A council leader has warned that a generation risks being left behind - unless the Government and Councils act and unite to tackle the employment crisis facing young people today.
Martin Murray, the Leader of Staffordshire County Council, told an audience of the country’s leaders today (Wednesday) that long-term underperformance at school, lack of further education places and financial pressures on local employers to recruit could have “devastating consequences” for young people.
Martin warned:
These factors are now creating the perfect storm and the potential of a lost generations of skills. ambitions and talent, something which was clearly reflected in the national Milburn Review.
Many young people struggle to succeed at school, struggle to find work, will soon struggle even more to stay in education because of a lack or places and local employers are struggling to recruit due to the financial impact of changes such as the increase in the national minimum wage.
This is a national crisis and the young people of today are looking to the Government and to us as leaders to turn the tide and ensure that this next generation is at least given the opportunity to succeed.
We owe it to them, but we also owe it to the country to promote an ambitious, resourceful, positive and creative workforce for the future."
Speaking at the annual conference of the Local Government Association, Martin said in Staffordshire they were committed to making a difference now.
Martin added:
In Staffordshire, we are now outperforming other areas and with less funding. We have a new Get Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Working Plan alongside a new Skills for Growth Plan, which is focused on ensuring that our young people have the skills needed to enable them to access and stay in work, supporting businesses in key sectors, such as advanced manufacturing, logistics, AI, construction and hospitality.
But this needs a coordinated national “whole system” approach not just a piecemeal one-off initiative after initiative.
Today, for every £1 spent on youth employment support, around £25 is spent on benefits. The crisis costs the UK an estimated £125 billion annually. The Milburn Review makes clear that this is a "whole system failure", with education, health, welfare, and labour market systems operating in silos.
As local authorities, we stand ready to lead on addressing the youth unemployment challenges. We believe that this is a generation worth fighting for. We now need the Government to listen to us, but more importantly to listen to our young people and step up before a generation is left behind.”
