The much anticipated Youth Contract was launched at the start of this week, by Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg. The programme plans to address high levels of youth unemployment by investing £1bn into the employment related services sector. The additional funds will provide incentives for employers to create apprenticeships and subsidies for employers to recruit young members of staff.
The Youth Contract has received criticism from the Labour Party who at the start of week released figures stating that unemployment had doubled in the last year, Shadow Work and Pensions Minister Liam Byrne stated that the Coalition Government “haven’t got a single young person into employment” and the Government had not created alternative to Labour’s Future Job Fund.
The Government’s flagship youth employment scheme also received criticism from their own lawyers who have argued that the programme will disadvantage older workers and employers who are involved in the scheme may be sued. The Age Focus of the programme, which focuses on 18 to 24 year olds, means that older people are discriminated against when competing against younger people for jobs.
Reporting to the Daily Telegraph however Andreas White, employment partner at Kingsley Napley outlined that employers under threat of legal action can argue that this is “objectively justified in the circumstances”. It is therefore unlikely that any legal action would actually be taken.
Nearly half a million unemployed young people are set to benefit from the youth contract, with 250,000 young people being offered work experience placements.
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