PM backs jobs drive as crisis deepens

His comments came on the day figures revealed those neighbourhoods across the region where youth unemployment has reached “emergency” levels.

The Foundation for Jobs initiative, launched by the Bishop of Durham in Darlington last month, aims to tackle the growing problem of youth unemployment.

The foundation aims to persuade businesses to provide work placements, apprenticeships and cadet schemes and help others gain the skills to find work.

Last night, the campaign received a boost from the Prime Minister, who said: “I welcome this brilliant initiative from The Northern Echo; it is just the kind of thing we need to give young people the skills, training and opportunities to succeed.”

Former Labour leadership contender David Miliband also threw his weight behind the initiative, as research he commissioned identified local authority wards where more than one in six young people aged between 16 and 24 are unemployed.

The worst blackspot is Grangetown ward, in Redcar and Cleveland (21.6 per cent), closely followed by North Ormesby and Brambles Farm, in Middlesbrough (20.6 per cent), and Thickley, in Sedgefield (20.3 per cent).

Yesterday Mr Miliband said: “Britain faces a youth unemployment emergency.

This is a crisis we cannot afford.”

The South Shields MP rejected the claim that workshy young people were refusing to take jobs, adding: “There are a lot of youngsters out there with get-up-and-go. They are desperate for a chance to show what they are capable of.”

Mr Miliband praised the Echo’s Foundation for Jobs campaign, adding: “I’m convinced that young people in the North-East have untapped skills and aspirations.

“What they need are opportunities – and, for that, they need public, private and voluntary organisations to work in new ways. The Foundation for Jobs is just the kind of initiative that can break through the bureaucracy and develop new ideas that give access to young people to the jobs of the future.”

The report, put together by Acevo, a voluntary and charity groups organisation, warned that “the human misery of youth unemployment is also a time-bomb under the nation’s finances” – costing the Treasury about £28bn over ten years.

Mr Miliband proposed four solutions to the crisis:

• More job opportunities immediately – by doubling the number of job subsidies and giving a guaranteed part-time First Step job to anyone still on a back-to-work scheme after one year;
• Better work experience and career advice – to give young people the necessary preparation, motivation and so-called soft skills;
•More help for young people not heading for university – including apprenticeships, a job-ready national programme for those most at risk of becoming a “Neet” – someone not in education, employment or training – and mentoring by young people employed for a year;
•And guaranteed back-towork support – including subsidised transport, to ensure no young person is deterred from learning or working by the cost.

Last night, agencies in problem areas identified in the Acevo report acknowledged the need to tackle youth unemployment.

Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council runs a Routes to Employment service in disadvantaged wards such as Grangetown and North Ormesby.

A spokesman said its apprenticeship programme this month celebrated getting a placement for its 150th young person, with many of those going on to secure permanent employment.

He said: “The council’s regeneration masterplan, which aims to create more than 14,000 jobs by 2025, also has a strong focus on providing opportunities for young people.

“The council struck a regeneration partnership deal with Tesco, for example, for the new eco-store opening in Greater Eston, and JobCentre Plus figures show that 260 out of the 750 people to apply for jobs there were locals aged 18 to 24, including many from Grangetown.”

Bishop Auckland and Shildon Area Action Partnership has made tackling youth unemployment one of its priorities and is working with town councils, schools, colleges and businesses to address the issue. Co-ordinator Angelina Maddison said: “We acknowledge these figures and are working in a multi-agency partnership approach to tackle this priority.”

The partners have created 14 apprenticeship places at local businesses and employed two advisors to help start-up businesses.

Lynn Walton, the volunteer co-ordinator at Darlington charity eVolution, said: “There have always been a lot of young people coming to volunteer for things like coursework, but it seems that we are getting a few more than usual.

“Quite a lot of young people come to us for help with CVs, but it can be difficult for them as they sometimes do not have a great deal to put on them.

Volunteering is a way to get some experience and will give them something to put on their CV.”