By Henry Foulkes, Policy and Public Affairs Lead at ERSA

The government has announced a further £1 billion of funding to tackle the high number of young people not in employment, education or training, which currently stands at just under a million. 

As ERSA stated a few weeks ago, the package of employer incentives and the expansion of the Jobs Guarantee are welcome. However, set alongside the ending of funding streams such as the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, and the fact that the majority of existing NEETs will not be eligible for this new raft of measures, it is clear the government must go further.

As someone who started at ERSA through the Kickstart Scheme, I know first-hand how life-changing employment support programmes can be, and it is encouraging that tackling the thorny issue of youth unemployment is high on the policy agenda. 

There are clear positives in the recent government announcement. For example, the package will likely encourage employers to hire young people when they might not otherwise have done so. We saw this during Kickstart, where large numbers of employers engaged with Jobcentre Plus and employment support providers for the first time. Previous schemes such as the Future Jobs Fund and Kickstart have demonstrated that, when designed well, wage subsidy programmes can change lives. 

For ERSA members, who work closely with employers across the country, there is an opportunity to use these incentives to support more young people into work. ERSA will continue to engage with the Department for Work and Pensions to understand how these announcements will interact with existing programmes such as Restart and Connect to Work. Additionally, for providers who are interested in the Jobs Guarantee, there is an opportunity currently to influence the design of Phase Two of the Jobs Guarantee, by sharing your opinions on the design of Phase One, whether you decided to bid for it or not, through this DWP Survey.  

Significant questions remain about those who will not be reached by the latest announcements. The Learning and Work Institute has found that around three-quarters of young people who are not in education, employment or training are not claiming unemployment benefits at all, and therefore ineligible for much of the support measures.  

At the same time, the infrastructure and funding streams designed to support young people has been steadily eroded over the past five years. The end of the European Social Fund, followed by the winding down of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, has led to a loss of provision targeted at young people not claiming benefits. In many cases, providers have been forced to make experienced staff redundant or close services altogether. 

Serious questions also remain about replacement funding for the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. Two-thirds of the population of England live in areas set to receive no funding from the Local Growth Fund, and there is still a lack of clarity around how initiatives such as Pride in Place funding will fill the gap. We have heard from providers all over the country, both within and outside of combined authority areas, who lack any certainty about replacement funding and have had to make frontline staff redundant. 

ERSA members have long called for a successor to the UK Shared Prosperity Fund that learns the lessons of the European Social Fund and provides adequate, sustained investment for local areas, providers and individuals trying to access support. 

Similarly, we have spoken to local authorities who have been asked to develop Get Britain Working plans but say to us that without the funding to deliver them, there is a real risk that these plans will not translate into meaningful support on the ground. 

The employment support sector has decades of experience in helping young people into good-quality work. Providers act as the bridge between businesses and communities, engaging and preparing young people for the world of work. This expertise will be critical if the government is to achieve its ambitions of increasing the employment rate and lowering the number of NEETs. 

Last year, ERSA published Designing Better Futures: lessons from forty years of youth employment interventions in England. The report examined every major programme, from the Youth Training Scheme through to the DWP Youth Offer. Its conclusions remain highly relevant. 

The report argued that we need a national guarantee of employment support for young people, ending strict eligibility criteria so that all young people can access a wide range of high-quality support. This recommendation is even more relevant in light of recent government support measures. 

Additionally, we need earlier intervention. Providers say to me that by the time young people present themselves to employment support programmes, barriers have become entrenched. We must learn from successful models already delivered across the country, many by ERSA members, which identify those at risk of becoming NEET and provide proactive, trusted support to help them stay in education or move into employment or apprenticeships. 

There is a real opportunity this year, with youth unemployment high on the policy agenda and the publication of the Milburn Review, to fundamentally reshape the system of support for young people and tackle the root causes of youth economic inactivity. 

The government is right to act. But if we are serious about addressing youth unemployment, we must go further by ensuring that support is available not just to those already visible to the system, but also to those who remain out of sight and too often out of reach.

You can contact Henry via policy@ersa.org.uk.