Call from Caithness business leader for 'extended and improved funding' for employment initiative for young people

A CAITHNESS business leader has called for "extended and improved funding" for an employment initiative which helps young people into work and training.

Trudy Morris, the chief executive of the Caithness Chamber of Commerce, was speaking after the Scottish Government agreed to fund the Developing the Young Workforce (DYW) scheme for a full year rather for six months as had been planned. The proposed cut in 2023/24 sparked concerns that the initiative, which helped thousands of young people in the Highlands, could face an uncertain future.

Ms Morris welcomed the changes announced by the Scottish Government and said: "We are pleased that this issue has been resolved."

But she added: "We appreciate the Scottish Government is experiencing funding challenges across the board, however, we will continue to push for extended and improved funding cycles for the DYW programme. It is welcome and reassuring to see the Scottish Government has reiterated its commitment to DYW and the young people we support."

Ms Morris pointed out that one of the key recommendations from a report commissioned by the Scottish Government was that it "establishes a long-term funding stream for DYW, linked to a stronger strategic approach."

She said: "For us it has very much been business as usual, and the delay to the funding commitment has not adversely impacted our activities. This has included successful delivery of our ‘Lunch time with Employers’ events series, WorldHost and Microsoft 365 Training courses, visits by the Armed Forces and employer roadshows, all of which have been supported by businesses committed to DYW North Highland."

The announcement was also welcomed by Chris Dowling, the chairman for the Inverness and Central Highlands arm of Developing the Young Workforce network.

But he, too, called for a change to the funding not just for DYW, which was introduced in 2014, but for other government-financed schemes – as the uncertainty makes it difficult to plan ahead. He wants to see programmes given a guaranteed minimum level of funding for five years.

A Scottish Government spokesman confirmed the funding will now be for a full year. "Ministers very much value the employer leadership and support for this programme across Scotland. We have released the funding in full for Developing the Young Workforce (DYW) 2023-24. This is a positive outcome that is based on evidence of the impact that the DYW Network has across Scotland.

He added: "We will continue to work with the network to deliver more positive outcomes for young people and employers."

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