As we approach the Scottish Budget announcement this week, MCR Pathways hopes to see the Scottish Government fulfil its continued guarantee to young people noted in the Programme for Government earlier this year that placed learners at the forefront of its aims.
In regards to funding, in alignment with many in the third and voluntary sector, we hope to see the fairer funding proposed by SCVO followed through in this budget, particularly taking into account the potential impacts for employer National Insurance contributions. We also believe that if council tax rates are going to be frozen for a further tax year, the Scottish Government will present plans that will support Local Authorities with the shortfall to their revenue. This tax year, many councils have had to make increasingly difficult decisions to make cuts to vital services that support their residents. These cuts to services have created gaps in support for the most vulnerable people in Scotland and caused significant stress to residents and council employees, which directly affects MCR’s ability to support young people in Local Authorities we currently work in and our Local Authority employed Pathways Co-ordinators. The uncertainty caused by budget constraints also has the possibility of negatively impacting Local Authorities’ duty to fulfil corporate parenting responsibilities and their role in achieving The Promise, which directly affects the young people we work with. We would like to see plans that support Local Authorities deliver against a save-to-invest strategy by prioritising vital services that support the most vulnerable young people across Scotland.
We hope that the Scottish Government is able to fulfil its 2021 manifesto pledge to employ an additional 3500 teachers across Scotland in order to reduce the number of unpaid hours Scottish teachers work to ensure our schools and their staff are equipped to support all our young people in education. The lack of teachers in post, while many face long-term job insecurity, has the potential to impact the quality of education in Scotland and this sorely needs to be addressed if schools are expected to narrow the attainment gap faced by our most vulnerable young people and meet their targets.
We are deeply encouraged by the Scottish Government’s previous anti-poverty commitment and investment, especially in regards to the priority to tackle child poverty. It is vital that we continue to see this commitment through the additional Westminster investment – supporting Local Authorities to close the widening gap that young people and our economy pay the price for. The utilisation of local community services to narrow young peoples’ opportunity deficit is a must, these services are young people centric, critically they, like MCR Pathways, follow the young person to ensure their right to education and support is not compromised and they go above and beyond to support young people beyond the school gates. These ‘life’ relationship-focused services are vital to the well-being of society and economic prosperity.
