As Britain’s youth jobs crisis deepens, it is time for ministers handy local council leaders the tools they have to make a difference.
Britain’s youth unemployment crisis remains stark. Nearly 40% of folk out of labor are under the age of 25. That’s one of the vital highest rates within the western world. Inside the last jobs stats, youth unemployment rose again. Nationally nearly one in five kids is out of labor and this can be costing us a fortune. Over one billion pounds a year in dole bills. And the pricetag is not only short term. Acevo (the Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations) estimates that today’s rate of teen unemployment will cost us £6.3bn each year in lost economic output.
But now it’s clear just who’s leading the fightback. All over the world Britain it’s local Labour councils leading the way in which in building bridges for youngsters, from school or unemployment, into real local jobs.
Last year, as youth unemployment hit the million mark, I asked the leaders of 10 councils where youth unemployment is highest to return together, to share ideas, and to reveal Labour nationally what works to get children into jobs. Prior to now year, despite horrendous budget settlements, those leaders have begun to revolutionise the style we get our youth jobs in Britain’s 21st-century economy.
Cities comparable to Sheffield are transforming the manner they identify adolescents vulnerable to graduating to a lifetime of unemployment, so that you can target special additional support. Bradford council is building “industrial centres of excellence”: small schools of 300 students aged 14-19 offering enterprise skills, paid work experience and business-led qualifications – all tailored to what is actually available within the local jobs market.
Manchester is widening access to apprenticeships with its “apprentice ambassadors”, and a brand new Ucas-style clearing house to compare students with apprenticeship offers well before they leave school, conditional on making the grades.
Wales, Glasgow and Birmingham are reinventing the highly successful future jobs fund to ensure that youth out of labor are given paid opportunities as a springboard into local careers. Newham has even created Workplace, a one-stop job brokerage that places 5,000 local residents into jobs annually.
Liverpool, Leeds and Sheffield have created “apprenticeship agencies”, organising training and work opportunities for thousands of apprentices with their cities’ diverse business base of SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises). Sandwell council within the West Midlands is guaranteeing three months’ work experience for each 16- to 24-year-old to make sure the borough’s teenagers are job ready.
Today, we publish these ideas and plenty of more inside the first report of Labour’s youth jobs taskforce, setting down just what may be done with a bit can-do spirit.
But i am unable to hide what disappointed me as I travelled round Britain taking note of ideas that made a difference. The cruel reality is government programmes are failing. In actuality, fewer than 6,000 youth were helped into sustained jobs: that’s just 3.4% of youngsters at the Work Programme. The Youth Contract, launched with much fanfare by the deputy prime minister last year, is operating so well that the govt. has decided to maintain its results a secret.
Worse, I’ve heard loud and clear that the dept for Work and Pensions is now too often a handbrake on progress. Most council leaders I speak to have great things to mention about their local jobcentre team – but Stalin-esque ministers are stopping people at the frontline getting on with what works best. “They’re good people, attempting to do the precise thing,” said one. “but they’re trapped in some very bad systems.” “DWP was unwilling to interact locally,” said another. I heard the identical story wherever I went.
The smartest thing we are able to give our adolescents is an opportunity. Labour councils at the moment are showing day in and day trip, that where there is a will, there is a way. With councils blazing ahead, and the national Work Programme in chaos, it is time DWP ministers got behind local council leaders and took down the roadblocks to reform.
