Hyndburn Labour Group Call for adoption of TUC charter for young people

Cllr Miles Parkinson, Leader of the Labour Group in Hyndburn, submitted a motion to Thursday evenings full Council meeting. It asks that Hyndburn Council adopt a system that will really provide the youth of Hyndburn a future that can work. The motion was seconded by Milnshaw councillor Paul Cox and calls for the adoption of the North West TUC Charter for Young People.

The charter will help provide practical and immediate help to the youth of Hyndburn. It will allow a gateway back to work for a section of our boroughs young residents who find themselves losing any prospect of real employment.Cllr Cox stated “this is a massive step in putting some real aspirations into the minds of towns youth, austerity has bitten hard in this area with one in five of the north west s youth unemployed. the loss of Educational maintenance allowance coupled with rising tuition fees has led to hundreds of this town’s youth being denied access to gaining qualifications and new skills for the job market”.

Avoiding a lost generation is something that Councillor Cox has spoken on several times in the Council Chamber. he goes on to say “what Hyndburn’s youth require is a commitment from us to help them, this charter has five practical steps that will offer real chances with real prospects”

These steps include;-

A Job Guarantee: The Government should guarantee paid work or training to every young person who has been out of work for six months or more.

Action on Apprenticeships: All public bodies should commit to recruiting a set number of apprentices each year. Public sector contracts should encourage contractors to have a quality apprenticeship scheme.

Quality Work Experience: Young people should have access to good quality work experience that includes a guarantee of both quality training and a job interview at the end of any placement.

Welfare Reform: In the short-term, the Government should reform the rules on Jobseeker’s Allowance to allow young people to return to full time education without any loss of benefits. In the longer term, we need a Youth Credit (or other financial support) to help all young people boost both their learning and employment prospects.

Practical support: We need extra measures to help young people stay in education and assist with transport costs to enable young people to travel to work.