Jobs boost for young people in Lanarkshire

Aug 6 2009 by Alastair McNeill, Hamilton Advertiser

MORE than 700 new voluntary sector jobs are to be created in Lanarkshire for long-term unemployed young people aged 18 to 24.

South Lanarkshire Council have received £2m from the UK Government’s Future Jobs Fund to create 300 jobs. A further 425 jobs are to be generated in North Lanarkshire. The scheme is aimed at helping young people considered to “face a significant disadvantage in the labour market.”

South Lanarkshire Council’s £2m will help fund 306 jobs in the voluntary and community sectors for an initial period of six months.

The posts are expected to be advertised at Lanarkshire Jobcentre Plus premises in the next few weeks and will cover areas like administration, conservation, social care and construction. Further funding bids will be made by the council to continue to support the jobs and to apply for more positions.

In conjunction with partners like credit unions and citizens’ advice bureaux, the authority are seeking to offer the jobs for a minimum of 30 hours a week and include industry-recognised qualifications where appropriate.

Chairman of South Lanarkshire Council’s enterprise resources committee, councillor Chris Thompson, said: “The current economic climate is very challenging but thanks to the Future Jobs Fund the prospects at least looks a bit brighter for the young people who will benefit from these new jobs.

These latest initiatives cover a wide range of sectors including construction, care, hospitality and creative industries.

South Lanarkshire already invest in a number programmes aimed at providing opportunities for unemployed people. These are run in partnership with voluntary and private sector partners like Routes to Work South and YMCA.

Councillor Thomas Maginnis, convener of North Lanarkshire’s regeneration committee, said: “During the current difficult economic period the creation of more than 450 new posts will have a positive impact here.”