Fears that Scottish Government young workforce initiative boosting Highlands faces collapse after funding bombshell

A Scottish Government initiative that has helped thousands of young Highlanders into jobs and training is facing “a potential complete collapse” amid serious funding concerns.

That is the view of local employer Chris Dowling, who chairs the Inverness and Central Highlands arm of Scotland’s successful Developing the Young Workforce (DWY) network.

Brought into being in 2014 to tackle high levels of youth unemployment, DYW was born of a commission chaired by billionaire philanthropist Sir Ian Wood.

Bringing together leading figures in education, business and equalities groups, the Commission for Developing Scotland’s Young Workforce hammered out 39 recommendations for a new Scottish youth employment strategy.

The Scottish Government supported DYW with £10 million on top of its £60 million Young Person’s Guarantee, aimed at giving all 16-24 year-olds the chance to succeed.

By 2018 – three years early – the programme had secured a 40 per cent reduction in unemployment among young Scots.

Latest figures for Inverness and Central Highlands (DYWICH), which is hosted by Inverness Chamber of Commerce, show there were 19,703 young people assisted locally in 2022/23.

Since 2016, hundreds of school and employer partnerships have been forged by DYWICH, with a 122 per cent post-Covid surge in local firms recognising the initiative’s value in attracting and retaining employees.

Hailed as a roaring success nationally, the Courier has learned there is now significant concern among DWY’s 20 host organisations for the future of the programme.

Previously, annual Scottish Government funding for the vocational training and apprenticeship programme was rolled out on a 12-month basis, but is now guaranteed for just six months of the 2023/24 financial year.

There is concern that some DYW host organisations may soon have to consider kick-starting redundancy processes.

That comes as cuts to Skills Development Scotland’s budget threaten a 25 per cent reduction in the number of Modern Apprenticeship starts registered by the University of the Highlands and Islands for 2023/24.

The impact of job insecurity is potentially severe. As well as the mental health impact of anxiety over their futures, insecurity also impacts the ability to secure mortgages, tenancies, loans and other financial services.

Mr Dowling, joint managing director of the 100 employee windows manufacturing firm The Cairngorm Group, is the first DYW chairman to publicly voice concerns.

He has made DYW a key plank of Cairngorm’s recruitment strategy, with apprentices providing up to 10 per cent of the workforce at any given time.

Mr Dowling said: “If you have over 20 staff, you have a minimum of 45 days’ consultation period on redundancies. The clock is ticking unbelievably fast.

“With the Scottish Government going into summer recess at the end of June, we’ve got no chance if this isn’t sorted out in the next few weeks.

“Some of the DYW organisations are local authorities with different rules for redundancy than the Chamber in Inverness, so some of them may be looking at redundancy processes already.

“We risk the scenario that we are offered X amount of funding at the last minute, but all our staff have left to find other jobs.

“As I’ve said to all other chairs, without disagreement, I think we are facing the potential, imminent and complete collapse of DYW.

“I don’t think that is exaggerating the gravity of this.”

Mr Dowling believes strongly in DYW as a force for good in strengthening the link between employers and schools, preparing young people for careers, plugging skills gaps and helping the local economy grow.

Mr Dowling added: “They want to know government money is going to good companies paying fair wages, treating staff well and giving back to the local community.

“On the face of it, that is a good idea I’m 100 per cent behind.

“My objection is that one of the pillars is job security, but if I ran Cairngorm in the same way as the Scottish Government is running the DYW programme I wouldn’t get work from a public body.

“Even a year is hopeless, but six months is horrendous.

“My challenge to anyone who will listen to me, at all levels of Scottish Government, is this.

“If tackling youth unemployment is a priority, and DYW is the main strategy for it, why are they not funding it for the lifetime of each parliament [five years]?”

Mr Dowling’s concerns are echoed in a letter from Sandy Begbie, chairman of Developing the Young Workforce employer forum and author of the Young Person’s Guarantee, to Minister of education Graeme Dey.

In it, Mr Begbie calls urgently for the government to immediately release funding for the DYW network for the remainder of the financial year.

He adds: “All our employees are under considerable stress and the network risks losing excellent people due to inadequate funding arrangements.”

A Scottish Government spokesman said: “Ministers very much value the employer leadership and support for this programme across Scotland.

“We have prioritised the release of funding in 2023 and we will continue to work with the network to give clarity on funding as soon as we can.”

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