Central Scotland Liberal Democrats
SNP Budget plans raise concerns over youth unemployment
December 1, 2010 5:03 PM
Originally published by Scottish Liberal Democrats
Originally published by Scottish Liberal Democrats
Commenting on figures released today which reveal that more senior school pupils are choosing to stay on at school and that less than a fifth of young people who did leave school got jobs, Liberal Democrat Finance spokesperson Jeremy Purvis MSP said:
"Less than a fifth of young people who left school got a job. When Labour was in Government at Westminster, youth unemployment reached its highest level ever. The SNP's economic proposals haven't created more jobs for our young people.
"The reason why more teenagers are staying on at school is that they don't think they'll get a job if they leave. It's not, as the Education Secretary claims, because Curriculum for Excellence was delivered two months ago.
"What's even more worrying is that the SNP Government has chosen to cut the budgets for colleges and universities for next year, and Ministers are refusing to say what their budgets will be in the years to come."