Job schemes fail young

Young people struggling to find work are being failed by nationally-run job schemes designed to help them, warned a report by the Local Government Association employers (LGA).

It reveals that almost 50,000 fewer young people are getting help from national job schemes now than three years ago, despite long-term youth unemployment remaining stubbornly high. The LGA blames an overly-complicated system that is awash with 35 different national schemes spanning 13 different age boundaries at a cost of £15 billion a year.

The research, Hidden talents: national programmes for young people, highlights a drop by 8% in the number of young people in England starting nationally-run schemes last year than three years before.

Local government leaders are also concerned by figures that show continued meddling in national programmes by consecutive governments is having a negative impact on the youth schemes. Figures show the number of young people starting skills or employment programmes fell by 18% during the transition period between the last government and the coalition government’s programmes.

The report found that only just over a quarter of 16- and 17-year-olds (27%) starting the government’s Youth Contract were helped. Yet schemes run by councils over the same period in Leeds, Wakefield and Bradford have seen almost three in five young people, who have taken part, get into education, training or employment.

www.local.gov.uk/web/guest/media-releases/-/journal_content/56/10171/4104124/NEWS-TEMPLATE