The Scottish Government must commit to guaranteeing quality jobs as a matter of urgency, Jackie Baillie MSP for Dumbarton, Vale of Leven and Helensburgh has said after new figures showed Scotland’s claimant count has doubled since March.

The Claimant Count reached 222,289 in July 2020, an increase of 99.46% since March 2020, according to the Office for National Statistics. It is also an increase of 9,077 since June 2020.

Jackie Baillie MSP for Dumbarton, Vale of Leven and Helensburgh said:

“It is becoming clearer by the day that the coming economic crisis will be a crisis of unemployment.

“Just as the SNP government has failed to prepare us for the public health crisis, it is also failing to prepare us for the coming economic and unemployment crisis. A quality Jobs Guarantee Scheme should have already been put in place – and time is running out to implement this before the furlough scheme ends.

“West Dunbartonshire and Argyll & Bute need jobs – not the low-paid, part-time, short-term employment offered by the UK Government’s Kickstart scheme. If the SNP Government is serious about building an economy fit to weather the storm ahead, it must ensure jobs are good quality, paid at the real living wage or higher, and provide training and skills to equip workers for the rest of their lives.

“The First Minister and the Economy Secretary have both declined to commit to delivering this as part of their planned scheme, but it is not too late for them to realise the importance of this. People across our local community need to know that coming out of lockdown, that future job opportunities will be secure and well paid.

NOTES TO EDITORS:

 https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/datasets/headlinelabourforcesurveyindicatorsforscotlandhi11

https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/bulletins/uklabourmarket/august2020