Jobs creation for young people our greatest achievement
4 Jun 2014 02:42 PM
The First Minister hailed jobs creation for
young people as the Welsh Government’s greatest achievement of the year
on publishing the Programme for Government report for
2013-14
The
latest Programme for Government report which is published annually tracks
progress against 335 Government indicators covering growth and
sustainable jobs, health and well-being, educational attainment and supporting
children, families and deprived communities.
Key
indicators published in yesterday’s report are:
- For
the first time ever more than half of adults in Wales now hold an A level or
equivalent qualification
- A
steady decline in circulatory disease mortality rates over the past decade
alongside a steady decline in the cancer mortality rate. Wales has shown
the biggest improvement in cancer survival among the four countries of the
United Kingdom.
- As
at the 31 March 2013, 60.3 per cent of social houses now meet the Welsh Housing
Quality Standard which involves improving windows and doors, modernising
kitchens and bathrooms and installing better heating if
needed.
- A
steady increase to the highest ever percentage of secondary school pupils being
assessed in Welsh as their first language at the end of year
9.
- The
Welsh Government reaching its target of placing 500 Community Support Officers
on the streets of Wales in October 2013
The
report’s data on Jobs Growth Wales shows that since its creation in April
2012 Jobs Growth Wales – the Welsh Government’s flagship youth
employment programme – has created 13,223 job opportunities for young
people in Wales aged 16-24. Over 5,000 of those jobs have been created during
the past year.
Speaking in the Senedd yesterday, the First Minister
said;
"We are using all the levers at our disposal to
secure the recovery of the Welsh economy and create jobs. The people of Wales
are right to have high expectations of the services that they receive and
I acknowledge that as resources go down and demand for services go up there
will be inevitably some real delivery challenges. But the indicators we are
publishing today are clear evidence that the Welsh economy and Welsh public
services are moving forward despite tough times.
"The Welsh Government has stood up for Wales during
these very tough times. For all those who have made a contribution to public
services in Wales there is much to be proud of in what this data shows
today."
The
First Minister visited Hydratech in Swansea ahead of the publication of the
Programme for Government report to see how five young people are getting on
having been employed through Jobs Growth Wales by the heat and cooling
technology company.
Links
Programme for
Government