By focusing on getting more people out of work into jobs, the Government’s ‘back to work’ budget has identified the right challenge and we welcome the announcements made earlier this week – but more is required to support the 788,000 16-24-year-olds who are not earning or learning.
Our CEO, Barry Fletcher, identifies the three key things that we think the Government can do to help support young people to get into and progress in good quality work.
- Protect support offered to young people facing disadvantage and discrimination by bringing forward funding from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund to this year, helping to bridge the gap for providers at the end of the European Social Fund.
- Co-ordinate cross-government investment into a national network of Youth Hubs under the extended Youth Offer, helping all young people to successfully transition from education into secure and sustainable work. Government could maximise impact by raising awareness of and making it easier for all young people to benefit from this support, not just those on Universal Credit.
- Invest in a broad package of support to tackle the mental health crisis amongst young people, including funding this year to support provision for those with the most complex needs and to accelerate the roll-out of Mental Health Support Teams in education settings.
