A quarter of councils lose track of more than one in ten young people after they leave school

The figures were revealed as the latest government statistics show the number of 16-to 18-year-olds not in employment, education or training (Neet) increased from 159,000 in the first quarter of 2011 to 183,000 in the same period this year.

This means the proportion of Neet 16-to 18-year-olds now stands at 9.8 per cent, up from 8.3 per cent from last year.

When councils are unable to contact or track a young person after they leave education at 16, they are categorised as “not known” on the electronic system used for recording whether or not young people are Neet.

According to Department for Education figures, the number of young people categorised as “not known” has now exceeded one in ten in 38 local authorities.

Jon Richards, Unison’s national secretary for education and children’s services, claimed that the rising number of “not knowns” is a symptom of swingeing cuts to Connexions services.

“We warned that the obliteration of the Connexions services with its detailed and comprehensive monitoring systems, run by skilled and knowledgeable staff would lead to a hole in the statistics – the increase in ‘not known’ is a predictable consequence,” he said.

“The confusion caused by the government’s move to a national careers service without making it clear to local authorities what their role was, was avoidable.

"How are young people, already facing the blight of unemployment, going to feel when they are labelled unknown? Wanted by their community? Valued by the government? Or just a statistic that isn’t worth collecting?”

Steve Stewart, chief executive of the Coventry, Solihull and Warwickshire Partnership, previously Connexions, warned the increase in “not knowns” would make it hard for councils to plan for raising the participation age to 18.

“How do you know what to plan in terms of provision if you don’t know what’s happening to one in 10 of the young people you’re trying to plan for?” he said.

“The most alarming aspect is that in the local authorities where there are high levels of ‘not knowns’, there will be major problems in helping unemployed young people, but also in putting together effective plans to meet the raising the participation age targets in 2014 and 2015.”

Kieran Gordon, chief executive of Connexions Greater Merseyside, argued that tracking all young people beyond compulsory education is inherently “resource intensive”.

“The cuts to Connexions services have undoubtedly had a massive impact on the capacity of providers to maintain the excellent levels of contact that have been the norm until recently,” he said.

“Where a young person’s status is ‘not known’ it can be very difficult for agencies to establish contact with a view to enabling them to participate in learning or work; effective tracking is a positive interactive measure designed to overcome barriers that individuals face when they become adrift from important sources of advice and information on opportunities.”

Gordon added that tracking young people was “an early casualty of the cuts” in too many local areas.

“We must consider the return on the investment by re-engaging a young person in learning and reducing the cost to society of having large numbers of people out of touch with the mainstream,” he said. “The costs of not doing so are far higher than the costs of efficient and effective tracking.”