On the 29th April the APPG for Youth Employment launched its report into the Employer Support for Youth Employment.

This report followed a three month inquiry where written and verbal evidence was given by organisations such as the Confederation for British Industry, Federation for Small Business, Careers & Enterprise Company, AELP, Youth Employment UK, employers and young people.

‘Employer support for youth employment’ is Series Five in reports from the APPG for Youth Employment. Previously the group has reviewed youth unemployment data, the transition between education and employment, supporting young people furthest from the labour market and the role the family plays in social mobility.

In this series, the APPG looked to explore the level of employer support for youth employment, where there might be tensions in the system and what is working well.
Government departments have been looking more and more to the business community to step in to support and even solve some of the challenges that exist around skills, careers and employment.

Major apprenticeship and technical education reform has put business in the driving seat of qualification design and investment, and there are also calls on business to support careers education, digital skills and social mobility initiatives across a range of departments.

The APPG for Youth Employment wanted to examine the key asks of government and look to understand how business has responded to those requests. The report which was due to be presented to Anne Milton, Minister of State for  Apprenticeships and Skills put forward key recommendations to government:

• The APPG for Youth Employment is recommending that a cross government taskforce is created to develop a joined-up, long-term strategy for youth services and employment.
• We are asking for apprenticeship and skills training reform to prevent the further decrease in 16-18 year old starts and Level 2 and 3 starts.
• Recommending that SMEs are better supported to deliver against the government’s youth employment strategy.

Download the report in full here