What politics can do

I write this blog entry while the Westminster expenses scandal rumbles on ... indiscriminately discrediting politics and politicians in the minds of many. So let me share with you a really positive example of achievement ... of what can be done when politics combine with committed local people to regenerate communities through skills and learning.

The other day I visited West Fife Enterprise (WEF) with Catherine Stihler MEP and John Park, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife who is leading from the front in the Scottish Parliament on the skills and apprenticeship agenda.

I had a particular interest in this project for a number of reasons. Not only has WEF received many best practice awards, but it took me back to my professional roots working with the European Social Fund (my first job in Brussels in 1995). It also took me home to my roots in Scotland's coalmining communities.

Under the leadership of the impressive and highly motivated Chief Executive Alan Boyle, WEF is a non-government organisation working hard - and with great success - in the former coalmining villages of West Fife to give the most vulnerable in the labour market new opportunities. They work with the hardest to reach groups of the unemployed, economically inactive and young people not in work or education, who all face many barriers to sustainable employment.

The beneficiaries are given training in basic skills, employability skills and jobsearch support. They earn a training wage. We met young trainees in the metalwork and woodwork shops, in the computer suite and in the jobsearch space. The commitment of the staff and trainees shone through. And WEF works ... over 80% of the trainees end up in full-time employment or training.

As well as working hand-in-hand with local employers and colleges, WEF is very much based in the local community. It was striking how many of the 150 or so trainees who came through the door yearly learned of WEF through word of mouth. Networking is not just for middle class professionals.

European policy and funding - and therefore politicians - underpin this work. European Social Funding of around £300,000 per year comes in to the West Fife coalfield communities through WEF. Who says Europe is not real for local voters?

When we met Chris - the confident young guy in the photo above with Catherine, John and me - he was was developing his joinery skills by making bird boxes for sale. The tools in his workshop are all emblazoned with the EU flag.

European politics - like national politics - is fundamentally about the life chances of real people. Labour stands for extra investment in the skills of people like Chris. That is just one reason why I view it as a privelege to be standing as a Labour candidate.

http://www.wfe.org.uk/