A YOUTH employment minister will be appointed by the Scottish Government in a bid to tackle the growing number of young Scots without work.

The dedicated government minister will receive a budget of £30 million to help young people with training, work and education.

Across Scotland there are currently more than 100,000 16 to 24-year-olds out of work.

First Minister, Alex Salmond announced the move after Labour leader, Iain Gray claimed Scotland was in the midst of a “national crisis”.

Iain Gray said, “Alex Salmond seems finally to get the point the SNP Government has not done enough to tackle youth unemployment.

“This is a national crisis, a crisis for Scotland, because of the profound threat it poses to the future prosperity, future equality and future fairness of our society.”

The new Minister for Youth Employment, joining Mr Salmond’s team, will be announced before Parliament breaks for Christmas recess and will receive a salary of £81,449 along with their MSP pay.

Mr Salmond said, “at next Tuesday’s cabinet a proposal will be brought forward to appoint a minister for youth employment.”

“We face unprecedented economic challenges and we know that more needs to be done. This Government’s key commitment is to those young people who yearn to be productive.

“No young person should go through school only to become an unemployment statistic at the age of 16.”

He also said that Finance Secretary John Swinney would be involved in talks with local authorities, voluntary organisations, colleges and private sector employers to establish how the new funding could be best used.

The announcement also follows an independent report last week by the Smith Group which warned youth unemployment would “remain a serious national issue” for some time and called for such a post to be established.

Lord Smith, who led the Smith Group, said he was “absolutely delighted” the new position was being created.

The creation of the post means the Scottish Government will have 20 elected politicians in its ministerial team - the same number as the teams of the three previous first ministers - Donald Dewar, Henry McLeish and Jack McConnell.

Robin Parker, President of NUS Scotland, said, “with youth unemployment at alarming levels in Scotland, £30m of new funding and a Minister to specifically tackle the problem is great news.

“Lots of young people across Scotland, whether school leavers, or college or university graduates, are very worried about their futures and we look forward to working with the new Minister to make sure education, training, and employment opportunities are available to them.

“We have been campaigning hard for the Scottish Government to provide the money colleges need to protect student support, places, quality and local access to campuses. “I hope that a significant part of this new money can go towards helping to achieve that.”