Commenting on the Youth Unemployment Action Summit in Dumfries today, Dumfries and Galloway MP Russell Brown said:

“Nothing could disguise the fact that the Minister came to Dumfries empty handed. I had hoped she would have announced some specific funding for our region, because so far we have been forgotten by the Scottish Government. Local people are paying the price for the SNP Government’s refusal to give Dumfries and Galloway its fair share of help to tackle the jobs crisis. The Scottish Government has spent £9 million on youth unemployment and set up a network of Enterprise Zones, but our region received none of it.”

Speaking about the businesses and young people who attended the summit, Russell Brown said:

“I speak to local businesses all the time and, as usual, they had a wealth of knowledge about how to tackle the jobs crisis and they are frustrated because the help they need just isn’t there. Many are concerned that Government doesn’t understand our area or take account of the vast distances people have to sometimes travel to find a job compared to the central belt. I don’t think the Government recognises that just because a scheme works in the central belt doesn’t mean it can simply be transplanted here. We didn’t hear anything from the Minister about what she will do to change that.

“I want to pay particular tribute to the young people who attended the summit. They spoke with such passion and enthusiasm for getting into work that it really pains me to see so many on the dole. The Minister has been left in no doubt of the real challenges facing our region and I just hope that after she reflects on what she heard, that the SNP will stop just talking and actually start delivering for our region.”

ENDS