CITY leaders have rejected calls for an action plan to help struggling York youngsters find a job or training course.

Coun Julie Gunnell said too many 16 to 18-year-olds in the city were facing a bleak future, and said City of York Council should lead the way.

She called on the council to offer more apprenticeships and to encourage other big local employers to do likewise, but her motion to the council was lost by 19 votes to 17, after the Liberal Democrats voted against it.

They argued that much of the work proposed was already being done, and said it would be a waste of officials’ time to duplicate it.

Coun Gunnell said the youngsters – referred to as NEETS because they are not in education, employment or training – deserved better support.

“We should be working with employers to push this issue but we need to take the lead,” she said.

There was heated debate in the Guildhall chamber, with the Lib Dems saying the work called for was already being done.

Carol Runciman, executive member for children and young people’s services, said York was already out-performing most other areas, and said: “Council can rest assured that this topic will always have a very high priority for me personally.”

Conservative Joe Watt said society had been “moulded by socialism for the past 12 years” and blamed the Government for the plight facing many youngsters. Former council leader Steve Galloway said the previous Tory Government had been “a graveyard for the ambitions for a lot of young people”.

Labour councillor Ken King, who serves Clifton, said there were people in his ward who were third-generation unemployed, and said something had to be done “to stop the loss of a generation in York”.


‘Common sense’ approach backed

YOUTH offending officials in York have welcomed a new national approach towards working with young law-breakers.

The “Scaled Approach”, which will operate across England and Wales, was launched last week and is being hailed as the biggest change to the youth justice system in a decade.

It was developed by the Youth Justice Board, in partnership with youth offending teams (YOTs) across the country, including York’s. It is aimed at improving public confidence in community sentencing.

The Scaled Approach helps YOTs focus on children and young people most likely to reoffend or cause serious harm to others or themselves. YOTs will recommend the amount of time they spend with the young person as well as recommending sentencing proposals to the courts.

Simon Page, head of City of York Youth Offending Team, said: “The Scaled Approach means that the demands we place on young people will be linked to the risk of reoffending or the risk of harm.

“The higher the risk, the greater the demands and the support. It’s common sense, and behind the scenes we have already started working in this way.”