NEETs and teenage pregnancy are top local authority priorities

By Cathy Wallace Wednesday, 23 April 2008

Cutting the number of 16- to 18-year-olds not in education, employment or training (NEET) is the top priority for councils, according to figures from the Improvement and Development Agency (IDeA).

Young man looking at job vacancy notices

The figures, outlined at CYP Now's 10-Year Youth Strategy conference last week, list the 20 most popular performance indicators included in local area agreements (LAAs).

Reducing the number of 16- to 18-year-old NEETs topped the table with 117 councils making it a priority in their LAA. The second most common indicator was cutting the under-18 conception rate, which featured in 103 LAAs.

Other indicators related directly to children and young people included lowering obesity levels among primary school-age children, in 97 LAAs, and increasing young people's participation in positive activities, in 75 LAAs.

However, child poverty featured as a priority in just 41 LAAs. Steve Walker, principal consultant for children and young people at IDeA, said this could be because some local authority areas didn't have massive areas of deprivation.

He said: "It will be interesting to see how high these priorities end up. But this reflects issues raised in the government's 10-year youth strategy, so it's good to see it's being identified as a priority area."

A spokesman for youth charity Rathbone welcomed the focus on NEETs but said official figures should include all young people out of education, training or employment, not just those registered with local Connexions services.

Maggie Atkinson, president of the Association of Directors of Children's Services, said: "LAAs aren't just the local authority's possession, they are agreements across every local strategic partnership including primary care trusts, police, strategic health authorities and the voluntary sector."

She said it was a welcome development that councils were putting children and young people so high on the agenda.