Skillseekers By Scott and Anisa

1. SkillseekersBy Scott and Anisa • Skillseekers is a training programme run by Local Enterprise Companies in Scotland. • It encourages employers to train young people age 16-24 towards a recognised workplace qualification by helping them with the cost of training. • Most young people involved in Skillseekers are in employment, but there are also training places for those having difficulty in finding a job. • Most young people involved in Skillseekers are in employment, but there are also training places for those having difficulty in finding a job.

2. Benefits of Skillseekers • Greater choice of career opportunities. • Practical and relevant job training. • The skills and experience to do the job. • Gives a nationally recognised qualification. • Improved career prospects. • Guarantees young people an allowance.

3. It has cost 240 Million pounds. 50 thousand youngsters received vocational qualifications but it is thought three quarters of them would have been trained even if the programme did not exist. Results from the Skillseekers programme were patchy throughout the country, but that half of all trainees who started on the scheme failed to get a vocational qualification. The system has been criticised because:

4. Improvements • “Value for money can be improved by bringing in more employers who would not train to VQ standards without support and be happy to receive help in training the trainees, • he use of better management information, • and by more benchmarking across the LEC (Local Enterprise Company) network to spread good practice." • The auditors have made a number of recommendations to improve the system including setting new targets and monitoring quality. • Unemployment in Scotland has been at the lowest levels for 23 years. • The number of people out of work and claiming benefit is 123,400, or 5.1% of the population. • Ministers have said they are determined to continue efforts to improve the figures.