Lib Dem Conference: Police and crime commissioners and youth unemployment

Day two here at the Liberal Democrat Party Conference 2013 and we from Kids Count are in full-swing reporter mode. I've already quite literally bumped into former Lib Dem leader Charles Kennedy but no sign of Clegg for me yet. There's time yet for an impromptu interview, though. There's been some lively debates and good questions asked already and it's only day two!

We got the chance to have a quick chat and catch some sound bites on youth issues from journalist Evan Davis, otherwise known as the presenter of BBC's Dragons Den. He spoke to Kids Count about an issue we're investigating at the moment, the newly elected police and crime commissioners and what effect they’re having on our communities.
 
Interestingly, he posed the view that it's too early day to see their real success and it may take 20 years yet to see the real effects on their communities. As it is, he commented they're a great way to engage in democracy but at the same time with such a low turnout in their elections it's hard to see how effective they will be. Indeed, with a low turnout, it would suggest people are apathetic to the existence of police and crime commissioners or maybe they weren't informed enough about them prior to the elections. Whether you agree with his opinion or not, he was a pleasure to interview; interesting and well informed on a wide range of subjects and in this case in relation to youth.
 
After a full day at conference, with tired eyes and full bellies from all the conference buffet food, I’ve been reflecting back on prevalent topics I’ve picked up on while here in Glasgow.

As I mentioned in my last blog, Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg mentioned the need to address youth unemployment specifically and I’ve heard this being spoken of quite a lot on the conference floor. Firstly I heard Gordon Birtwistle MP speaking to a group of young people from the Youth Zone about the success of the apprenticeship program the Lib Dems have been running for the past three years.

He went on further to stress there are alternative paths to employment than just university, giving an anecdote of a young girl he met who shunned University of Oxford for engineering but still managed to become a hugely successful engineer at BAE Systems. I definitely think there needs to be a shift in attitudes that university isn’t for everyone and there are alternative pathways to employment and to be successful. Some careers would certainly be better accessed through more hands-on training than book study at university and that should be considered acceptable to take a different path.

I think the apprenticeship program sounds like a good one but needs perhaps more exposure so more people are aware of the opportunities it offers and maybe apprenticeships should be available for more fields of work so those who aren’t suited to studying can still access those careers they want.
 
As well as having alternative options for young people, I think part of the problem young people are having is they’re just not aware of the careers that are out there, the careers they could want to pursue if only they knew about them. There’s a plethora of careers out there but to someone at the bottom of the career ladder, you often find yourself lost in job titles you don’t understand.

Since I know how this feels, I agree with the motion to conference from Liberal Youth’s chair Sarah Harding; that there should be more careers guidance to young people before they reach employment age and not just on the obvious jobs. Connexions has been scrapped but I definitely think something needs to take its place so we can all get the best start into adult life.

Being here at conference really makes you aware of the sheer number of activists on so many different topics, let’s see what else is on the agenda when it comes to young people this conference season.

Natalie is blogging on behalf of Kids Count, a think-tank focused on the practical rather than the theoretical. Find out more at www.kidscount.org.uk