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4Jun 2010
Government axes jobs in third sector
Hundreds of voluntary organisations in Scotland have lost out on the chance to employ young people in short-term posts after the Future Jobs Fund became one of the first victims of the new government’s public spending cuts.
Young people who found jobs through the programme have also raised concerns that their peers will spend more time claiming benefits because the job market has still not recovered from the recession.
The news of the cuts to the Future Jobs Fund (FJF) came as the new Westminster government announced £6bn of cuts to public spending.
The programme was designed to reduce unemployment amongst 18 to 24 year olds
during the recession. It provided six month jobs with voluntary and public sector employers for people who had been unemployed for at least six months.
It had been expected that the programme, which was due to last until 2012, would employ around 5,000 young people in voluntary organisations in Scotland.
However, the total number of young people to go through the programme in the voluntary sector will now be less than half that number.
On Monday, in a letter to the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO), which was co-ordinating the FJF voluntary sector consortium, Mark Fisher, director of Jobseekers and Skills at the Department of Work and Pension, said: “As part of the plans set out today, ministers have decided that no further bids to the Future Jobs Fund will be approved for funding.”
Existing grants will mean around 1,146 consortium jobs will still go ahead between now and March 2011. This is on top of the 1,000 people currently in post and those who have finished.
However, a recently submitted consortium bid for funding for another 1,464 jobs will now definitely not go ahead.
Fisher added: “Ministers appreciate the efforts of all FJF providers in helping workless people into jobs. Colleagues are now working flat out to develop the Work Programme which will provide new opportunities for national and local partners to contribute to the government’s ambitious programme to tackle unemployment.”
Members of the voluntary sector consortium are now urging the government to ensure that the sector is involved in any new employment programmes.
“SCVO is very disappointed that the FJF is being cut so suddenly,” said Donna Mackinnon, director of employment services at SCVO. “The success of the Scottish voluntary sector consortium demonstrated the sector’s expertise in delivering employment initiatives.
“The nature of the voluntary sector in Scotland makes it ideal for providing supported employment to young people looking to develop skills and experience.
“These jobs have also helped to support much of the additional work that has come to the sector since the start of the recession, ensuring that voluntary organisations are able to continue to deliver the services that help make the UK socially and economically strong.”
The Scottish Sports Association has employed 35 people to date in areas such as communications, coaching, event management and IT.
David McColgan, its policy and communications officer, said: “The news that the Future
Jobs Fund programme is to be cut under the new coalition government is extremely disappointing.
“Sport’s success in developing these youngsters is evident with six former Future Jobs Fund employees gaining full-time work from their experience with sport. Cutting the Future Jobs Fund programme only results in more youngsters not having the opportunity to gain the same experience and that is the most disappointing thing.
“For a programme that was so modern and appealing, offering jobs in areas that young people are interested in, it is truly a huge blow to not only sport but the third sector as whole and is a step back rather than forward.”
This view is echoed by 24-year-old Dan Hughes, who was taken on as a marketing assistant at the Association of Chief Officers of Scottish Voluntary Organisations (ACOSVO) after spending seven months unemployed.
Before being made redundant last May, Dan had two years graduate experience as a production and events assistant. He has now been promoted to a permanent marketing officer within ACOSVO.
“I think graduates are some of the worst hit out of everyone,” he told TFN. “The issue I had with the Jobcentre is that all they had were labouring jobs or vocational positions, whereas there’s a million and one graduates coming out of university with marketing degrees or business degrees and they’re not being given the opportunity to use those skills.
“Through the FJF, positions like marketing assistant are coming up that really give you the experience you’re looking for and if you do it for six months, you grow into it and you can put it on your CV.
“As it is there are a lot of people sitting at home not doing anything. The government
wants to encourage young people to get into work and not be lazy, so it seems pretty foolish to take the opportunity away from them.”
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