The Government has set a clear direction of travel towards greater devolution of employment support. The challenge now is how to do so without disrupting essential services, weakening performance and losing the national capability built through successful programmes such as the Restart Scheme. This paper argues that devolved services can be delivered consistently well providing the right conditions are put in place. By combining local commissioning with a strong national framework, the Government can give Mayoral Strategic Authorities (MSAs) greater control over employment support while protecting
continuity for the people who rely on these services, maintaining quality standards and allowing all areas to progress to the required standard of delivery in a reasonable timeframe.

1. What is stopping more young people from participating in employment, education or training?

ERSA’s recent research and the qualitative findings from our member survey demonstrate that there is no single explanation for the number of young people who are not in employment, education or training. Young people are not a homogeneous group, and the barriers they face are often overlapping and cumulative. These include structural labour market challenges, health-related barriers and systemic issues within employment, education and welfare systems.

2. What would make the biggest difference to support more young people to participate?

ERSA’s research and evidence from our members consistently show that improving participation among young people requires sustained, personalised support combined with structural reform to funding, service integration and employer engagement.

In response to the government’s proposals in the White Paper “Get Britain Working” form reforming job centres, ERSA submitted this evidence to the inquiry.

“The aims and purpose of Jobcentre Plus (JCP) are indeed ambitious. However, ambition needs to be met with sufficient resourcing and tempered by the understanding that there can be no successful transformation of JCP without the involvement and cooperative working of the employment support sector.”