Funding cuts threaten to reverse achievements in Youth Employment
A review by Youth Ambassador, Kenechi Eziefula
A study released by the Local Government Association (LGA) captured the views of councils on their ability to fulfil their statutory duty towards youth employment. The LGA are a cross party organisation that represents 414 local authorities as of 2015, including 350 out of 353 English councils, giving their study an immense weight.
In the study, councils show their dissatisfaction of current government’s attitude tackling youth unemployment. With 75 per cent of councils rating government policy on 16 to 19 year olds as ‘needing improvement’, the study strikes a negative tone.
The councils also gave a “near unanimous” warning that their capabilities to perform their duties towards 16 to 18 year olds would be at threat if budget restrictions continued at the current rate. It was revealed that 91 per cent of local authorities have been found to be forced to reduce spending on all services that support the participation of 16 to 18 year olds since 2010. This displays the financial shackles councils have been forced to work under whilst attempting to meet their targets.
These statistics are at odds with the government’s recent electoral promises to curb youth unemployment. While the government may be praised for achieving a recent record youth unemployment low, they must be careful not to lull themselves into a false sense of security. As councils are struggling to maintain the current rate of youth employment, lining up youth services as a target for further cuts can only be seen as a poor choice if the government wants to fulfil its duties towards young people.
Councillor David Simmons, Chairman of the LGA’s Children and Young People Board said “The message from local government is clear. Cuts without reform risk undoing all our collective good work, putting thousands of promising futures at risk”. This warning should not be taken lightly, as it has been alleged that the statistics on the number of NEET youths has been underestimated, with 100 thousand NEET youths “off the radar” according to a report by the Commons public accounts committee in January. In addition to the study by the LGA, this provides strong evidence that cutting funds to councils may augment the number of documented and undocumented youths who are NEET.
Laura-Jane Rawlings CEO and founder of Youth Employment UK (YEUK) has consistently written in favour of reform, stating in May 2015 that there can only be a “real recovery” to the British economy with a ‘Youth Friendly’ UK, and points to the Found Generation Manifesto as a set of recommendations for the government to consider.
