An additional £1 million will support parents on low incomes into
work by helping with the costs of getting to work, attending job
interviews or undertaking training.
The Transport to Employment programme, now backed by £20 million
investment, is already supporting the provision of new bus
services in East Lothian and Midlothian to help shift workers
travel to the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh. It also helps
apprentices in rural areas travel to college and is providing
travel tickets for parents to attend job interviews and their
first few weeks of employment.
During a visit to Crieff Connexions to mark the start of
Challenge Poverty Week, First Minister hailed the programme as the
type of support that can deliver real help for families.
Mr Swinney said:
Eradicating child poverty is my defining mission, and we are
tackling the cost of living with the investment announced today.
We must break the cycle of poverty, and we know that access good,
stable jobs offers a sustainable route out of poverty for many
families.
The first steps into work - whether that is attending a job
interview, or travelling to work before the first payslip arrives
can create real financial barriers for parents seeking
employment. The Transport to Employment programme is helping more
people make the most of job opportunities.
As Challenge Poverty Week gets underway, it was great to visit
Crieff Connexions and hear about how parents are being supported
in a range of ways, including access to childcare as well as
support to access training and employment.
This is what it means to deliver real help for families, improve
lives and create a brighter future in which no family faces
poverty.
Winifred Preye-Akpasigbe, Transport to Employment user said:
The Transport to Employment service has helped me get to my job
at Stracathro Hospital from Menzieshill in Dundee as the existing
bus service is unsuitable for getting me there and back in a way
that works with my shift start and end times. This is a huge
weight off my mind and means that I can get to and from my job
without any worries about transport and without needing a car."
Background
Transport to Employment is a £20 million Scottish Government,
part of the Scottish Government's Tackling Child Poverty Delivery
Plan, which supports work with employers and transport providers
to develop measures to address the affordability, accessibility
and availability barriers of transport to employment. The
investment consists of:
- Up to £10.8 million Investment to improve the availability of
transport for parents accessing training and employability
through the existing People and Place Programme for Regional
Transport Partnerships.
- Up to £9 million Investment through our Local Employability
Partnerships and No One Left Behind employability support to
provide support to parents, to help address cost barriers.
- Up to £0.2 million Investment in a National Data and
Intelligence Planning Package to identify travel demand, inform
Local Development Plans and support more use of public transport.
The Tayside and Central Scotland Transport Partnership (Tactran)
is the Regional Transport Partnership (RTP) for Angus, Dundee,
Perth & Kinross and Stirling. While it has a duty to create a
Regional Transport Strategy and oversee its delivery, it is also
a statutory Community Planning partner and Development Planning
consultee, with a key role in supporting the development and
implementation City Deals.
Crieff Connexions is a registered Scottish charity based in
Crieff that acts as a community hub to connect people with local
services, support, and life opportunities. They aim to connect
people with services and life opportunities.
