More than 1,000 young people unemployed in York
There are calls for more support for them.
More than 1,000 young people are out of work in York because of the coronavirus pandemic.
And that figures expected to rise further when the latest data is published next month.
Labour councillors in the city are calling for the government to extend its job placement scheme and for the council to improve its own apprenticeship scheme - to support people aged 16 to 24.
The group is calling for action to help “ensure young people are not consigned to years of unemployment or low paid, unstable work.”
City of York Council, as a large employer, pays 0.5 per cent of its wages bill into the apprenticeship levy scheme – which then goes back into training apprentices in council departments.
But last year £500,000 went unspent and was sent back to Government. Labour councillors are calling for the authority to “step up its commitment to apprenticeship training” to help more out-of-work young people.
Cllr Bob Webb said: “With so few job opportunities, it’s a really tough time. We are calling for the Government not to simply leave the next generation of workers to fend for themselves in an increasingly insecure and challenging jobs market, by creating a fully funded Youth Jobs Guarantee that will secure both a job and a future for every young person in our city.”
“This has been tried and tested elsewhere in Europe, so the UK doesn’t need to reinvent the wheel.”
The plans, a Labour motion to full council, will be discussed at a meeting on Thursday.