Helping to combat the risk of a lost generation in Sussex (From The Argus)

Helping to combat the risk of a lost generation in Sussex

8:00am Friday 5th February 2010

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Michaela Barber could have gone to university.

The 21-year-old, from Worthing, achieved good AS-level results and might have gone on to study law or sports science.

A few years ago, the decision would have been obvious. Even with the introduction of fees in 1998, going into further education was seen as the main way of achieving a worthwhile, well-paid career.

But the recession has changed all that.

Although latest unemployment figures published last month showed a slight fall in the amount of people out of work, the stark fact that the number of 18 to 25-year-old Neets (not in education, employment or training) has doubled in two years is worrying.

Almost 9,000 young people across Sussex are on benefits. This does not include those thousands of graduates who have struggled to find any work relevant to their degree and are currently in temporary or part-time jobs.

Michaela, however, will not be one of them after choosing to join Southern Water as an apprentice, a decision which is becoming increasingly popular as the job market gets tougher.

She is one of 20 trainees – Southern Water’s highest intake yet – who will spend six months in the company’s training centre in Gosport, Hampshire, and six months on the job, shadowing qualified electricians.

Michaela said: “Obviously, university is very expensive and there is no guarantee, even if you pass all your exams, that you will find the job you have been studying for.

“But my main reason for doing an apprenticeship was I knewif I passed all my exams and carried out my job to a satisfactory level, I would not only have a career but a skill I can take anywhere.”

The value of apprenticeships has been demonstrated by the Government’s willingness to spend £1 billion creating thousands of placements under its Future Jobs Fund (FJF) by 2011.

Brighton and Hove City Council and East and West Sussex County Councils have received £5.6 million to create 916 temporary jobs for young people out of work for more than 12 months.

The city council is working in conjunction with City College Brighton and Hove.

This works out at £6,500 for each job, almost double the average amount spent on getting older longterm unemployed people back into work through the existing Flexible New Deal or Pathways To Work programmes.

But according to Joe Davenport, city employment initiative manager at Brighton and Hove City Council, it is money well spent.

He pointed out that a person unemployed for six months costs the taxpayer £7,500 in benefits.

He said: “There is nothing else like this at the moment addressing youth unemployment. This is creating real jobs for real people.”

The scheme has been so successful in Brighton that an extra 200-plus placements are due to be funded on top of the 350 already created, many of which have been match-funded by employers so that they last 12 months instead of six.

Another way of helping young people into work is through The Prince’s Trust.

In Brighton, where the charity’s programme is delivered by Creative Futures, it runs three, 12-week courses a year for 15 people aged 16 to 25, where they experience outdoor pursuits, team building exercises, volunteering in the community and work placements.

On completing the course they are awarded a City & Guilds Level One certificate in personal development and contributing to the community.

Team leader Claire Chowen receives more than 100 applicants for each course.

She said: “Within three months of finishing the course, 75% are in education, employment or training.”

For graduates, the Sussex Internship Programme (SIP) is run in conjunction with digital media support group Wired Sussex. The scheme, funded by the Higher Education Funding Council for England, has been given a £280,000 grant from the University of Sussex to place 175 students with dozens of companies across the county.

The extra money means SIP can extend its reach beyond the media sector to the life sciences and pharmaceuticals, advanced manufacturing, professional and financial services, legal and engineering construction sectors.

For more information, visit www.brighton-hove.gov.uk/future jobs, www.princes-trust.org.uk or www.sussexinternships.co.uk.

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