Government warned not to overlook training for young workers

Education Secretary Michael Gove last week released a ministerial statement in which he said that while government is committed to raising the age at which young people remain in education or training, it would no longer expect employers to enable 16- and 17-year-olds working more than 20 hours a week to train towards an accredited qualification, from next July.

But Steve Stewart, chief executive of the Coventry, Solihull and Warwickshire Partnership, said the number of young people entering full-time employment without additional training is small, but they are some of the most vulnerable.

“Every piece of evidence shows that the first people who get hurt in recessions are the unqualified,” he said. “Young people who have few qualifications and who go in to a ‘dead end job’ are the first to suffer.

“If you are looking at the numbers of young people going into a job without any training it doesn’t seem a big deal because we are talking about 1.5 per cent of 16-and 17-year-olds.

“But if we are not equipping all our young people to be able to compete in an ever-changing jobs market then there is a group of young people we are turning our back on.”

Stewart said the government is missing an opportunity to increase the skills base of all young people.

“We want our employers to understand that they get more if they invest more in training and developing their staff,” he added.

Jon Richards, senior national officer for education at trade union Unison, said unless there is a clear duty on employers, young people in full-time employment will miss out.

“The government says a duty could deter employers from taking on young people, but gives no evidence to support that,” Richards said. “If you look at Germany for example, training is built in from the very start of employment.

“But we seem to have a strange view of training as some sort of barrier or an extra burden, instead of being fundamental to what we do.

“Unless you have resource-based incentives or a duty then employers will opt out, because we don’t have far-sighted employers who understand the value of continued training and continued professional development.”

But a Department for Education spokesman said delaying the measure on employers was necessary to prevent barriers to employment.

“The responses to our consultation were very clear: placing duties on businesses - checking a young person has enrolled in training when they are appointed and agreeing working hours to enable them to access it - together with associated potential fines, could have deterred employers from hiring young people," he said.

“This would be damaging for the economy and would limit young people’s opportunities. That is why we have decided to not commence them in 2013, but they will remain in statute and could be commenced in future if they are needed.

“The key duties on young people to continue in education and on local authorities to promote participation will remain. We trust local authorities and businesses to work together in the best interests of young people.”

A spokesman for the Association of Education and Learning Providers agreed with the government’s position, saying securing employment for young people was a priority.

He said: “We cannot just look at this in the context of raising the participation age, but must look at tackling youth unemployment, what should happen with the foundation programme and the youth contract.

“We believe that rather than just securing a qualification, getting the young person in work first then securing the qualification is important. So right now we would agree with the government that securing employment for young people is a priority.”