Falkirk Council bosses let government know true impact of cuts

The reduction in the employability fund for 2016/17, which supports those looking for work, means that the 452 places for skills training which were available in the Falkirk area now stand at just 267 – a 40 per cent decrease.

Council leader Craig Martin sent a letter to cabinet secretary for fair work, skills and training Roseanna Cunningham last month after receiving a press release announcing the decision to cut funding.

He wrote: “Due to our longstanding partnership in delivering this fund I would have expected some prior negotiations or alert to this.

“There has been no consideration of the impact from a local perspective and this decision creates further challenges for Falkirk Council and our community planning partners in our attempts to align and integrate resources within and co-investment approach to the employability skills pipeline. This is now severely at risk.”

Last month Mrs Cunningham said: “When budgets are so limited it’s important that we do everything we can to squeeze the most benefit from every single penny that we spend.”