Dole no more for hard working youth

THE number of young people claiming job seekers allowance in Glasgow and East Renfrewshire has dropped in the last year.

Figures released this week show from September 2012 to September 2013, the number of 16-19 year old claimants in Glasgow dropped by 490 – a decrease of 26 per cent.

Glasgow received almost £2 million of funding from a Scottish Government package to tackle youth joblessness across Scotland and help young people into work.

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Glasgow MSP Humza Yousaf said: “It shows the progress being made to get young people into work.

“However, Glasgow’s young people still face a challenging job market and there is no room for complacency.

“The talent and determination of Glasgow’s young people is impressive.

“ I would like to see more businesses taking on young people and seeing the benefits for themselves.”

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In the past 12 months the number of 16-19 year olds claiming JSA in East Ren has fallen by eight per cent.

MSP Stewart Maxwell commented: “These positive figures demonstrate the encouraging progress the SNP has made in getting Scotland’s young people working again.”

However, although Eastwood MSP Ken Macintosh welcomes the figures, he believes they don’t tell the whole story.

He told The Extra:“Too many young people remain unemployed and the claimant count for those unemployed for over 12 months and over 24 months continues to rise.

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“The Scottish and UK governments should be doing much more to get young people back into work.”

West of Scotland MSP Jackson Carlaw added: “These figures, despite the assertion by local Labour politicians, is confirmation that Chancellor George Osborne’s plan for economic recovery is working not only at a national level, but also locally.

“This point was recently conceded by the IMF, who stated that the chancellor’s plan was the right one for the country and would lead to recovery faster than other European nations.

“I hope that East Renfrewshire’s young people can continue to move from claiming benefits, into full time education and employment.”