Youth hubs in each space to ‘turbocharge’ finish to NEETs disaster
Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden vowed to build a ‘system for everyone’, and tackle the NEET crisis with youth hubs less than an hour away from any young person who needs them
Pat McFadden vowed to get more young people into work(Image: Mikael Jansson/Vogue)
Young Brits will be get “turbocharged” employment support with almost 360 youth hubs to tackle the Neet crisis.
Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden vowed to build a “system for everyone”, with centres less than an hour away from any young person who needs them. Inspired by the Dutch model, these will include wraparound services such as health, housing, and wellbeing support, and are inspired by a similar model used in the Netherlands.
The Netherlands has one of the world’s lowest NEET (not in education, employment, or training) rates – 4.9% among 18 to 24-year-olds, compared to the UK’s 13.5%.
Speaking with the Mirror on a trip to Rotterdam to learn about the Dutch success, Mr McFadden said: “We’ve started on this road, we’ve got over 100 youth [hubs] at the moment, but I am convinced that we need to turbocharge this with the roll out of many more Dutch style youth hubs in the UK.
“I’m going to announce another 180 next week, and these are places which get the job centre out of the job centre and meet people where they are. They can be located in sports clubs, community halls, or other places such as libraries. It’s not just job centre services, but we’re trying to meet people as human beings.
“In the Netherlands, inactivity is a last resort, yet we all too often see young people signed off and written off, without engagement or support. That is a system failure which has failed our young people. We should learn from their approach of having a pathway for every young person”.
Crystal Palace, Sunderland, Sheffield Wednesday, Blackpool and Peterborough United already have youth hubs, and the DWP is in talks with Premier league clubs over the Youth Guarantee, a commitment to give every young person the chance to earn or learn.
More than half of Dutch young people have workplace experience by the age of 19, with a strong focus on early intervention, local accountability and active engagement. Young people who leave education without qualifications continue to receive support, while local authorities, employers, schools and employment services work together to prevent long-term inactivity.
It comes after the number of 16 to 24-year-olds not in employment, education or training rose to more than a million in Britain. In a damning report, former Health Secretary Alan Milburn warned job and career opportunities for young people were “not growing, they’re shrinking”.
He said education, health and welfare systems are no longer fit for purpose in preparing young people for adult life, and “we are at risk of a lost generation”.
