Across our towns there are some great clubs and groups supporting young people – from Airedale Boxing Club which has a hundred local children and young people coming through their doors each week for energetic sports and fitness training to the Addy in Knottingley which runs amazing adventure playground and education sessions from tots to teenagers.
But as we also know, children and young people growing up today face a lot of pressure – and we need to make sure they get the right support in schools, education and training – so they get the very best start in life. And far too many young people still end up for long periods not in education, training or work – but that will disadvantage them and our local economy for the rest of their lives if we let it carry on.
That’s why I welcome the big increase in apprenticeships being planned and delivered by the Government. I was delighted to be able to open the new Castleford College Construction Centre, delivered with funding from the Labour Government, and which has amazing state of the art facilities for construction training – from bricklaying to plumbing and much, much more. These are vital jobs where we need more workers for years to come.
For too long under the last Tory Government, apprenticeship training was squeezed. And at the same time the school curriculum got too narrow, and vocational and practical skills weren’t taken seriously enough. That has to change. That’s why we are making it a priority to boost vocational education to make sure that different kinds of skills and experiences are valued.
Alongside apprenticeships there need to be different ways to help people get into work. Just last week West Yorkshire Mayor Tracy Brabin announced a new scheme to ensure that every young person in our country has a work experience placement by the time they turn 18. And the Labour Government is now bringing in a youth guarantee – to guarantee that everyone under the age of 25 will get support, including making payments to employers to take young people on if they’ve been out of work for some time, and expanding a much wider range of shorter training courses on things like AI to get young people started in the jobs of the future.
Eighteen years ago, under the last Labour Government, I worked on the Future Jobs Fund which provided hundreds of young people round here a guaranteed placement or job – and that’s why I know it can be done. But it needs that partnership between the Government, the Mayor, the Council, schools, colleges, local businesses, public sector employers, unions and local charities and community groups. So we all pull together for the sake of young people. For example, charity Rugby League Cares is working with Castleford Tigers on a project called Offload where young lads who aren’t in education or work can train with rugby players and learn life skills.
I’m always struck when I visit Five Towns schools or speak in assemblies or meet up with children on school trips to Westminster, how talented and curious they are, and the great questions they ask. Our towns are made up of fantastic, ambitious young people – we need to support them to get the very best start in life.