Our CEO, Barry Fletcher, responds to the promising announcements delivered by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
“We’re pleased to hear about the Government’s plan to boost employment in a speech made by Liz Kendall today. With the youth unemployment rate at the highest its been in eight years, we must address the challenges of getting into and succeeding in employment.
“As the Government sets out plans to drive the UK employment rate to 80 per cent, it’s great to see that young people are at the heart of these plans, as they establish a Youth Guarantee. Working alongside other co-chairs of the Youth Employment Group (YEG) we called for a ‘youth guarantee’ that helped to reduce the number of young people not in education, employment or training (NEET). By offering training, an apprenticeship, or help to find work, we can reduce the number of young people not earning or learning, and create a brighter future for not only young people across the country, but also our labour market.
“Today’s speech is timely, as we support Demos in the launch of the first major piece of research on Youth Employment Hubs; calling for them to be at the centre of the Government’s plans to reduce the number of NEET young people. We believe Youth Employment Hubs should be utilised by Government as the key part for delivering on the Youth Guarantee, bringing together services in a ‘one stop shop’ and helping build innovative place-based solutions to support young people to enter education, employment or training.”
Read the report, here: Expand ‘Sure Start for youth employment’ to tackle rapid rise in young people out of work, think tank urges government
