York Liberal Democrats

Speech to Council on NEETS Motion

My Lord Mayor -

Firstly I need to point out that this side supports entirely the sentiments expressed in the motion. Everyone in the chamber is aware of the devastating effect of the recession, especially the lack of employment opportunities for 16 to 18 year olds.

Having said that, I would point out that the City of York has high levels of participation in post 16 education, employment and training. The number of young people aged 16 to 18 who are not in education, employment or training (NEET) continues to be well below the national and regional average at 4.3% as at 26 November, maintaining the levels achieved last year. This is a reduction from 5.2% in October 2009. The national NEETs figure is 10% so York's figures are good by comparison. York's figures are significantly lower than the government's target of 7.6% and the government, unlike York, will clearly miss its target this year.

We have already had a high level meeting of all those involved in promoting the employment of young people post 16 and another will be held in the new year. We can be pleased with the success of York providers in raising participation in education in this age group, which has continued despite demographic decline. We also need to give credit to the partnership working between Connexions and the schools, colleges and training centres around the city. This has led to strong recruitment to Level 2 provision at Archbishop Holgate' School' new Post 16 facility and it is central to the success of the York College "Step up to Progress" NEET provision.

Increasing opportunities for those not in education, employment or training is already one of our corporate priorities. Vulnerable groups are always at the top of the agenda when we are looking at NEETs and potential NEETs and special attention is paid to any young person in the care of the council. This is an area of our work as corporate parents, which will be receiving even more attention during this recession than it has done previously.

Assuming that the opposition are referring to apprenticeships and not traineeships - although we do have graduate trainees working in the council, we work closely with the service responsible for them. The National Apprenticeship Service was established in April 2009 and has end-to-end responsibility for Apprenticeships. Our service is about making it easier for employers and learners to access such Apprenticeships and our vision is that by 2020 every single employer in the city will understand the benefits of Apprenticeships.

As part of this work, they have established a single point of entry for any learners or employers who wish to take up an Apprenticeship which can be accessed via the national website. In York, we have an Employer Services Manager who helps employers in the public and private sector to understand the benefits as well as working to access providers who deliver Apprenticeships.

This role involves handling requests that come in via the website and national free phone number from local employers who are interested in Apprenticeships in response to national, regional and local marketing campaigns. Relationships have been built with all stakeholders in York including for example, key staff in the Local Authority, Business Link Advisers, Job Centre Plus and Business Development staff. This is with a view to ensuring there is a coordinated, proactive approach to existing employers who have Apprentices but might provide additional Apprenticeship opportunities, as well as targeted activity with large employers in the city who are not doing so.

Already on the Executive Forward Plan is a paper on provision for 14-19 year olds, which also includes a clear recommendation, which matches the intention of the motion. It will come before the Executive on December 15th.

Although it is helpful of the opposition to highlight this particular area for special attention, in the light of all the work that is already progressing, members of council, we must oppose the motion. It asks for work to be done that is already underway and thus will be a duplication of effort and a waste of resources at a time when the council is aiming to be more efficient. The Learning and Culture Scrutiny Committee has also taken note of the matter, it has considered this situation and will be looking at it again in the future.

We would also to point out that any recommendations from any Overview and Scrutiny Committee should come to the Executive, not to full council, especially if resources are to be allocated to the project. All Overview and Scrutiny Committees are, of course, free to chose their own topics to consider and will select those that they feel need special attention.

Council can rest assured that this is a topic which is high priority for the Department and for me as an Executive Member and it will continue to have my careful attention.