A SCOTTISH government-funded programme that helps school and college students into apprenticeships and work-based training is in need of long-term income to secure its future, its co-ordinators have warned.

Eleven workers delivering Developing the Young Workforce (DYW) in Glasgow were served redundancy notices last February after funding was cut, only winning a reprieve after a high-profile GMB campaign alongside sister trade unions, parents and students.  

Determined not to see a repeat, GMB met with SNP minister for higher and further education Graeme Dey last month to demand a shift from annual to long-term funding.

But while Mr Dey conceded the need, he offered it only from 2026/27.

GMB rep and DYW co-ordinator in the city Sean O’Neill warned that neither workers or students could wait in uncertainty any longer.

He told the Star: “We have defended our right to work and now we want to protect it for the next generation.

"Our members campaigning for a multi-year investment in DYW from the Scottish government, are campaigning for education, against deprivation.

“It’s a fight for jobs, aspiration and hope for working-class youth and their families.”