Fears over future of BLES

Dear Editor I write regarding the future of BLES, (Blackburn Local Employment Scheme).

Over the past 30 years BLES has helped over 3000 young people into jobs, further training or to set up their own business.

Due to cuts and contractual changes to the BLES budget by the Scottish Government skills agency, Skills Development Scotland, BLES is facing serious and imminent financial challenges.

As such BLES has been working proactively to develop its business plan with a view to diversifying its work and of course sustaining the organisation to ensure it continues to provide the service that is so valued by very many people and organisations across West Lothian.

This week I invited all stakeholders to a round table meeting to see how we could help BLES convince the Scottish Government and Skills Development Scotland to be more flexible in the way it administers its funding to ensure that more young from across West Lothian can benefit from the BLES training experience.

To date I have twice written to the Scottish Government Cabinet Secretary, Keith Brown, seeking a meeting to discuss these urgent matters, on both occasions he has refused to meet. I also invited local SNP MPs and MSPs Angela Constance, Fiona Hyslop. Martyn Day and Hannah Bardell to the round table meeting - none of them attended and neither did they send a representative from their office to this vital and important discussion. To date over 350 people from Blackburn and the surrounding area have emailed or written to the Scottish Government calling for BLES to be appropriately financed. “Developing the young workforce” is supposed to be a Scottish Government priority. It appears that the SNP Government Ministers and local SNP representatives are either unaware of this or are choosing to ignore the needs of the young people of West Lothian.

In the meantime I will continue to work with West Lothian Council and anyone else willing to put their shoulder to the wheel to help BLES and the young people who rely on its services to get a good start to their adult life. Neil Findlay MSP