Call to challenge gender equality in apprenticeships

#stuc15 The STUC will press the Scottish government to work with them to tackle gender inequality in apprenticeships and to encourage women to take on apprenticeships in under-represented sectors.

Grahame Smith, STUC General Secretary also committed to taking up incidents of abuse in the apprenticeship sector in his capacity as a board member of Skills Development Scotland.

Seconding the motion from the STUC Youth Conference, James Corry, from UNISON’s Skills Development Scotland branch told Congress that careers’ staff have a key role in combating all types of inequality in apprenticeships, by helping young people to think through their options at an early stage.

UNISON welcomes call for early careers advice for Scotland’s young people

Tue 3 June 2014

UNISON response to Commission for Developing Scotland’s Young Workforce Final Report

UNISON, the union representing careers advisers, has welcomed the Wood Commission’s call for earlier careers advice for Scotland’s young people.

The union has long-campaigned for careers advice to be provided to school students long before S4. It also has to be delivered by qualified careers advisers who can provide the face-to-face support that is vital for pupils.

Derek Cheyne, Branch Secretary of UNISON’s Skills Development Scotland branch, said:

“This report highlights what we as careers professionals have been saying for a long time. Young people need to be provided with the best possible information and advice from the outset, with continued support throughout their high school years.

“Young people face the worst jobs crisis in recent times and we must do all we can to enable them to reach their full potential and move into rewarding careers.”

ENDS

Notes to editors

1. You can view the full report – Commission for Developing Scotland’s Young Workforce – athttp://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/0045/00451746.pdf 
   
2. UNISON has been critical of over-reliance on the role of My World of Work web-based service as opposed to crucial face-to-face support. Although a website can provide information to those who can access it, it cannot provide the kind of support and guidance that most people require. Young people in particular need to be supported to have a realistic view of their competencies and aspirations to ensure they make the right choice and this requires face-to-face interactions with fully-qualified careers professionals.

Face to face careers guidance critical to attainment

#stuc14 The STUC today warned the Scottish Government that the successful implementation of the Wood Commission for Developing Scotland’s Young Workforce depends on adequate resources to properly invest in the future skills of young people, to fully support the Modern Apprenticeship programme, and to engage with Scotland’s employers.

It will also call on the Scottish Government to endorse the STUC Youth Committee’s work to develop an industrial strategy for young people in Scotland, once the final report is available.

Careers website ‘no substitute for face-to-face guidance’ - UNISON

Tuesday 18 June 2013

Presentation of new research: What’s the evidence? Comparing the impact of career websites and other career support’ 
Tuesday 18 June - Scottish Parliament

Members of UNISON’s Scottish careers branch today (Tuesday 18 June) told MSPs that websites like My World of Work – which all Scottish school pupils are now expected to rely on for careers advice - are “no substitute for face-to-face guidance”. UNISON is calling for Skills Development Scotland to raise the profile of the face-to-face service provided by careers advisers.

Independent research into the effect of careers websites commissioned from the University of Edinburgh has found that My World of Work – known as MyWoW – was valued by pupils and teachers, but that it has “limited impact on pupils’ careers management skills”. In fact, the researchers say, “it is clear from the focus groups and open-ended survey comments that pupils, irrespective of their level of family support or attainment, would like face-to-face contact with careers advisers as well as access to websites.” 

Derek Cheyne, secretary of UNISON’s Skills Development Scotland branch said:
“This research shows that while careers websites are of value, they are no substitute for expert face-to-face guidance. Young people face the worst jobs crisis in recent times and they need the best possible support to help them move from school to rewarding careers.”

The chief executive of SDS, Damien Yeates, recently told the Times Educational Supplement Scotland that ‘any student who really feels they would like face-to-face advice should get it’. However, the Edinburgh research states: “It is evident, too, that pupils need to be more fully informed about the role of a careers adviser and about access arrangements.”

James Corry, chair of the union’s Non-Departmental Public Bodies sector committee, said:
“This research confirms what we as professionals in the careers service already know – that face-to-face sessions are vital for pupils. It is clear that SDS needs to raise the profile of the face-to-face service provided by our advisers – and that the promotion of face-to-face advice needs to be properly resourced.”

The research was presented to MSPs in the Scottish Parliament at an information and discussion meeting today Tuesday 18 June, hosted by Neil Findlay, Deputy Convener of the Education and Culture Committee.

ENDS

 

Notes to editors:

1. UNISON is Scotland’s largest public services trade union representing 160,000 members working in the public sector in Scotland – including staff providing key careers services in Skills Development Scotland.

2. ‘What’s the evidence? Comparing the impact of career websites and other career support’ by Cathy Howieson and Sheila Semple, Centre for Educational Sociology, University of Edinburgh, will be published on Tuesday 18 June as CES Briefing Number 63, 2013

From the Briefing introduction:
“UK governments expect career websites to fulfil a central role in career information, advice and guidance. In Scotland, Skills Development Scotland's input in schools is now based on the expectation that all pupils will use its website My World of Work (MyWoW) and many may not need individual contact with a careers adviser. Career websites have the potential to make a valuable contribution but currently little is know about their effectiveness and impact. This Briefing outlines the findings from a study that examined the comparative impact of career websites such as MyWoW.”

Findings from the study include:

• Pupils and teachers valued MyWoW but as part of provision that includes face-to-face support, including from a careers adviser, for the majority of pupils.
• Compared with other sources of career support, MyWoW had a limited impact on pupils’ careers management skills as did the PlanitPlus website.
• Clinic sessions with a career adviser, discussion with teachers and use of the school careers library each had a substantial impact on pupils’ career management skills.

3. A Briefing from the study was presented to an information and discussion meeting in the Scottish Parliament on Tuesday 18 June at 1pm.

4. The study was funded by UNISON and builds on earlier research commissioned by SDS. The full research report is available from 15 July 2013 athttp://www.ces.ed.ac.uk/UNISON/FinalREport.pdf

The briefing is available on UNISON Scotland’s website from Tuesday 18 June
http://www.unison-scotland.org.uk/ndpb/sds/
CareersWebsites_CESBriefing63_June2013.pdf

STV: Protest over council's daycare for learning disabled reform plans

10 Dec 2012

From STV news:

Carers and trade unionists have joined forces to challenge Glasgow City Council's planned reform of day services for people with learning disabilities.

Councillors, who are to decide on the proposed closure of three day centres in January, attended an an emotional meeting with the parents of service users on Monday.

The carers spoke of their exhaustion and fears of how they will cope if the facilities are removed for more than 60% of those catered for.

Full story and video:
http://local.stv.tv/glasgow/205250-protest-over-councils-daycare-for-learning-disabled-reform-plans/


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Scotland’s MSPs must defend careers service, says UNISON

Friday 6 July 2012

 

UNISON is calling for an urgent meeting with local MSPs to defend the future of Scotland’s career service.

The move follows a series of cuts to careers services in the south side of Glasgow which the union says will have a detrimental impact on young unemployed people.

Last month, Skills Development Scotland (SDS) closed its Cathcart Road centre and moved to a smaller shared facility within Newlands Job Centre. The services on offer have also been cut and young people will no longer have on-site access to SDS’s online service which, in addition to offering careers guidance, allows young people to search for job vacancies.

To add insult to injury, SDS also cut the hours of its Castlemilk centre from one day a week to just half a day.

Gerry Crawley, UNISON’s Regional Organiser, said: “With youth unemployment at unprecedented levels, there is a clear need to ensure crucial face-to-face guidance is easily accessible to young people.

“Some young people now face two bus journeys just to get to the new centre, not to mention a further journey to a local library to access the online careers service. This raises concerns over accessibility and the increased financial burden on young people to access careers advice.

“We need to make getting on the career ladder as easy as possible for young people, and putting barriers in their way is not the way forward. We’re calling on MSPs to defend Scotland’s careers service and not to condemn a whole generation of young people to life on the dole queue.”

ENDS

Note to editors

The Skills Development Office in Cathcart Road offered careers advice to 150 young people in the month of May alone

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Careers staff job cuts unacceptable in face of youth unemployment crisis – UNISON

Mon 27 February 2012

UNISON Scotland has called for direct Scottish Government intervention to stop over 100 jobs being cut at careers agency Skills Development Scotland (SDS) in the face of a mounting youth unemployment crisis. 

The union has reacted with shock and anger to the announcement of over 100 redundancies in the frontline Skills Development Scotland workforce. At a time when unemployment in Scotland stands at 231,000 and youth unemployment is standing at 88,000 amongst 18-24 year olds, Skills Development  Scotland, whose staff provide vital face to face careers advice and guidance, has taken the decision to further reduce its workforce.

UNISON Regional Organiser Gerry Crawley said:
“For the second time in only 12 months Skills Development Scotland have announced large scale redundancies. In March 2011, one in eleven of the workforce were made redundant. Now, in March 2012, one in ten of the remaining workforce are going to be made redundant. At a time of unprecedented youth unemployment in Scotland, there is more need for direct face to face careers advice than ever before. UNISON Scotland is deeply concerned at the level of cuts taking place at Skills Development Scotland and the direction of travel that the organisation is taking in ‘modernising’ its workforce.”

At the start of February 2012 the new Youth Employment Minister Angela Constance unveiled the Scottish Government’s youth unemployment strategy. As part of the launch Ms Constance referred directly to Skills Development Scotland as one of the agencies that would assist in getting young people back to work. The Minister stated then that all partners across the public and private sectors need to be “on the same page, pointing in the right direction ensuring we are all standing shoulder to shoulder to provide a national response to what is undoubtedly a national challenge in terms of rising unemployment.”

Just a few weeks later SDS, one of the key agencies which the Government expects to tackle youth unemployment, is itself to be decimated.

Gerry Crawley said:
“UNISON Scotland agrees that there is a national challenge in terms of rising unemployment and rising youth unemployment. How can the Careers Service and Skills Development Scotland deliver the required face to face intervention with these job cuts happening again? Not once, but twice in one year the frontline services have been cut. It is unacceptable. The Scottish Government needs to invest and restore the staffing levels in Skills Development Scotland. The right hand and the left hand need to work in tandem to get Scotland’s youth back into work.”

“How can the Careers Service and Skills Development Scotland continue to improve the service when their own job losses over the past year have seen a reduction of over 200 frontline staff? The Scottish Government needs to intervene and stop this happening at Skills Development Scotland as it’s a public service that is desperately needed at this time,” Gerry Crawley added.

ENDS

Notes to editors

1. UNISON is Scotland’s largest trade union representing over 160,000 members working in the public services, and organises staff in Skills Development Scotland.

2. UNISON’s response in December 2011 to the publication of the Scottish Government’s request for written submissions on ‘Putting Learners at the Centre: Delivering our Ambitions for Post-16 Education’  included the following statement: “Careers officers need to be fully involved in the development of new post-16 support. They are the key professionals trained to ensure that people are able to make the right choices throughout their working lives. The careers service has seen a 50% increase in adults accessing their services during this recession.” 

The full UNISON Scotland submission to ‘Putting Learners at the Centre: Delivering our ambitions for post-16 education’ can be found at the UNISON Scotland website here:
http://www.unison-scotland.org.uk/response/
Response%20to%20Putting%20learners%20at
%20the%20centre%20post%2016%20educati%85.pdf

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UNISON: Skills Development Scotland staff have no faith in new strategy

Monday 29 August 2011

Skills Development Scotland union UNISON has revealed that the agency's staff have no faith in its new Careers Information and Guidance (CIAG) strategy.

Just days before the ministerial launch of a key part of the CIAG, a comprehensive survey by UNISON of the staff who will be responsible for its implementation shows that they do not believe it can deliver.

Skills Development Scotland (SDS) will be launching the new web-enabled service – My World of Work (MyWOW) - on 31 August. This is central to the CIAG strategy and will mean a major shift away from school and community based face to face guidance.

UNISON surveyed members in SDS about the proposed new strategy. A total of 410 responses were received, just under 50% of the membership.

Almost all respondents had huge reservations about a strategy that will be overly reliant on web-based services which UNISON members feel cannot offer high quality advice and guidance. There is a view that the strategy is predominantly driven forward due to financial constraints but dressed up as modernising the service.

And UNISON members in SDS overwhelmingly (94%) believe that the new MyWoW system will fail to offer clients high quality advice and guidance.

UNISON Regional Organiser Gerry Crawley said:

"The Scottish Government should listen to the real experts in this field – UNISON members. It’s a pity the Minister can’t take time to meet with us about improving this strategy. We want to ensure the best possible careers guidance for Scotland’s young people. It seems like the Scottish Government want to fob them off with a cheap ‘point and click’ option".

ENDS


For further information contact  
Gerry Crawley, UNISON Regional Organiser, 07958 121 805


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