Government sets out
strategy for helping young people access education, training and work
The Government
has today published plans to increase the participation of 16-24
year olds in education, training and work.
‘Building Engagement, Building Futures' sets out the
Government's strategy to improve the opportunities for
young people, so they can succeed in education and training and
gain the skills they need to secure an apprenticeship or
employment. It includes radical reforms to schools, vocational
education, skills and welfare provision.
The majority of young people stay in education and make a
positive transition to adult life and the world of work. But
recent figures show that 1.16 million young people are not in
education, employment or training (NEET). In the current economic
climate the Government wants to do all it can to help young
people, particularly the most vulnerable, develop their skills,
gain the right experience and succeed in adult life.
Getting more young people active and engaged in their own
learning and development, and subsequently into work, will make a
lasting difference to their future prospects, help to raise levels
of social mobility, and is central to the Government's
plans to stimulate economic growth.
‘Building Engagement, Building Futures' includes five
priorities for action:
* Raising attainment in school and beyond to ensure that young
people have the skills they need to compete in a global economy;
* Helping local partners to provide effective and coordinated
services that support all young people, including the most
vulnerable, putting us on track to achieve full participation for
16-17 year olds by 2015;
* Encouraging and incentivising employers to inspire and recruit
young people by offering more high quality apprenticeships and
work experience places;
* Ensuring that work pays and giving young people the
personalised support they need to find it, through Universal
Credit, the Work Programme and our Get Britain Working measures; and
* Putting in place a new Youth Contract worth almost £1 billion
over the next three years to help get young people learning or
earning before long term damage is done.
The Government committed to publishing a participation strategy
in ‘Opening Doors, Breaking Barriers' – the
Government's Social Mobility strategy – published in
April by the Deputy Prime Minister.
In the Plan for Growth, the Chancellor set out how the Government
will create the conditions for economic growth and recovery.
‘Building Engagement, Building Futures' sets out the
Government's offer for young people to help make sure
they can access the education and skills they require to make the
most of employment opportunities as the economy picks up.
As part of the priorities for action, the Government is:
* Providing £4.5 million over the next two years to give more
16-19 year olds access to work experience. The Department for
Education is today announcing that 25 colleges in areas with the
highest proportion of young people not in education, employment or
training will benefit from this funding to test new approaches to
work experience. The Department is also working with employers to
cut red tape around work experience and has published a new
myth-busting guide for schools, colleges and employers.
* Providing an extra 250,000 work experience places over the next
three years for young unemployed people across the UK as part of
the Youth Contract. This will come with an offer of a work
experience place for every 18-24 year-old who wants one, before
they enter the Work Programme.
* Funding charities and businesses to help the most disengaged
16-17 year olds get skills and jobs. As part of the Youth
Contract, £150 million will be available over the next three years
to get the most vulnerable and disengaged young people back in
education, onto an apprenticeship or into sustainable employment.
* Transforming vocational education following Professor
Wolf's review. The new 16-19 programmes of study will
offer real breadth and depth to ensure young people have as many
options as possible. They will include meaningful work-experience
and a focus on English and maths.
* Encouraging employers to take on an 18-24 year-old from the
Work Programme by making available 160,000 job subsidies worth up
to £2,275 for each business. This is more than enough to cover an
employer's National Insurance contributions for a year
and exceeds the recommendations by the CBI in their recent report
on youth employment.
* Reforming the apprenticeships programme and, as part of the
Youth Contract, ensuring funding for at least 40,000 incentive
payments for small firms to take on 18-24 year old apprentices.
* Joining up the welfare and skills systems, looking particularly
at how we can bring together the skills and welfare systems so
that the Work Programme and skills providers work together to
offer basic skills training, training in sectoral/ vocational
areas needed locally, and work experience to best support young
people with low skills levels.
* Launching a National Careers Service in April 2012 to provide
information, advice and guidance about careers and learning
covering further and higher education, apprenticeships and other
forms of training.
Minister for Children and Young People Tim Loughton, said:
"Too many 16 and 17 year olds lack the confidence,
skills or motivation to stay in education or find a job – we must
put this right. It makes moral and financial sense to get these
young people learning a trade, finding work, or gaining
qualifications so they make a positive contribution to their own
futures, and to society. We are providing £150 million to focus on
vulnerable young people and those who have dropped out- getting
them thinking about their futures and back into education or
work-based training.”
Employment Minister Chris Grayling, said:
"We appreciate that in hard economic times employers
will often choose employees with proven work experience. We want
to put young people on the front foot, giving them the help and
support they need to find and keep employment.
"Our work experience has already proven successful with
50 per cent of young people leaving benefits after taking part in
the initiative. We are committed to securing the future of our
young people by building on this with extra access and by
incentivising employers to take on young people through the Work Programme."
Skills Minister John Hayes, said:
"We're taking action to get our young people
into education, training and work, helping them get on the path to
a fulfilling life, providing the right advice and guidance through
a new National Careers Service and restoring a sense of
responsibility and purposeful pride in our communities.
"Having built the largest apprenticeships programme our
country has ever seen; we are now incentivising employers to offer
more high-quality apprenticeships. We are also aligning welfare
and skills reforms to better support young people without basic
skills get up to speed and progress on to jobs and apprenticeships.”
Welcoming the extra money for work experience for 16-19 year
olds, Professor Alison Wolf said:
"I am delighted that the Government has acted quickly in
implementing my recommendation. This initiative addresses the
challenges colleges currently face in organising high quality work
experience for those young people who most need it.”
Notes to editors:
1. BIS's online newsroom contains the latest press
notices, speeches, as well as video and images for download. It
also features an up to date list of BIS press office contacts. See
http://www.bis.gov.uk/newsroom
for more information.
2. Building Engagement, Building Futures is a joint publication
from the Department for Education, Department for Work and
Pensions and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.
It is available at: http://www.education.gov.uk/a00200853/building-engagement-building-futures
3. Further information on BIS and DWP policies for young people
are available here: http://www.bis.gov.uk/policies/further-education-skills/youth-participation
4. http://www.dwp.gov.uk/publications/policy-publications/building-engagement-building-futures.shtml
5. The Deputy Prime Minister set out a new Youth Contract worth
almost £1 billion in November. More details are available here: http://www.dpm.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/news/1-billion-package-tackle-youth-unemployment
6. The Participation Strategy follows the recent publication by
BIS of key reforms to Further Education in New Challenges, New
Chances on 1 December 2011. The full document can be seen here: http://www.bis.gov.uk/policies/further-education-skills
7. The Department for Education has today published a new
myth-buster to help schools and colleges deliver high quality
work-experience. The myth-buster is available here:
http://www.education.gov.uk/popularquestions/employersandtraining/workexperience
8. The 25 colleges who will be funded to provide 16-19 year olds
with high-quality work-experience are:
Sandwell - WM - Sandwell College
Coventry - WM - Henley College, Coventry
Walsall - WM - Walsall College
Peterborough - EE - Peterborough Regional College
Telford and Wrekin - WM - Telford College Of Arts And Technology
Birmingham - WM - South Birmingham College
Knowsley - NW - Knowsley Community College
Redcar and Cleveland - NE - Redcar And Cleveland College
Halton - NW - Riverside College Halton
Middlesbrough - NE - Middlesbrough College
Rochdale - NW - tbc
Sheffield - YH - The Sheffield College
Wirral - NW - Wirral Metropolitan College
Sunderland - NE - City Of Sunderland College
Leeds - YH - Leeds City College
Manchester - NW - The Manchester College
Liverpool - NW - Liverpool Community College
South Tyneside - NE - South Tyneside College
Bolton - NW - Bolton Community College
Wakefield - YH - Wakefield College
Bradford - YH - Shipley College
Portsmouth - SE - Highbury College, Portsmouth
Southampton - SE - Southampton City College
Lambeth - LN - Lambeth College
Bristol - SW - City of Bristol College
Contacts:
BIS Press Office
NDS.BIS@coi.gsi.gov.uk
Lucy-Michael Sutton
Phone: 020 7215 5977
lucymichael.sutton@bis.gsi.gov.uk