We need to tackle youth unemployment

I copy in the latest call by the Labour Group for some more robust action to tackle unemployment amongst our young people.
Certainly if we win in May , we shall be taking urgent action to use the current buiyng power of the Council to help. We also nee dto address the issue that many young people have lost hope of a future, have lost thier ambition and self confidence and have sometimes very little support from their parents.
Regards
Councillor Ian Robertson

Although Walsall council’s proposed apprenticeship programme offers 275 places, youth unemployment in the borough is running at twice the national average.


Labour is now calling on the council to do more by use its buying power to encourage companies with contracts of £1 million or more to hire local youngsters.

The ‘Walsall Works’ scheme launched this week by the Conservative council claims it will create 550 apprenticeships over two years for 16-24 year-olds; but this will still leave over 3700 Walsall young people looking for work.

The Leader of Walsall Labour group, Councillor Tim Oliver, said that the council’s plans did not address the scale of youth unemployment in the borough.

“We welcome any help for young people, but this scheme will leave thousands of young people in Walsall with no hope and no prospects. Sadly it may be a case of too little and too late for the vast majority of our young unemployed.

“It amounts to only 275 places a year while unemployment in this age group is running at approximately 4000.

To put that in context, in the St Matthew’s ward alone there are 340 young people without work.”

Labour councillors are supporting a call by the national Labour Party to use tax payers’ buying power to make companies awarded public contracts of £1 million or more take on apprentices.

The party is exploring how it can implement the proposal if it takes control of the council after May’s local elections

Cllr Oliver added: “It’s only fair to ask companies benefiting from Walsall council tax payers to give something back by hiring local youngsters; we want these jobs to be additional to the council’s current plans, but as with many of our other plans we want to work cooperatively with others to maximise the benefits.”





Cllr Oliver explained: “In Walsall, Birmingham and the Black Country, local councils spend billions buying in services. Labour councils working together can boost the regional economy by combining our consumer power to create thousands of extra jobs on top of existing schemes.”