Youth Futures Foundation responds to Government’s publication of its Get Britain Working White Paper

Our CEO, Barry Fletcher, responds to the publication of Government’s Get Britain Working white paper today:

“We’re delighted to see the full details of the Youth Guarantee published today as part of the Get Britain Working white paper. The Government’s approach takes its inspiration from the Young Person’s Guarantee, a set of policy proposals that Youth Futures Foundation and our fellow co-chairs on the Youth Employment Group have been calling for over the last two years” 

“The latest ONS stats show the number of young people not in education, employment or training (NEET) is the highest in a decade; we must act, and pressing forward with the Youth Guarantee is a critical first step to address this colossal challenge and be ambitious for all our young people.” 

“We know where a young person lives matters and our evidence tells us that locally contextualised responses are important so putting ‘trailblazers’ at the heart of delivery will be crucial for tailoring to need. We’re also pleased to see the much needed integration with mental health support, boosting apprenticeships, and the aim to reach all young people, including the significant number who are not currently claiming benefits or accessing support.” 

“The voices and lived experience of young people are critical to making the Youth Guarantee a success and we are delighted to have been asked, alongside Youth Employment UK to support the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and the Department for Education (DFE) to help establish a Youth Advisory Panel to support the further development and implementation of the policy.” 

“Addressing the youth employment and inactivity challenge is essential, not only for young people’s futures, but for our society and economy. If we could match the lowest NEET rate in the OECD, held by the Dutch we could see an additional 500,000 young people in employment and an increase to UK GDP of £69 billion.”  

“As the What Works centre for Youth Employment, Youth Futures looks forward to continuing to work with national and local government as the development and rollout of the Youth Guarantee commences.”