WIREDGOV

Helping young people succeed is crucial to our economic recovery. That is why I am pleased to announce this cash for cities to invest in getting more young people into jobs.

This is a multi-million pound cash boost for the future prosperity of our young workforce and, making our society fairer so that everyone has the chance to get on in life.

Investment like this, paired with a determination to tackle youth unemployment by our great cities, has the genuine power to change the fortunes of young people across the region, whether it’s with extra training, improving education or apprenticeships.

The days of Whitehall holding all the purse strings are coming to an end. Handing power over how cities spend money is important – this way, local leaders can do what’s best for the young people in their area. They know what will work and can make a real difference to their economic future by shaping the workforce of tomorrow.

• £5.9 million in Liverpool City Region to invest in a new Payment by Results scheme targeted at helping the most disadvantaged young people into work, alongside a Local Enterprise Partnership-led employer engagement campaign and a personalised budget approach to empower 18-24 year olds to take greater responsibility and ownership on their route back to work
• £5.8 million in Greater Manchester to empower and equip 18 to 24 year olds to take greater responsibility and ownership in their journey to work via a personalised budget approach, a local transport guarantee to enable young people to overcome local travel to work barriers, and a local employer-led jobs campaign to co-ordinate local and national schemes and increase take up of Apprenticeships and the Youth Contract Wage Incentive
• £5 million in Sheffield City Region to offer intensive advisor and mentor-led support for young people, alongside a bespoke, employer-led training programme aimed at equipping young people with the right skills for local jobs
• £4.6 million in Leeds City Region to provide intensive, targeted wraparound support for at risk and long-term unemployed young people, an innovative pilot looking at the role that Employment Agencies can play in helping young people into work and the creation of a new Young Ambassador Scheme to offer peer mentoring, support and advice to young people
• £4.5 million in the North East to drive a new local business-led jobs campaign to drive up employment opportunities for young people using business advisors to unlock these opportunities. In addition they will also more intensive employment advisors and peer mentors to equip young people for the newly levered opportunities
• £4 million in Greater Birmingham and Solihull. This will be used to help young unemployed people from the local area so that they can benefit from job growth in the area. Part of this will include investing in new jobs associated with Jaguar Land Rover’s continued expansion. To help prepare young people for their new career, the area will create a new Apprenticeship Training Agency for the Advanced Manufacturing Sector. The cash will also see an expansion of an intensive local jobs campaign and Multi-Agency partnership to increase opportunities for young people. Crucially, the funding will help to target youth unemployment “hotspots” and offer intensive personalised support and mentoring to enable these young people to start an apprenticeship or get back to work.
• £3 million in Nottingham to further extend the reach and impact of the Joint Integrated Employer and Apprenticeship Hub building on the success of the City Deal and targeted community-led interventions via additional support for young people to undertake employer-led training
• £1.4 million in the west of England to deliver a new work experience and work placement scheme alongside more bespoke employer engagement linked to future growth sectors in the local economy