Joint working - Councils hold answer to Neets rise

It's a problem that unites local authorities across the country: just how do you tackle the rising numbers of 16- to 19-year-olds not in employment, education or training (Neet), especially in a recession?

As part of its ongoing campaign to re-engage young people in education, training and employment, the Local Government Association (LGA), in partnership with The Centre for Social Justice, last week issued its latest response to the problem. Hidden Talents II: Getting the Best out of Britain's Young People looks at the role local government can play in addressing the problem of disengaged young people.

The first version of the report, published in July, identified reasons why efforts to lower the numbers of young people out of work or education have had so little effect. The second version provides some solutions to the problems identified.

Shift in focus

Launching the publication last week at the National Children and Adult Services Conference 2009, Margaret Eaton, chair of the LGA, believes local government can make a significant difference. "One in six young people are not in work, education or training," she says. "Yet this is not an area that has been neglected by public policy. This is an area bedevilled by bureaucratic silo thinking."

Eaton wants the term "Neet" scrapped and the focus to be placed on what young people can and are doing when they're not in education or employment. "We must recognise that voluntary work has real value," she says. "Our ambition should be to get every young person who can actively engaged in building a richer society by learning, earning, volunteering or caring," she says.

One recommendation is that councils could achieve this by providing more accredited programmes for young people and by expanding volunteering opportunities locally. Another states that a more "locally tailored" approach should be taken to information, advice and guidance that strikes the balance between "targeting priority groups and meeting the general need" for information about courses and careers of the wider youth population.

The report welcomes the raising of the participation age and the 14 to 19 reforms seen in the Education and Skills Act 2008 and the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Bill. But it raises fears that these could create further obstacles.

Speaking at a fringe meeting at the conference last week, John Freeman, director of the LGA's React programme, which is helping councils with the 16 to 19 transfer, stressed the importance of commissioning in overcoming one of the main barriers: providing the right courses. He says: "What are we going to commission that makes every young person want to stay on in training? It is not a trivial question: it is for us to oversee the process to make sure every young person is educated and succeeds."

At the heart of the report lies the question of how the root causes of disengagement can not only be tackled but reversed. It looks at how the early years of a child's upbringing can drastically affect where young people find themselves in later life.

Small and voluntary organisations have a key role to play, according to Robin Millar, programmes director at the Centre for Social Justice. He says: "Health visitors must offer support for all families, not just those with acute need. During the primary stage parents must support their child's learning. In secondary school, we must have tailored curricula and vocational courses for those who do not engage well in the classroom."

Local delivery

The importance of local knowledge, responsibility and delivery is, according to the research, overshadowed by a "top-down" approach from central government.

The report expresses the need to see every young person engaged in contributing to society and the economy. It concludes: "This is achievable, if central government has the courage to devolve and let go, and local government has the courage to take it on."

HIDDEN TALENTS II: AT A GLANCE

- A national shift from "chasing the child" to a more family-based approach is needed. More support should be provided to families by health visitors, broadening their skills and making this support available on an open-door basis, not just interventions targeted at acute need

- Local area agreements should maximise voluntary sector service delivery, especially in the areas of family and educational support. Commissioning must be reformed to preserve innovation and diversity. Contracts must be far less prescriptive, without unnecessary reporting requirements, and based on expected outcomes that allow the sector to determine how to achieve them

- If local people and their elected representatives want it, there should be local discretion to flex the rules and levels of benefit payments where the costs are contained locally so the system can respond to local need. There should be local discretion to vary the benefit rules to enable young people to continue receiving benefits while they undertake volunteering or informal learning

- Provide "family hubs" - physical centres for families and not just their children - which would be commissioned by councils, often using the voluntary sector to deliver the services. They should include core services such as couples therapy and debt counselling, as well as those that cater for local need including teen pregnancy