have to be at the heart of our communities with benefits for all – people, employers and community.

Cognitive acceleration or the ability to think or higher order thinking skills is a strategy based on the philosophy of Jean Piaget, a Swiss psychologist, whose methods were first adopted in the UK in the 1960’s. Higher-order thinking skills include the ability to analyse and make connections, to reason, solve problems and think creatively. Now, more than any other time it is the combination of these skills which will promote self-determination, self motivation, self advocacy and lead to Enterprise and Innovation in all that the individual wishes for their future life.

In more recent times these theories have not figured in our Teacher Training curriculum or in Further or Higher Education or in our community programmes.
Maybe these will be used and should be used more?

Piaget identified two periods of rapid brain development that need to be utilised if people are to attain higher-order thinking skills.
The first ‘critical window’ occurs when a child is at the age of 5, when children are able to understand such concepts as ratio and time sequence.
The second, commences around the age of 11 years and continues to be perfected until the age of 15, taking children from the concrete to the abstract.

The bad news is that unless you take advantage of Piaget’s critical windows, your ability to engage in higher-order thinking is irretrievably lost.
After the age of 19, the agility of your intellect goes into inexorable decline.

So, the most important thing to do is to train the mind to process information and tackle concepts while it can. You can continue to acquire knowledge, but unless you have developed higher-order thinking skills, it will not be able to apply it as effectively.

What do we do to enhance our clients and students progress in these areas?

There are number of stages which we can address:
- Introduce the higher-order thinking skills as early as possible in our programmes such as those for School Leavers, Modern Apprentices, those with multi-barriers to employability and Job Seekers
- Learning to Learn must feature prominently in all introductory sessions
- Motivational programmes such as the Pacific Institute programmes, PX2 and Steps enforce the concepts of higher-order thinking
- Use of the Bridges to Employability Soft Skills Assessment Framework can facilitate the embedding of higher-order thinking and promote the use with employers, clients and tutors

Once the client has recognised the importance of higher-order thinking skills we witness accelerated progress in all areas of their life, from career progression to personal development.

For more than 20 years I have heard people discuss the enhancement of communications for their contracts by using new technology, multi-media and film - why has this never really been achieved?
• Because of the price of making and distributing film?
• Because of the lack of expertise in these techniques?
• Because it is too difficult?

We have been using film with all our programmes both for clients and for funders in a variety of ways for a number of years now. Film is a major tool for use with clients in Community and Economic Development and what is important here is the ability to secure a production company who can understand the processes, the clients and the range of what we deliver in employability.

We have developed a relationship with Enterprise Screen Productions, a sister company (www.enterprisescreen.co.uk), which is working very well and is giving us considerable options and benefits for our clients and funders .

Examples of this include:
CVs on film – a short 30 second working life stories for people who find it difficult to tell their work history on paper. This is a tool which can be sent to employers as a file attachment or by as a single line link.
Case Studies - we can follow the progress of our clients and actually see the ‘distance travelled’ in their programmes.
Promotional Films – for our company, on-line clips showing a variety of our courses and projects.
Dissemination - of good practice, current progress, shared experiences and role models.
Presentations – to use at presentations with Powerpoint at conferences or seminars.
On Line – we have examples of all our work with clients, staff, partners and funders on short films on our web site.

Visual examples and case studies are the way forward to record, excite and stimulate the wider audiences for our programmes.

Why do we always look to new techniques and ideas when the tried and tested ones have worked so well in the past?

Isn’t it time we concentrated on a ‘back to basics’ approach and set employment and enterprise at the heart of all our education strategies? How we learn, basic skills and employability coupled with respect for all technical training can lead to a society where ‘I’m just a….’ no longer prevails.
Colleges are now all academic institutions and promote Higher National Certificates and Diplomas with an emphasis on articulation with Universities instead of the valuable Technical Colleges of the past. Why?

The following are quotes from a paper bag, which I received from a bakers shop called La Mie Caline in Cognac when I purchased some bread there recently.
La Mie Caline roughly translates as the Honey Bun in Scotland – we may recognise the same kind of shop here as Greggs the Baker but without many of the assets of its French equivalent!!! I noticed that not only are the staff in all French businesses and shops proud of their position as a worker, but also the management recognise their achievements and role in the company – therefore the statements below about their staff are provided for information for their customers, pride in their staff and testimony to their achievements.

Victoria: I have worked for La Mie Caline in Normandy for 6 years. With my qualifications CAP-BEP in Sales and Customer relations, I am returning to being in Sales. At 26 years old, I am responsible for a team of 3 people in Sales.

Damien: I have always wanted to work in business. I like the action and the contact. I started as a sales person at 18 years old in a Mie Caline in Poitou-Charente. I am 25 years old now and I am responsible for a Mie Caline in a town of 15,000 people.

Florence: I am 35 years old and I am dedicated to the work of bakery products. I have worked for 5 years at the Mie Caline in the Midi-Pyrenees region in the post of preparation. Having succeeded, I am now part of a dedicated and motivated team

Employability is all about the 4 stages – the skills required to Access, Achieve, Sustain and Progress in employment – and, in addition to these, I believe that we need to add Respect.

• It is respect for one’s own aspirations and success.
• It is a respect won from application, motivation and dedication.
• It is respect from the management, staff and customers with whom we work.

Scotland has a greater number of young people who are not in employment, education and training which was referred to as the Not in Employment Education or Training or NEET group. This has changed now with the drive for ‘political correctness’ to become defined as the More Choices More Chances group. But by changing the name it has not been enough to stop the drift of increased numbers of young people languishing in Scottish communities with no opportunities of finding work and little chance of this improving over the next 5 years.

This figure has risen from 12% of the numbers not finding any progression from schools and, in some areas, can reach almost 50% of school leavers.

In one area where we work the resulting action from the local authority was to close the school and move the children to other schools. The costs calculated to taxpayers for supporting these young people, including benefits and their failure to contribute taxes is £3.5 billion pounds

Of the 60,000 young people leaving school, around 30% went on to University and 25% on to Further Education Colleges – 25% found work.

The problem facing our young people today is one which centres on the definition of employability. Education has moved so far away from this central requirement that it no longer considers or plans for the progression from a school environment to a work environment. Work experience and employability skills are given low priority and funding mechanisms do the same by concentrating only on qualification achievement statistics.

What use are league tables when the qualifications gained cannot be utilised with employers and in the community? Academic progressions are of course important but not of general use for a large proportion of those who are leaving school.

CBI surveys have repeatedly found that employers are dissatisfied with the level of skills among young people. In 2008, 40% of those questioned said they were unhappy with the literacy and numeracy skills of school leavers - 17% had been forced to provide remedial help for school leavers.

This is perhaps hardly surprising when you consider that only 25% of young people leave school to go into jobs when they are 16. They are likely to be among the lowest achievers. More than half of 18-year-olds go on to higher education these days, so even those who leave school to enter the workforce at 18 are likely to be among the lower achievers.

In 2008, 40% of 16 year olds failed to pass their maths qualifications and 37% failed to get English. Even by the time they have reached 19, around 25% of young people have still failed to get five good passes of any sort.

Isn’t it time to concentrate on some of the basic ingredients, which will give our young people the chances they deserve, and to strengthen our communities accordingly?
Priority has to be given to the 50% of all young people leaving school to help improve basic skills, achieve qualifications and progress into technical careers with respect for these as fundamental roles within our communities.

As we move deeper into the digital age there may be related issues, which will cause us to be separated from the key factors which keep our mind and body together.

After all it was only 600 years ago that Gutenberg invented the printing press and accessible knowledge to a wider population. (Gutenberg invented the printing press in 1439 – 570 years ago) The native North Americans believed that photographs taken of them captured their souls. And in the last century, the father of nuclear fission, Albert Einstein asked what was the use of remembering his own telephone number when he could look it up in the phone book.

We learn by Memorising, Understanding and Doing – a combination of these key learning styles. But information to be learned has its pitfalls and today around 33% of under 30 year olds don’t need to retain information when they can ‘Google’ it. Information about themselves is readily available on Facebook, on Friends Reunited or Twitter for their friends or whoever gains access.
Are they separating and fragmenting their valuable ‘self’ information and leaving it disintegrated on scores of web sites to be undervalued by others? Are they forgetting how to learn about themselves and why?

The Organisation guru David Allen is known for his insight in proposing that we get stuff out of our heads, which will lead to mental calmness. Everyday stress results from the mind trying to forget everything which is worrying it. So he suggests you keep your to-dos in a ‘trusted system’, which can be a notebook, a computer file, a list, etc. and you will gradually relax.

The dancer Twyla Tharp offers one elegant idea in her book The Creative Habit where she says ‘I start every dance with a box. I write the project name on the box and as the piece progresses I fill it up with every item that went into making the dance…. The box makes me feel organised, that I have my act together even when I don’t know where I’m going yet…Most important though, the box means I never have to worry about that, because I know where to find it. It’s all in the box’

With us at work we try to copy what I learned from Stuart Cosgrove of Channel Four Television and BBC Scotland Sports broadcasting fame – his company always had 3 levels of work-in-progress files on his desk. Now for us there are the Green files, which are ready to go; the Amber files, which are on hold but ready to be progressed to Green; and Red files, which for the moment are at stop.

The Renaissance revived the ‘method of loci’ or Ars memoriae, the art of memory. Its roots lie in ancient Greece, although much of what is known about it comes via the Renaissance from Roman sources. At its simplest, the art of memory was a technique to assist a person to remember long tracts before printing was invented e.g. officials, politicians, messengers. The technique required the individual to visualise a building, particularly the rooms within it, with which they were familiar. In each room they ‘placed’ or pictured mentally, articles that prompted an associated idea or image. The object selected as they entered each room would often be striking in some way, again to strengthen the image – grotesque, crude, rude, brutal, colourful as best suited the subject. To remember the text, the person would mentally enter the building and ‘walk’ through the rooms on a predetermined route.

The success of the technique owes much to the fact that the human mind is not always logical in the way it processes information and, in order to understand how it worked, it may be useful to divide memory into two types; natural and artificial. Natural memory is untrained and almost unconscious whereas artificial memory is trained to have had thoughts, ideas and facts more forcefully ordered within it.

Where is this technique today? Is it used in learning? Does it have an application in the digital age?

We teach the key principles of encouraging ambition and expectation for all our students. We look for progression in self-development towards self-fulfilment and self-actualisation. The search for happiness is based around the individual’s determination for achievement of Self Purpose.

The Philosophers of the Renaissance in their attempts to achieve ‘oneness’ with the divine spirit or self, harnessed the art of memory.

So in the key learning styles it is not enough to do and understand. I think there is a place still for memorising and not just tables and chemical symbols.

Earlier this month the Scottish Government announced 7,800 new Modern Apprenticeship places for Scotland. This sounds good for employers and trainees alike but there are huge gaps in the reality of the situation, which are obviously not apparent to the Scottish Government, Labour politicians who have put great emphasis on increased numbers of MA’s and the media observers.

Modern Apprenticeships are for young people (and now Adult apprenticeships) who are EMPLOYED!!  Where are we going to find an additional 7,800 new jobs?

In addition to the Modern Apprenticeship madness, the Leader of Glasgow City Council has pledged an offer of a MA place to all school leavers who fail to secure progression to education or employment – again, where is he going to find the companies which will employ the 1,000’s of young people on the MA’s?

If we look at the figures behind the Modern Apprenticeship programme we find some very perplexing statistics. Look at just 4 or 5 of the 110 framework categories from 2009 Skills Development Scotland’s own figures;

Industry                   Starts     In Trng   Achieved    £ per MA
Construction            2,366       7,644       54%         £7,500
Engineering             1,340        3,627       68%        £9,000
Car Mechanics           806        2,269       57%         £7,500

The above 3 framework areas account for 42% of the total MA places started, of those young people in MA training 51% are on these 3 vocational areas above.

Of the 4512 MA places started in the 3 framework areas, only 82 are female.
13,540 young people are currently on training in Construction, Engineering and Car Mechanics, which is 51% of the total of ALL MA’s in Scotland – and of the 13,540 places only 191 are female.

Why are we additionally funding a programme, which averages 57% achievement for these 3 vocational areas? Are there jobs available for 13,540 young people in these industries? What happens to the 43% who do not complete their MA? Is it cost effective to pay £7,500 - £9,000 per person for this training?

Another example from SDS statistics is a comparison between 2 other smaller vocational areas.

Industry                                Starts   In Trng   Achieved    £ per MA
Sports Performance Football      127      222        7%        £5,500
Dental Nursing                          105      229      82%        £6,000

There are no females on the Sports Performance Football programme and the achievement level for this MA is 7% - maybe we would not find this so unreasonable if the results filtered through to the performance of the National Team!!!
In Dental Nursing, there was 1 male on the programme but the achievement level was 82% - value for money.

The conclusion I have to reach is that we are funding policies which were fine in decades past when employers wanted financial support in training young apprentices but today I find that they want trainees who are employable first and who can be trained on the job secondly – not the other way around.

Would we not be better assigning funding on this scale to securing basic employability skills for all our young people in order that they can enter employment, sustain the job and then progress onto Modern Apprenticeships, further education and industry specific training courses?

The Training for Work programme which has been provided by Scottish Enterprise (now Skills Development Scotland) for more than 10 years is now in danger of collapse.
Why?
It appears that recruitment for this very important provision is being stifled by Job Centre Plus offices throughout Scotland and Training Providers are finding it incredibly difficult to have individuals referred onto the programme. This means that we and other Providers cannot secure employment for these clients — and we have employers who are very keen to offer work placements leading to real full time jobs!!!
So why is the recruitment becoming so difficult? Are there not many people looking for jobs? Are the total numbers on the Unemployment Register falling? What can be offered for those searching for jobs?
The word on the street is that Training for Work monies are being earmarked for other purposes such as the large amounts required for Modern Apprenticeships even although the CBI and employers have clearly said that their recruitment for MA’s and College leavers will be reduced this year by 50%.
The success rate for those achieving Modern Apprenticeships is not impressive with those in Construction for example securing only 40% of the qualification.
Last year our Training for Work clients achieved full time jobs for over 75% of those who were recruited.

What amazes me is how far away from the world of reality our Prison system has removed itself.
Is the system designed to punish or to reform offenders?
If the purpose is to punish then it clearly isn’t working as there were 60,000 people incarcerated in 1997 and today there are in excess of 80,000.

10 years ago the statistics showed:
• 60% of offenders released from prison were reconvicted of another offence within two years.
• 58% of offenders who received a probation order were reconvicted.
• 42% of offenders who began a community service were reconvicted of further offences
• 40 % of offenders who received fines were reconvicted of further offences

In 2002, in Scotland, over 80% of sentences were for 6 months or less and 70% of individuals were re-offenders.

In 2009 the statistics show that the position has deteriorated again and that the system clearly still isn’t working.

If the system is designed to reform the offender then why are there now over 70% of prisoners who re-offend within 6 months of their release?
In Scotland more than 30% of those who are locked up have committed minor offences, which include motoring offences, petty theft and non-payment of fines – around 2,500 people!!!

Each prisoner in Scotland will cost the taxpayer £35,000 each year to keep in prison.

For prisoners who are serving a ‘short’ sentence of less than 3 years there is little or no provision for employability preparation for their release and therefore the great majority have no job, no income and no home to go to on their release.
Is it any wonder that they re-offend?

Is it any wonder that when asked, over 70% of young offenders would opt to stay in prison rather than being released - because perhaps it is a better life in prison?

In a recent survey it was found that employability reduces the risk of re-offending between a third and a half. Over 70% of young men leaving prison have no job to go to on release.

It has also been shown that 39% of women prisoners had not worked for a year prior to imprisonment and 23% had not worked for over five years.  It is clear that employment is a major factor in improving the chance of successful resettlement.

It is essential that work opportunity and training be provided to enhance employability while prisoners are in custody.  However it is essential that when they are making the transition from custody to outside prison that the support be maintained.

This can be done through:
• Individual Action Planning to work towards achieving employment goals
• Employability training to enhance skills for the work place
• Work Placement opportunities while in custody to begin to prepare and train prisoners in employability skills
• Close links with local companies to enable quality work placements and training for all prisoners
• Intensive support when ex-offenders move from custody to freedom to enable them to achieve their employability goals
• Aftercare Support when participants gain employment and enable them to sustain employment

Perhaps as Kenny MacAskill, the Justice Minister has proposed, those offenders who commit minor crimes should have an alternative to Prison – employability training is one approach.