Members' Business - Miles Briggs: SCVO Creates its 10,000th CJS Job in Scotland's Voluntary Sector

That the Parliament recognises and celebrates what it sees as the continued success of the SCVO-run Community Jobs Scotland (CJS) employability programme as it creates its 10,000th job; understands that CJS provides paid jobs for young people, with targeted efforts to help those who are disadvantaged and vulnerable; believes that its model and approach has been incredibly effective in ensuring that young people who face particular challenges, such as having caring responsibilities, being care-experienced, holding criminal convictions, leaving the armed forces early or living with disability, are given the opportunity to take their first steps into employment; notes that CJS was established in 2011, when levels of youth unemployment were high; acknowledges that, over this time, phases 1 to 11 of the programme have created paid jobs for 10,049 young people, with an average of 54% being retained by their employer after their initial job had ended, and 64% recording positive outcomes into jobs, volunteering or education; welcomes CJS's adoption of a competitive application and interview process before a young person is offered a job and considers that this, alongside compliance with employer policies and procedures, is extremely important in terms of instilling a sense of belonging in a real work environment; understands that phase 11, which is currently underway, will support up to up to a further 560 opportunities for vulnerable young unemployed people aged up to 29 through a range of voluntary sector organisations across all 32 local authority areas; welcomes the recent announcement of the 10,000th CJS job, which will see a young person take on the role of Creative Assistant with Impact Arts (Projects) Limited for 40 weeks, and looks forward to further opportunities opening up with CJS, to help support vulnerable young people in the Edinburgh region and across Scotland who face significant barriers, but who deserve to play their full role in society.