Last updated 16:11, Wednesday, 01 October 2008

YOUNG people are receiving the help they need to get in to employment and training, says Connexion’s area manager, Mike Priestly.

Connexions annual results show targets are being met and life is looking up for young people who are Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET). These include those who are not in work or training, those who are sick, teenage mums and those unable to work.

Each year, the government sets targets to reduce the number of young people who are in this category.

Mr Priestly said: “One of the things about this area is that there are a lot of young people aged between 16 and 18 who are looking for jobs and training.”

Staff at Connexions are there to help them find training opportunities and employment, while reaching government targets.

“All these targets mean is that we are doing our job to help young people find work or training once they leave school,” he said.

Between 2006 and 2007 Cumbria’s target was 5.8 per cent; Whitehaven was 6.5 per cent, and Workington’s 5.4 per cent. Even though the target percentage for Whitehaven was higher than other parts of the county, the total number of young people met the target.

On average, there are 140 young people each month who fall in to the NEET category.

“We have been meeting the NEET targets since they were introduced in 2001. It’s about the local labour market. We don’t have a huge number of retail or office jobs that there are in other parts of the country. This makes it harder for young people to find employment.

“Whitehaven has never really recovered from the job problems of the 1980s and 90s,” said Mr Priestly.

There a number of training schemes available for young people, including Gen II, Rathbones E2E (education to employment) and JHP childcare courses as well as further education and employment.

“We spend a lot of our time going in to schools to help them decide what they want to do. That is so valuable to us. Some young people leave school and miss seeing their friends every day.

“For us, it’s about getting young people to mix again and wanting to do something they enjoy,” said Mr Priestly.