A new programme to help the million young people not in employment, education or training (Neets) launches today, coinciding with Andy Burnham's vision to prioritise youth through devolution. From now, any employer can claim a £3,000 youth jobs grant to hire an 18- to 24-year-old who has been on universal credit and seeking work for at least six months.
Burnham's Devolution Revolution
Burnham's plan shifts power, funds and taxes from Whitehall to local mayors, arguing that local solutions work best for unemployment. His confidence stems from Manchester's "working well" programme, which has outperformed national schemes. The £3,000 incentive, however, has drawn mixed reactions: some say it's insufficient, others warn of deadweight subsidy. The Resolution Foundation estimates the grant could employ an extra 2,800 young people annually at a cost of £36,700 each, but argues it may be worth it to prevent long-term unemployment.
Jobs Guarantee and Past Success
A new jobs guarantee for harder-to-hire youth out of work for over 18 months covers all wages and costs. The three-year, £2.5bn scheme begins after 13 weeks of unemployment, offering a personal coach, apprenticeships, work experience, or sector-based work academy programmes (Swaps). The Resolution Foundation says this will create 17,500 more jobs a year. The model echoes Labour's successful New Deal for young people launched in 1998, which found work for 339,000 under-25s by October 2001, according to the National Audit Office.
Work Coach Training and Local Success Stories
Work coaches have received extra training for the new youth guarantee. A new employee at Severn Trent Water in Coventry, who applied for hundreds of jobs after graduating from De Montfort University, noted her work coach initially knew little about available schemes. She only discovered an eight-week placement by accident, now leading to a graduate HR programme. Severn Trent, part of a DWP pilot, also takes people with no qualifications and reports 100% pass their missing English and maths GCSE.
Preventative Approach and Wider Reforms
Burnham aims beyond employment schemes, addressing why people become Neet. He rejects "crude cuts" to the welfare budget, promising a preventative approach that integrates local health, housing, and early years support. He plans radical curriculum changes to engage the third of children alienated by schools, revive apprenticeships (which have fallen 35% for 16-24 year olds since the 2017 apprenticeship levy), and give technical and further education equal funding and esteem.
Burnham faces attacks on his "No 10 North" plan, with the Mail warning of "tax raids on middle classes." But he argues that northernness is an asset, and government by the south has fueled anti-politics sentiment. With a million Neets shocking both north and south, Burnham is right to put them first, making youth employment figures a key yardstick of his government's success.
