What were you doing in 2001?
You were probably worried about a new thing called online banking. Renting videos from Blockbuster.
Tony Blair was in Downing Street, Concorde was still flying, Del Boy was on the telly at Christmas, and…
Alan Milburn was strutting his stuff in government. Forgotten that? That’s exactly what he’s banking on.
Over last weekend he was engineering leaks of his NEETs interim report, the precursor to the launch of the actual report on the NEETs youth employment policy, which will be published later… The NEETs youth employment policy is crucial for addressing the challenges faced by young people.
Understanding the NEETs Youth Employment Policy
The NEETs youth employment policy aims to bridge the gap between education and employment opportunities.
… no doubt on a high tide of fresh leaks. Politics is show business. Well, show-and-tell business.
The “new” report is pretty much a rehash from a report Milburn is banking on us forgetting about.
There is the same sense of policy repetition Roy Lilley explored in One job, where reorganising the machinery risks distracting from what actually needs fixing.
Here it is: Bridging the Gap, New Opportunities for 16-18 year olds…
… and wait for it…
… Not in Education, Employment or Training…
… aka NEETs… published in July 1999!
Milburn was still Health Secretary when the Blair government launched Connexions in 2001.
Its purpose? To stop young people drifting into:
- unemployment,
- crime,
- social exclusion,
- drug misuse,
- homelessness,
- educational failure.
… sound familiar?
At the centre of the scheme were “personal advisers”, guiding vulnerable young people through education, employment, housing, health and welfare systems.
… sound familiar?
Twenty years ago the fear was:
- heroin,
- anti-social behaviour,
- truancy,
- teenage pregnancy,
- youth crime.
Today the fear is:
- anxiety,
- screen dependency,
- social withdrawal,
- economic inactivity,
- mental-health fragility.
To effectively implement the NEETs youth employment policy, we need to ensure that all young people have access to necessary resources.
Different manifestations. Same underlying anxiety. Young people detached from mainstream society, and…
… there is a strong sense Britain keeps rediscovering the same social problem, renaming it, reorganising it and commissioning another review.
The danger is this becomes less a radical rethink and more a cut-and-paste revival of the Blair-era social exclusion agenda.
Connexions didn’t really work.
The National Audit Office found successes in places but also all the usual…
… fragmented accountability, staffing shortages, confusion of purpose, uneven delivery, and difficulty reaching the most disengaged young people.
That failure of continuity also echoes Nothing moves, where lost institutional memory becomes part of the problem.
If Milburn had said we’ve tried this before, let’s learn why it didn’t work and try again…
The NEETs youth employment policy should focus on providing tailored support for young people.
… I’d have forgiven him… agreed to calling plagiarism research (!). But no. He’s hoping we are institutionally amnesic.
By investing in the NEETs youth employment policy, we can create a more inclusive workforce.
We’re not.
NEETs should worry us all… around a million young Britons now sit in that category… it’s not a statistic… it’s a warning light.
Milburn’s rehash gets us no closer to solutions than the last time.
There’s a generation drifting away from the normal transition into adulthood. If there is one thing they need, it’s a job.
A decent job, with prospects.
We need to fix the broken transitions between school and employment and employment and housing.
Something HMG discussed all those years ago.
Here’s the uncomfortable truth…
… young, inexperienced workers are expensive… particularly for small businesses, and… most British employers are small businesses.
Challenges faced during the implementation of the NEETs youth employment policy need to be addressed proactively.
Tiny firms; five people, seven people. Maybe ten. The very organisations politicians rely upon to create jobs are the least equipped to become an extension of social services.
Milburn’s new wheeze is to stop the anomaly where families with an apprentice lose child benefits between 16-18 years.
His big idea is “more benefits” and for the state to keep paying.
You need to know:
- 40% of apprenticeships start in SMEs, but…
- Only 2% of SMEs offer them.
- Almost half of apprentices are over 25 years, and…
- Only 23% of starts are under 19 years…
- Last year, of the 226,000 apprenticeship starts in England, about 53,500 were under 19 years.
This cannot be all about child benefit.
More likely, the labour market will not automatically absorb inexperienced young people simply because Milburn wishes it, or gives mum and dad a bung…
… especially not in an economy with weak productivity, rising unemployment, complexity and cautious employers.
Which is why the old Youth Opportunities schemes, for all their flaws, at least recognised one economic reality.
We must not overlook the importance of the NEETs youth employment policy in shaping future generations.
Government, sometimes, has to absorb part of the risk of employing inexperienced young people.
The success of the NEETs youth employment policy can lead to a more robust economy.
Advocating for the NEETs youth employment policy is essential for community development.
The NEETs youth employment policy must adapt to changing economic conditions.
Today, the barriers may actually be worse.
Funding for the NEETs youth employment policy must be prioritised to support innovative solutions.
Technology has removed many entry-level jobs. Employment is more complex. AI is eating entry-level roles for lunch. The ladder into adulthood is slowly being pulled up.
The workforce challenge links naturally with Prepared, where skills, resilience and dependence on fragile systems become impossible to separate.
There are three things Milburn should think about…
First, stop endlessly reorganising support structures, benefits and create genuine continuity for vulnerable young people.
Second, recognise work itself is often part of recovery, confidence and wellbeing.
Understanding the needs of NEETs is fundamental to the success of the youth employment policy.
Monitoring the effectiveness of the NEETs youth employment policy will ensure continuous improvement.
Our approach to the NEETs youth employment policy should be data-driven and evidence-based.
Third, and most important, make employing young people cheaper and easier; national insurance exemptions, wage subsidies, support for SMEs.
Reduce the risks to employers, because…
Engaging young people in the process will enhance the NEETs youth employment policy’s relevance.
… if a young person is detached from work at nineteen, they’ll still be detached at twenty-nine.
Ultimately, the NEETs youth employment policy should empower young people to thrive in the workforce.
Milburn’s review matters and the fact it is a rehash makes it matter even more.
News and Comment from Roy Lilley
Contact Roy – please use this e-address roy.lilley@nhsmanagers.net
Reproduced at thetrainingnet.com by kind permission of Roy Lilley.
It is vital to analyse the implications of the NEETs youth employment policy on our economy.
Implementing the NEETs youth employment policy effectively will require collaboration with various stakeholders.
Finally, public awareness of the NEETs youth employment policy is crucial for its success.
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