Report on young people not earning or learning to be debated by National Assembly

12 January 2011

A report that raised concerns about the adequacy of services for young people not in education, employment or training in Wales will be debated by Assembly Members on Wednesday (12 January).

The report was the result of an inquiry by the National Assembly for Wales’s Enterprise and Learning Committee, which found that a lack of leadership and joint-working is resulting in overlapping and uncoordinated services for the nearly 70,000 16-24 year-olds who are not in education, employment or training in Wales.

It recommended the identification of a lead agency to coordinate partnerships and responsibilities and manage the journey for young people from one stage to another, although the Committee felt the Welsh Government’s response to this suggestion is unclear.

The report also called for the development of a strategy for the entire 16-25 year-old age group and highlighted the need to identify those at risk of becoming not in education, employment or training at a young age.

Chair of the Committee, Gareth Jones AM, said: “This report acknowledged that although there is no shortage of strategies in place in Wales, these need to be better implemented to avoid the ‘revolving door’ syndrome - where young people are pushed from provider to provider without progress being made.

“The Committee is pleased that the Government has responded constructively to our report by accepting the majority of our recommendations, but it is still deeply worrying that so many of our young people are being failed by the system. We need concerted action from the Government for this to change.

“There are adverse, long-term impacts for the Welsh economy from having large numbers of young people falling out of school and or being unemployed and I look forward to hearing what my fellow Assembly Members have to say on the issue.”