The UK Government has announced a new Local Apprenticeships Service to help young people access opportunities within their own communities.
Speaking at the Labour Party Conference on 28 September, Chancellor of the Exchequer John Healey explained that the move aims to create thousands of new apprenticeships to help more young people enter the world of work.
With £100 million made available from the Department for Work and Pensions budget, this is a regional service in which every local mayor can participate. Local teams will operate like “football scouts for apprenticeships” to identify young people and match them with available opportunities. They will also approach local businesses that have never had an apprentice to help them get involved.
At LTSB, we know that young people have talent and ambition in abundance: we see this every day in the incredible cohorts taking on our employability programmes. The problem is that they need is meaningful opportunities. There is value in creating more sustainable routes from potential to real employment, and in supporting the vital role of employers in making this happen. It follows that local partnerships and relevant, targeted support can also play a role in facilitating individual journeys and improving outcomes for the young people who so desperately want to work.
Speaking about scheme Mr Healey said: “Local teams … will go to local firms that’ve never taken on a trainee, and say: ‘we’ll help you do it.’ (They) will go to the youngsters who’ve been out of work and say: ‘we’ve got a place for you’ … Led by mayors, because it’s the mayor that knows their areas best. They know which firms are hiring, they know which colleges are delivering, and they know which estates have been left behind.”
Mr Healey referred to the plan as “a downpayment on Alan Milburn’s work”. Former Health Secretary Mr Milburn was commissioned to investigate the youth employment crisis, and published an interim report earlier this year that warned of a “lost generation” of young people.
The Office for National Statistics reports that 13% of young people aged 16 – 24 are currently not in employment, education or training, reflecting the ongoing challenges around youth employment in the UK. Mr Milburn’s full recommendations on how the crisis should be addressed will be published this autumn.
