Youth Unemployment Review
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Youth Unemployment Review The findings of the Community Scrutiny Youth Unemployment Sub-Committee November 2016 “Allerdale – a great place to live, work and visit” Table of Contents 1. Introduction............................................................................................................3 2. Context ..................................................................................................................4 Local context ......................................................................................................................................4 National and European context .........................................................................................................5 3. Report of Findings .................................................................................................7 3.1 Schools and education...........................................................................................................7 3.1.1 Schools...................................................................................................................................7 3.1.2 Raising The Participation Age ................................................................................................9 3.2 Health, welfare and wellbeing.............................................................................................11 3.2.1 Childhood Obesity ...............................................................................................................11 3.2.2 Deprivation factors ..............................................................................................................11 3.2.3 Child poverty........................................................................................................................12 3.3 Labour market factors .........................................................................................................16 3.3.1 Employment and unemployment........................................................................................16 3.3.2 Worklessness .......................................................................................................................18 3.3.3 NEET: Not in Employment, Education, or Training ..............................................................18 3.4 Qualifications and skills .......................................................................................................21 3.4.1 Qualifications.......................................................................................................................21 3.5 Apprenticeships ...................................................................................................................22 3.6 Transport .............................................................................................................................23 4. Current approaches.............................................................................................25 5. Summary .............................................................................................................33 6. Recommendations...............................................................................................34 2 1. Introduction This enquiry was established by Allerdale Borough Council’s Community Scrutiny Committee and conducted by a Sub-Committee of Members. The following were the members of the Sub-Committee: Councillor Tony Annison, Councillor Carole Armstrong, Councillor Joseph Cowell, Councillor Jim Lister, Councillor Celia Tibble, Councillor David Wilson and Councillor Martin Wood. The Sub-Committee developed the scope for the enquiry to include a focus on the available data around employment, unemployment and NEET young people (those not in education, employment or training); the availability and effectiveness of local provision; issues facing employers in recruitment, such as the factors that young people do not ‘sell’ themselves particularly well, and that young people lack aspiration; and issues to do with transport. The enquiry took place during August 2015 and November 2016. It included initial formal meetings with Members receiving presentations from invited speakers, from which some content is included here. It also included a call for evidence from partner organisations, and extracts from the responses received are built into the report. The period of enquiry, longer than originally intended, has resulted in the inclusion of both currently available data and other data which may appear older yet is the most recent available at the time of writing. The enquiry was completed through desk research including an examination of several recent reports on related subjects. The following publications and reports have been drawn upon: LGIU briefings Against The Odds, Audit Commission, 2010 Cumbria Observatory Labour Market Briefing (monthly) Cumbria Local Enterprise Partnership Skills Investment Plan 2016-2020 Skills and Employment in Cumbria: Evidence Base 2016, prepared for Cumbria LEP by York Consulting The State of Rural Cumbria, compiled by ACTion with Communities in Cumbria, December 2013 Allerdale Business Growth Strategy 2016 (in draft at time of writing) 3 2. Context Local context Much of the data in this brief review of young peoples’ employment prospects in Allerdale has been drawn from a document called About Allerdale, prepared as part of the process to refresh the Council Plan for 2016-17. Additional data is drawn from national sources, with much of it provided via Cumbria Observatory. The estimated whole population of Allerdale in 2014 was 96,500. Data from the Census 2011 shows that the population of Allerdale rose from 93,487 to 96,400 (2001-2011), a rise of 3.1%. This small growth (less than half the rate of increase of England & Wales) was driven largely by in-migration to the area rather than natural increase. At 2015, Allerdale had 4,520 enterprises. Allerdale has parts of the district in the Lake District National Park to the east and the Solway Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty to the northwest. The tourism industry provides 6,208 people who live in the area with employment; manufacturing has 6,000 employees, 16.3% of the district’s workforce; the energy sector also has a particularly large influence on the whole of West Cumbria due to the location of Sellafield (located in the adjacent Copeland district). Although the overall claimant rate is similar to the Cumbria and national rates, youth unemployment rates in Allerdale are well above Cumbria and national levels. 17% of those aged 16-64 are economically inactive or classed as ‘workless’. Qualification levels for the district as a whole are broadly in line with regional and national averages. However, there are variations across the district, two wards having over a third of the working age population with no qualifications. Overall Allerdale’s ranking in the Indices of Multiple Deprivation is 115 out of 326 local authorities. This figure masks significant differences at a more local level with some considerable areas of deprivation. There are seven areas in the 10% most deprived in England. Average household income in Allerdale is similar to the county average and a little below the national average; however, there are significant variations in income levels across wards from £17,000 to £37,400 and 14.4% of households with an annual income of less than £10,000. 14.8% of children in Allerdale are living in poverty, but once again the figures across the district vary considerably with three wards having levels of child poverty above 25%, the highest being 33.6%. Allerdale has an above average adult obesity rate and childhood obesity levels are slightly higher than the Cumbria and national averages. The percentage of children in Reception year who are classified as having excess weight has increased recently. Smoking and alcohol consumption are key areas of concern, Allerdale has the highest female alcohol specific mortality rate of all the districts in Cumbria. Allerdale has an older population profile than England and Wales and the population is ‘ageing’ at a faster rate than the population nationally. The district loses young people to higher education and employment outside the area and has seen the 4 greatest rise (between 2001 and 2011) in the number of residents aged over 85 years in Cumbria. By 2037 33.3% of all residents are projected to be aged 65 and over. Cumbria’s Black and Minority Ethnic population remains one of the lowest in England, and has recently grown from 1.8% to 3% from 2001-11. Most Allerdale residents are from a White British background. Just 2.4% of the district’s population is from an ethnic minority - Allerdale has the smallest proportion of residents from BME groups in Cumbria and the second highest rate of White British residents of any district nationally (97.6%). Recorded anti-social behaviour incidents have decreased by -19.4% (-795) in Allerdale in 2014/15 compared to the previous year. Recorded instances of youth anti-social behaviour incidents have also decreased by -32.8% (-295). Crime rates for anti-social behaviour and youth anti-social behaviour in Allerdale are lower than the average for the county. National and European context The issues around youth unemployment are not unique to West Cumbria: the UK averages around 14.4% (in 2015) while across Europe the figures are higher. In August 2016, 4.199 million young persons (under 25) were unemployed in the EU-28 member countries (18.6 %), of whom 2.927 million were in the