Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, has criticised the SNP Government for failing to secure sustainable long-term employment opportunities for people in Lothian.
The SNP Government have failed to fully resource their flagship Fair Start Scotland scheme which has meant that across Scotland, only nine per cent of individuals referred to the scheme have stayed in employment for 26 weeks or more.
In Lothian 6,600 were referred to the scheme by the end of March 2021, but only 520 stayed in employment for over six months. That means only eight per cent were kept in work by the SNP’s scheme.
Briggs pointed out that with an economic crisis looming, SNP Ministers need to up their game and ensure that people seeking work are guaranteed long-term employment opportunities to help accelerate the economic recovery in Edinburgh and across Lothian.
Scottish Conservative and Unionist MSP Miles Briggs said: “The numbers finding and keeping sustainable work under this, the SNP’s flagship employment scheme, make for grim reading. Yet again its all flash and no substance when it comes to helping Scots find employment and get on. Ministers need to buckle down and deliver a programme that’s actually effective in helping to achieve full employment in Scotland.”
“It’s a truth universally acknowledged that people are happier and healthier when they find steady, sustainable work”
